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don't be too sure about that ^ Ancelotti will favor borini because he's italian, and he's stated borini reminds him of inzagie it would have been borini on loan and di santo on the subs bench if this wasn't evident.

i will have an opinion on his time here when we get into the african cup of nations period.

experience is not enough when faced with torres turnbull will be more up for it.

the worse vice is advice so i'll just say welcome.

Players The squad is essentially unchanged from that which underperformed under Scolari, with Yuri Zhirkov the only significant addition. A more significant difference lies in the attitude of the players and there has been no sign of the division in the ranks that undermined them last season. Management Several of the leading foreign players gave up on Scolari at the first sign of trouble but, having got away with that minor insurrection, they know that another rebellion will not be tolerated. There is also a realization among an ageing squad that this season could represent their last chance to win the biggest prizes, and they are determined not to let it slip. The growing partnership between Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka — who have been outstanding individually and collectively — is another cause for optimism as they appeared incompatible last season. As a new arrival to the Barclays Premier League with a limited grasp of English, Carlo Ancelotti bears comparison to Scolari on a superficial level, but those who have worked with both insist there is much more to him. Unlike the Brazilian, Ancelotti boasts considerable experience and an enviable track record at the highest levels of the European club game, so he should not be overwhelmed by the intensity of the Premier League in the manner of Scolari. Ancelotti, 50, is also ten years younger than Scolari and desperate to prove himself outside Serie A, so he is unlikely to regard Chelsea as one last pay day. Training and fitness Ancelotti's training regime differs from methods used last season, with Chelsea's players speaking highly of his high-intensity sessions involving fewer interruptions than Scolari permitted. After eight years in charge at AC Milan, the Italian also pays greater attention to his players' fitness than Scolari did, with the addition of Bruno Di Michele as an assistant manager in charge of medical and fitness regimes, bringing an holistic approach to the players' physical and psychological welfare. This renewed focus on fitness has reaped dividends, with Chelsea coming from behind to win three of their opening six Premier League matches. Whereas Scolari initially adopted the persona of a genial uncle towards his players, Ancelotti has kept his distance and has not been afraid to subject them to several dressing-downs already. Of all the managers they have worked under, the club's longest-serving players liken him most to Guus Hiddink, the interim manager who took over from Scolari. Tactics Chelsea have underperformed in their past two matches, but it is too early to judge whether they have been found out tactically, as was the case a third of the way into last season. Ancelotti has already shown more tactical ingenuity than Scolari, who was wedded to a 4-1-4-1 formation to the bitter end. Chelsea have used a wide variety of systems this season, including a diamond, 4-4-2 and 4-3-3. Ancelotti's philosophy is based on having a solid midfield quartet, but all the players must be able to fulfil a variety of roles and operate between the lines. Scolari never recovered after Benítez demonstrated how Chelsea's attacking threat could be nullified by pressurising their full backs and denying space to their holding midfield player last season. The Spaniard will undoubtedly have something up his sleeve for Sunday, particularly as another defeat would leave their own title ambitions severely compromised, so it will be fascinating to see how Ancelotti and his players respond.

it's very likely onyl one of them will survive here, and ancelotti will choose the younger italian.

hate to say it, but his transfer to madrid has been a success. not sure about kaka though.

in jose's first season we won the Carling cup would be great for the players to win a decent trophy so early on. winning mentality.

hopefully he will get the number 9 next season.

you'd have to be a lunatic to think he would leave anyway, he is Milan's only hope now.

Welcome.

ancelotti should post a future champions league top 4 spot in the dressing room.. Man-utd Man-city Liverpool Arsenal Chelsea see if that motivates them. although like i said in the previous thread, if we lose the Liverpool game Ferguson's lifting the trophy yet again.. and Ancelotti's gonna be Italy manager by the end of the year.

losing 3-1 to wigan is not the path of league winners this game will either be a turning point, or a very long season for us all.

if we are defeated by Liverpool next week, we know this was not a blip and that Ancelotti's record of 1 league win in his 8 years at Milan was no misconception.

when it's put to good use, for example in the world of business where you can become successful and so forth. not who scored in the 44th minute on july 24th in 1946 the 86 year old virgin in the corner of a local pub may appreciate it because he has no life outside of his favorite football club but otherwise useless.

if we ever win the league again, i want the legendary players such as lamps, terry drogba etc to be given the credit they deserve instead of people blaming other clubs and pointing at ronaldo's departure and so forth winning trophy's will gain silent respect from external observers, brand awareness locks Chelsea's place in football history. just selling more shirts is such a pedestrian way of looking at it, go ask for an interview with Kenyon I'm sure he will give you an education.

the brand is more important than being a working class community club like liverpool. they have won 5 European cups but don't get the same recognition as man-utd worldwide that's because being a brand is more important, because when you do win trophy's the club gets the recognition it deserves.

here we go again! just like with scolari, players walking all over the manager. this all looks innocent to the average person but the managers must not be influenced, and told how to pick the team by players with big egos.

probably watching the game either online or at pub tbh i had allot of work goin on at that time, although I've been watching the games religiously this year because of the renewed hope.. scolari ruined last season for me personally.

Drogba is the best finisher at the club, better all round player, scores better goals, and most importantly he scores important goals.

i don't memorize every goal scored from every game of every season.. that's not a fan, that's someone with no life.

what happened to sturridge? I'd rather borini be playing anyway, but still..

man-utd, Liverpool & arsenal anelka has a phobia of scoring against these teams in a Chelsea shirt.

he made man-utd what they are today, and like it or not roman's plan was to make us a global brand, replicating man-utd so anyone who cannot grasp the fact kenyon's a successful business brain is an idiot. and the new guy gourley is also from united and worked with umbro

who gives a fuck about all these agents coming out and saying this type of thing from sources like goal.com lets just wait and see.