Since 1 December, Chelsea’s record reads played 23, won 11, drawn 6, lost 6. That is a win ratio of just 47%.
Those 11 wins included three against Championship opposition and four teams from the current bottom five in the league. In that period, Ancelotti’s Chelsea have only been good enough to beat top half opposition three times: Fulham, Birmingham and Arsenal, all at home. Bad results have come against any kind of decent side – Inter (twice), Everton (twice), Man City – and Chelsea have also failed to beat lower profile sides like West Ham, Hull and Apoel. On Sunday, a well organised Blackburn defended well as a team and added themselves to that list.
Bar a brief revival in January, it has been a dismal three and a half months for Chelsea, a period in which the club has moved from title favourites to favourites for third place. But to what extent is Ancelotti to blame for this slump?
Every Chelsea fan has a view on where the current slump originates. Does it come from the serious mismanagement of the squad over the past few years, which has led to it becoming severely unbalanced and aged? Does it originate from too many managerial changes, which in turn led to that squad mismanagement? Alternatively, does the blame lie with the players themselves, who are failing to show the required drive and desire to challenge for the Premier League again? Or, finally, does it come down to Ancelotti’s own tactical ineptitude and inability to crush his players’ lack of desire?
These are huge debates, and I suspect the reality is a combination of all of the above. To the outsider, the club as a playing force has unravelled into a mess, the result of a negligence over the past three seasons. Whilst this means Ancelotti’s hands have been tied to an extent – he certainly can’t be blamed for the make-up of the squad he has inherited - that does not mean he should be beyond criticism.
Yesterday’s dismal performance against Blackburn – especially in the second half – reinforced question marks against Ancelotti tactically, and also his ability to influence and inspire his players. It was difficult to discern what the plan was to beat Blackburn, let alone what the plan B was. There were strange decisions from the off, too. Why was Malouda, who has been playing so well of late, played in such a withdrawn and central role? Whilst he wasn’t great defensively against Inter, why didn’t Zhirkov start at left back?
The Italian seemed incapable of changing the game once Blackburn had equalised, and the changes he did make were bewildering. Why starve the team of width and pace (which had created the goal, incidentally) by replacing Kalou with the usually ineffective Deco? The substitution narrowed Chelsea, playing into Blackburn’s hands. And why wait until the 90th minute to bring on Sturridge? Quite aside from the idea that it puts too much pressure on a young player to have an instant impact – which I would resent, by the way – it was too little, too late. And why bring him on for Anelka rather than Mikel or a full back? By that point the game was being played in Blackburn’s half - did Ancelotti want to win?
As I wrote about after the Inter game, there was again no presence from Ancelotti on the sidelines. To repeat, I’m not saying good managers have to scream and shout. They do however need to do what they can to positively influence their players, and should any Chelsea player have glanced at their coach in the last twenty minutes yesterday they would have only seen a tired, idea-devoid looking man in a dark coat.
Like most Chelsea fans, I want to see some stability at the club. I’d like to see Ancelotti given the time to succeed, too – it’s desperately important that the club break the cycle of sacking managers as soon as something goes wrong. But, at the same time, keeping a manager for the long-term can’t be an end all on its own: keeping a good, able manager for the long-term should be. Hiddink’s run at the club last season proved how crucial a good manager can be, and how some managers can do vastly more with the same resources than others.
To make sure he gets the backing he needs, I’d like to see Ancelotti show he is capable of carving out winning gameplans (plural), making bolder substitutions from losing situations and dropping players that need to be dropped, whatever their profile. I’d like to see more inspiration from the sidelines and young players given real chances to show what they can do when the team is two or three nil up against lesser opposition. So far this season, I’d argue that there has been too little evidence, and yesterday Ancelotti wasn’t good enough.
The chase for the league isn’t over, but it is probably moving in that direction. As we get closer to that eventuality, attention will turn to what happens next or, more specifically, what Abramovich does next. An overhaul of the squad is required to correct what has gone before but, in addition to whether Abramovich has the will to do it, we will also find out whether he is willing to trust Ancelotti with the job (after all, if the manager doesn’t have a plan for 90 minutes, can he have a plan for five years?). Before the summer, the Italian will have to improve.
As always great article,those numbers pretty much sum up how frustrating we've since December.It looks like we are even worse than I though and realistically speaking we've got no chance to get the league.TBH I'm sick of Ancelotti and the decline he has brought to our team.He seems like in a coma and his tactical decisions are infuriating me.I'm all for supporting a manager but so far Carlo Ancelotti has failed,big time.Yesterdays Chelsea made me hope for the 1st time Jose would return and that's saying something about the state we're in.
Posted by: Kostaz | 22 March 2010 at 13:48
Very good read, I didn't realise the results were that depressing. I'm afraid Ancelloti has the same look that the previous man with a problem had (Scolari)A bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights just a blank expression, and no Idea what to do. A point seemingly mad abvious when Drogba seemed to be telling him what to do, and he just looked blankly back at him.
I would also like stability, but at what cost another season with Ancelloti, pls do not give him money to spend. I f his choice to change a game is Deco on for Kalou!!!
A dissapointed fan from Perth Australia
Posted by: Steve Van Doorn | 22 March 2010 at 15:38
Good article, a few extra points to add, since Christmas, 7 clean sheets in 18 games in all competitions; Birmingham twice, Preston, Watford, Arsenal, Stoke, Wolves. Arsenal aside, hardly world beaters. I still cannot work out our formation on Sunday, and I'm not alone. Why was Lampard, Kalou and Anelka all deployed right hand side with no one out left? Why was Malouda deeper than Mikel and central? I didn't make any sence. If I saw Ancelotti tried something different as a reaction and I understood what was going on and it hadn't worked, fair enough, but it was just nonsence.
Posted by: Joe Tyler | 22 March 2010 at 17:31
we also beat the man utd bastards too though! We need 1 or two new players Aguero and Di Maria, then bring back sinclair, stoch and play kakuta, we need to give it a chance for at least a season, if not beg Hiddink to come back!!!
Posted by: tom | 22 March 2010 at 22:05
We are not prepared for our last few games. We come out flat or if we come out prepared, we quickly lose interest and fall back to bad habits.
We should have never let Jose go and it was so obvious when he kicked our ass.
If we continue struggling, I would agree with those who want to see new leadership at the top of our team (Manager)
CA has always been a solid yet suspect coach who needed a miracle to win the CL
Posted by: Aious | 22 March 2010 at 22:24