Di Matteo can see dangers as West Bromwich Albion bid for return to Premier League

Aug 8 2009 by Christopher Lepkowski, Birmingham Mail

One season at League One level with MK Dons was relatively successful but the Italian’s experience goes far deeper than 12 months as a coach as his time at Chelsea coincided with the shift towards overseas players arriving in English football.

With Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal revolution still in its infancy, Chelsea set the ball rolling with Glenn Hoddle, Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli bringing in a succession of internationals from Serie A, La Liga and other leagues, merely enhancing the Premier League’s reputation.

Di Matteo claims those six years at Stamford Bridge gave him an insight into English football which he intends to carry into his spell with Albion.

“It was an amazing time,” he added.

“The feeling you get from winning is indescribable. You can’t explain it – you need to experience it to know what it’s like.

“Glenn Hoddle started it all after his experiences in Europe. He and the continental managers that followed him brought a little bit more professionalism into the club.

“They brought in international players and I think it was a combination of everything. I just adapted to the game over here. I didn’t find that difficult to do.

“We helped bring more professionalism into English football because, certainly in Italy, footballers live their lives as professional athletes, which wasn’t always the case back then.”