Carlo Ancelotti

[Peace. 4,352]

With all due respect, he made two changes that should have won us the points today, and would have if the players not lost concentration defensively.

The double switch to bring on Kalou and Bosingwa gave balance to the team and some potency on the right flank. It was an inspired, Mourinho-esque move and because we've drawn the game, Ancelotti won't get any plaudits for that particular masterstroke.

Similarly, its not as if we have the personnel to switch to another formation right now. The Diamond failed to inspire last season and with the players we have, we're more suited to a 4-3-3. Furthermore the players seem unable to play anything other than a 4-3-3 variant; namely 4-5-1 or the Christmas Tree.

And to respond to your final point, it isn't as if we have any choice but to play the likes of Anelka at this moment in time. Okay we have Sturridge and Kalou, but we can't rely on their energy to win us matches. Anelka or Drogba can turn a match in an instant, yet be quiet for 85 minutes, as Drogba was today. The fact is we just don't have a squad good enough right now.

When a thing doesn't work this way, you try an other way, right ?

We can't afford to play the same team again and again and beg the Lord ! We're Chelsea for Jesus sake, not West Ham !

And honestly, right now I'd rather a poor player like Kalou than a world-class like Anelka, because he does TRY !

[spuz 143]

With all the respect I have for him, he is going insane...

He keeps using this same ol 4-3-3 who seems to don't work... And on the top of that, he keeps playing those players who just don't give a fuck and who have playing shit for months...

I hear ya. If only Carlo could see that a change in formation and personnel once in a while can do the world of good. A 442 would give us 2 strikers up front for a start. Rather than Drogs looking the lonely figure.

Then when Josh plays for a game and does better than those around him he gets dropped. The poor performers never get dropped.

[True_Blue 469]

Sacking Ancelotti would be suicide at this point.

[Fulham Broadway 16,392]

Sacking Ancelotti would be suicide at this point.

Wouldnt surprise me in the slightest if the board announced it though. There seems to be a Russian way of sacking/creating a staff of individuals who have no cohesion and seems to be driven by penny pinching

The appointment of Emanalo, as Assistant Team Coach, (brought by Avram the Spastic from Maccabi) who has no input during games, leaves Ancelotti looking isolated and a man lost. As far as i'm concerned Grant can have him at Wetspam.

[Laylabelle 9,296]

Wouldnt surprise me in the slightest if the board announced it though. There seems to be a Russian way of sacking/creating a staff of individuals who have no cohesion and seems to be driven by penny pinching

The appointment of Emanalo, as Assistant Team Coach, (brought by Avram the Spastic from Maccabi) who has no input during games, leaves Ancelotti looking isolated and a man lost. As far as i'm concerned Grant can have him at Wetspam.

Yeh!! Usually he'd be talking to Ray/looking glum with Ray celebrating with Ray with the other bloke didnt seem to notice he was there though he didnt exactly do much to be noticed!!

Oh god I hope we dont sack him be so bloody stupid...espically if we end up with Rafa or some bloke whose pretty much proved they aint the best manager and been sacked for a reason

[BlueLion. 21,491]

When a thing doesn't work this way, you try an other way, right ?

We can't afford to play the same team again and again and beg the Lord ! We're Chelsea for Jesus sake, not West Ham !

And honestly, right now I'd rather a poor player like Kalou than a world-class like Anelka, because he does TRY !

And I absolutely agree mate, but I just can't think of another formation or system we can field with the players we have fit, unfortunately.

I agree with your point on Kalou, at least he tries!

[Fulham Broadway 16,392]

Yeh!! Usually he'd be talking to Ray/looking glum with Ray celebrating with Ray with the other bloke didnt seem to notice he was there though he didnt exactly do much to be noticed!!

Oh god I hope we dont sack him be so bloody stupid...espically if we end up with Rafa or some bloke whose pretty much proved they aint the best manager and been sacked for a reason

I dont think its a coincidence that theres been 1 win in 8 games since Wilkins went. He could speak Italian as well, a good conduit between Ancelotti and the team. Even if his tactical skills werent missed - , it would have depleted morale. Reminds me of Bates reign -''lets do what we can to fuck things up''

lol think there'd be a blue revolution involving empty seats if they appointed Rafa

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I dont think its a coincidence that theres been 1 win in 8 games since Wilkins went. He could speak Italian as well, a good conduit between Ancelotti and the team. Even if his tactical skills werent missed - , it would have depleted morale. Reminds me of Bates reign -''lets do what we can to fuck things up''

Surely we can't put the finger at Wilkin's departure as the sole reason for this pathetic form still can we? It's been 10 games since he was sacked, since then our form has been... P10 W2 D4 L3. Wilkins was not the manager, his effect in the squad was not so huge that the players have stopped giving it their all and become almost tactically inept. You could say maybe the immediate effect was down to it (the 3-0 loss to Sunderland).. But from then on it's just the players not producing.

[True_Blue 469]

Surely we can't put the finger at Wilkin's departure as the sole reason for this pathetic form still can we? It's been 10 games since he was sacked, since then our form has been... P10 W2 D4 L3. Wilkins was not the manager, his effect in the squad was not so huge that the players have stopped giving it their all and become almost tactically inept. You could say maybe the immediate effect was down to it (the 3-0 loss to Sunderland).. But from then on it's just the players not producing.

Finally someone that knows Wilkins is not the reason we have been shit for 10 games.

:goodpost:

[Fulham Broadway 16,392]

Surely we can't put the finger at Wilkin's departure as the sole reason for this pathetic form still can we? It's been 10 games since he was sacked, since then our form has been... P10 W2 D4 L3. Wilkins was not the manager, his effect in the squad was not so huge that the players have stopped giving it their all and become almost tactically inept. You could say maybe the immediate effect was down to it (the 3-0 loss to Sunderland).. But from then on it's just the players not producing.

No its not the sole reason, but it was the catalyst that allowed the rot to set in.

5 points clear and top at the end of October to this there has to be more. Players like Anelka and Ferriera are becoming predictable and ponderous on the ball -tactically we're slow to react to the ebb and flow of the game, (this is more marked without Wilkins input) and in a nutshell theres a a lack of sheer desire to put it in the onion bag. You know thats the case when you get Terry on surging runs. If Villa had been a bit more pro active today, like Sunderland were, they could have won. Theres not so much closing down of the opposition when they're on the ball -they have room to manoevre, and it's clear now that all the opposition from now on, Wolves and Copenhagen included will be buoyed by our (lack of) performance.

Also the atmospheres getting worse -too many tourists/foreigners booing

[Kostas 1,468]

Today, the players let us down. Not Carlo.

1. Starting the same hopeless attack
2. Starting Ferreira
3. No subs at HT
4. Took off probably our best player at the time (Ramires) for his 2nd substitution
5. Allowed Anelka 78 minutes on the pitch
6. Another worthless 10 minutes for Sturridge

And you know that I would have posted the same list had we won.

With all due respect, he made two changes that should have won us the points today, and would have if the players not lost concentration defensively.

The double switch to bring on Kalou and Bosingwa gave balance to the team and some potency on the right flank. It was an inspired, Mourinho-esque move and because we've drawn the game, Ancelotti won't get any plaudits for that particular masterstroke.

I saw no tactical masterstroke today.

I'd love to give him credit for what he does (like finally starting Bruma) but those two were just the changes he always makes. I'm pretty sure that it's been a while since we had the same RB for the whole 90 minutes and even if it hasn't substituting a RB for a RB is his second most used sub after (surprise! surprise!) getting Kalou on the pitch. He took off Ramires only because he was behind Anelka and everyone else in the pecking order, just like he used to sub Mikel last year, Benayoun earlier in the season and one of the kids whenever they started.

[eldo 868]

Sturridge doesn't strike me as a player. I'm starting to believe what Fulham Broadway has said.

[Term-X 7,891]

Sturridge doesn't strike me as a player. I'm starting to believe what Fulham Broadway has said.

I'm not suprised, Anelka of all players managed to start the game.

What does Carlo expect Sturridge to do in 10 minutes?

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Also the atmospheres getting worse -too many tourists/foreigners booing

Agreed about the atmosphere. I just hate how highly priced the Premier League games are.. £50 per ticket. It's awful, if I was there today I would've sang all 90minutes.. I've done it before and I'd do it again. I'm never quiet when I go, I'm always coming home out of breath. You just don't hear that lately :\

1. Starting the same hopeless attack
2. Starting Ferreira
3. No subs at HT
4. Took off probably our best player at the time (Ramires) for his 2nd substitution
5. Allowed Anelka 78 minutes on the pitch
6. Another worthless 10 minutes for Sturridge

And you know that I would have posted the same list had we won.

Yeah I know what you mean. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Carlo's off the hook, my reservations still remain. However the reason for us conceding so late was the players switching off. There was no reason why they could not see it out at 3-2, all they had to do was watch the Villa players and keep possession in their half. You're completely right about your points though, especially the 4^th one, which really annoyed me.

I saw no tactical masterstroke today.

I'd love to give him credit for what he does (like finally starting Bruma) but those two were just the changes he always makes. I'm pretty sure that it's been a while since we had the same RB for the whole 90 minutes and even if it hasn't substituting a RB for a RB is his second most used sub after (surprise! surprise!) getting Kalou on the pitch. He took off Ramires only because he was behind Anelka and everyone else in the pecking order, just like he used to sub Mikel last year, Benayoun earlier in the season and one of the kids whenever they started.

I just did not understand why Ferreira was on the team sheet today. Bosingwa is our best right back at the club, so against a dangerous team like Aston Villa why on earth did he select Ferreira?!

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Sturridge doesn't strike me as a player. I'm starting to believe what Fulham Broadway has said.

I'm not suprised, Anelka of all players managed to start the game.

What does Carlo expect Sturridge to do in 10 minutes?

Probably why the rumours of him wanting a Liverpool move are true..

[eldo 868]

I'm not suprised, Anelka of all players managed to start the game.

What does Carlo expect Sturridge to do in 10 minutes?

You could say the same for many players. Imo Kakuta should have started ahead of Malouda. I like him but i don't know what is happening to him. His first touch, ball control and movement are average lately. Same goes for Ash.

Don't know why Kakuta was absent today, but he deserves to play.

Still i don't know why Carlo gets all the stick. Why is nobody blaming players, apart from Anelka . Our midfielders aren't capable of moving the ball higher than from the middle of the pitch. They don't even connect more than 4 touches. How are those Carlos faults?

His mistake was playing Ferreira. But how is bringing Bosingwa and Kalou a mistake? They brought that right side to life. Kalou haters may hate that but he did ok and moved their defence a bit.

I praised Ramires after the Bolton game, but he has to stop fouling and try to connect his play a little bit.

[Term-X 7,891]

Five things Carlo Ancelotti can do to revive Chelsea

1. Learn to trust his young players

Even billionaires like to see a return on their money and it was understandable when the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, having poured millions into the club's academy, decided over the summer that the time had come for some of the talented youngsters to step up into the first team. Gaël Kakuta, Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick van Aanholt and Josh McEachran were the most noteworthy promotions and the related decision was taken to move on a quintet of seasoned professionals – Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Joe Cole and Juliano Belletti. The club named only 19 senior players in the squad submitted on 1 September (three of them goalkeepers) and the worry was always that, if injuries bit, the young players would find themselves under pressure. Injuries have bit but, more worrying still, Carlo Ancelotti has clearly felt unable to pitch them in when it has mattered the most. Kakuta and Bruma have started one Premier League fixture apiece; Van Aanholt and McEachran none at all. The result has been that a strain has been placed on the senior players, both physically and mentally, and this has been at the root of the slump. Ancelotti has to use the options available to him.

2 Don't run the pillars of the team into the ground

Ashley Cole was only half-joking in October when he said that, although he was 29, "I feel like I'm 35 or 40". It was at the time of the Champions League tie away to Spartak Moscow, on the Russian club's artificial pitch, and Ancelotti admitted that, ideally, he did not want to risk Cole or Michael Essien on it. He might have regretted saying so but he revealed that Cole's long-standing ankle problem needed constant monitoring – the defender is granted extra recovery time after matches – while Essien was in a similar boat, having had "a big problem with his knee". In the event both players played in the 2-0 win but their cards had been marked. John Terry, who like Cole turned 30 last month, has missed matches because of injury; so has Didier Drogba, through illness too, while Frank Lampard was sidelined for three-and-a-half months with groin trouble. These are all players who have metaphorically run through walls for the club, playing on occasion with the help of injections and on others, when not fully fit. It takes a toll.

3 Become more assertive

One of the many advantages in the appointment of Ancelotti was the perception that he was a malleable kind of guy; in other words, he was a coach who would stick to the coaching of the squad and not object to the various club policy decisionsand/or the whims of Abramovich. After all, Ancelotti had survived for eight years at Milan under Silvio Berlusconi, theman who wrote the manual on over-bearing bosses. Ancelotti's trademark gesture is the shrug. Nothing seems to bother him, he is unflappable and since last summer he has shrugged off the inability to make a serious impact in the transfer market (Ramires was not his choice); the promotion/imposition of the Academy youngsters to replace the outgoing old pros and, in November, the dismissal of his assistant Ray Wilkins. Ancelotti has not seemed to fight his corner with any force, particularly over Wilkins, whom he was on record as saying that he liked and relied upon, and the fear is that there could come a time when the big personalities in the dressing-room lose their respect for him.

4 Inspire the strikers to rediscover their touch

A few statistics. Since 7 November Drogba has scored three goals in 12 appearances (one of them a penalty), Florent Malouda has scored two in 12 and for Nicolas Anelka it is none in nine. They reflect a downturn that was pretty much inconceivable at the beginning of the season, when the trio were in riotous form.

Drogba's travails have been related to his bout of malaria, which he is estimated to have contracted some time in October and which sapped his power. He trained and played with it and he has yet to recover fully. In the 3-3 draw against Aston Villa on Sunday he seemed to drag himself to life for the final 10 minutes, after another difficult game, through the sheer force of his character. The Ivorian has been a bit bolshie of late, as he has contended with the frustration, and none of his team-mates celebrated his goal against Villa with him. Malouda's slump has led to plenty of grumbling while Anelka has never liked a starting position on the flank and he seems to determined to wander as far away from it. Ancelotti is eager for them all to regain focus.

5 Scour the January transfer market

Ancelotti repeated on Sunday that "we need some players" (note the plural) and he has been told that Abramovich will back him with the funds, although not to a limitless degree. Those days are gone and the club's interest in the Benfica centre-back David Luiz, who is valued at more than €27m, has therefore cooled. Bolton Wanderers' Gary Cahill is a more viable bet. Central defence is the priority area but Ancelotti hopes that Alex, who is back this week from Brazil, where he has been recovering from a knee operation, might yet offer the solution in two or three weeks' time. Fresh options up front could also help. A new signing or two would add much needed freshness. They would not answer all of the problems but they could be a start.

http://www.guardian....-revive-chelsea

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Number 3 makes me laugh a bit