Chelsea's Season Not a Disaster...Yet

When Carlo Ancelotti replaced Nicolas Anelka in the last minute of Sunday's game, I couldn’t help but think "the man is only 90 minutes late."

I think that substitution summed up the situation for Ancelotti and for Chelsea. I still wonder what the purpose behind that substitution could be. If anything, it helped Bolton to waste crucial seconds at the end of the match.

My way of interpreting the decision is that Carlo finally realized that Anelka being on the pitch was not going to help him. Anelka is not the man in form. If he were, in the dying seconds Ancelotti could have got Daniel Sturridge into the game for a defender or a midfielder.

If Chelsea had played Sturridge or Salomon Kalou in place of Anelka as soon as it was clear that he was not in form (which was in early February), our place in the table could be quite different.

Even in the pre-match post, I mentioned that Anelka must NOT start. Unfortunately, he did. Quite unsurprisingly, all good chances fell for Anelka. Equally unsurprisingly, he didn’t take any of them.

I might sound like I’m blaming Anelka, but I’m really not. Players being in or out of form is quite normal. Plus, unlike in the past, Anelka is giving his all. He is working hard. If he is unable to finish chances, he is unlucky.

But as a manager, Carlo Ancelotti makes the decision of who plays and who doesn’t. And that’s the reason why I won’t blame Anelka. It is Ancelotti’s decision, not Anelka’s. Fair play to Carlo, he mustered his courage to drop Michael Ballack. If he had also dropped Anelka, we would have made a good start.

Of course, Anelka played a key role in our goal. I don’t discount that. Our drop from glory this season is more because of our missed opportunities that the ones we had taken.

As you have figured out by now, I give a lot of credit as well as debit for the manager in charge. If the players don’t play to their potential, I question the manager. If the players consistently play to their potential and sometimes pull above their weight, I praise the manager. If players consistently play below their potential, and succumb to pressure, and fail at such crucial stages, I have to ask the manager about his value to the team.

Even the best teams in the world have always needed a manager. Irrespective of whether you have a bunch of geniuses or ballon d’ors playing on the pitch, there is still a need for a manager to pull them together, work for the team goal, keep their motivation, keep momentum going, and most importantly to help, guide, and mentor them. It is because of these expectations that I tend to get critical on Ancelotti.

Ancelotti absolutely has the pedigree. There is no doubt about that. But he comes from a legendary club. Being a manager at Milan, Inter, Barcelona, Juventus, Man United, Bayern, etc., are a little different than being a manager of Chelsea or Man City. The urgency is different. The patience is different.

At those legendary clubs, while there is pressure to win titles, the pressure is not as intense as it is at Chelsea or Man City. Those historic clubs have won enough and have a glorious enough past to go trophy-less for a few seasons and still remain patient. It doesn’t quite work that way in Chelsea unfortunately.

Also, I don’t agree with the logic that this is not his team. No matter who assembled the team, it is a team of top professionals with various and versatile capabilities. The Chelsea team is one of the most respected in Europe. Why would it matter if Ancelotti had the opportunity to build his own team or not?

It doesn’t always happen like that in football. You get in and start delivering. The difference between a Sam Allardyce and a Carlo Ancelotti must just be that. We may not expect Big Sam to lead us to the premier league title because he is Big Sam and not Carlo Ancelotti.

Having said all this, I must say that I have seen this Chelsea team improve under Ancelotti in technical areas. Our players have become better technically. Still, the first touch of the players improving by 100 percent may not and need not result in the team winning matches or coming back from adversities.

As a team, we don’t seem to have the bull dog spirit. A lot has been said about Michael Essien’s absence but I think that’s just a convenient excuse. Season after season, you have injuries—some minor, some major, some less crucial, some very crucial—but they’re always there.

As a manager you never make a plan with an assumption that you’re best 11 would play all 38 matches in the league. Injuries happen—they have happened to all big teams, every single season. That’s where the winter transfer window comes in handy. Carlo could have pushed the black suits to get some mid-season reinforcements. He didn’t or he was convinced that he doesn’t have to—either way it’s his decision.

To be honest, it’s still no disaster. We still have a great chance to win the League title. We sound worried only because we don’t see the promise, we don’t have the hope.

More than anything, neither the manager nor the players sound or look positive. That attitude catches on to the fans very easily. But all that we need to do is win eight more matches and we’re home. It may not be very easy but remember that in the next month both Man United and Arsenal will be busy with their Champions League fixtures too. That’s when we need to quietly overtake them.

We have Portsmouth for the mid-week. I don’t have to reiterate how important it is to win this match. If we don’t win this, we can officially sign off for the season.

That’s not because we might fall behind in the table but because of the damage it can do to the already weak morale of the team. All that we need to do is to show up and play decently. Unlike the Bolton game, we should not destruct ourselves. Anyway, I think we will win and win comfortably. See you after the Pompey result. Stay hopeful.