If it wasn’t for bad luck...
Allegedly, it had a dead magpie in its gob.
The Premier League champions, weakened by injuries but also by some untimely meddling in the coaching staff by Roman Abramovich, have lost three of their last four games, the latest a 1-0 reverse at Birmingham City. The defeat was a ludicrous perversion of the run of play – Birmingham’s solitary shot on target produced Lee Bowyer’s winner, and resisted a barrage of 32 Chelsea attempts.
Not that Ancelotti is remotely freaked by that. He is, more likely, cursing the bad luck which has seen him managing the plaything of a meddlesome owner at both AC Milan and now Chelsea, where Roman Abramovich can’t seem to decide whether winning the Champions League or correcting the club’s inflated wage structure and debt burden is a more immediate priority.
The dismissal of club legend Ray Wilkins (the club are in ‘amicable’ talks with his lawyer) smacked of the type of executive interference that gives football’s boardroom suites their bad name, but ever the pragmatist, Ancelotti will overcome that.
What is of far greater import is the diktat from on high (via sporting director Frank Arnesen) that the coach is no longer empowered with a cheque book and must, in future, blood the club’s academy products. Whether they’re ready for the high octane world of the Premier League seems to be a moot point.
Where once the Chelsea bench was populated by internationals, its current residents seem hardly old enough to be allowed attend floodlit fixtures. Saturday’s bench at St Andrew’s featured Patrick Van Aanholt (20, left-back), Jeffrey Bruma (got skinned against Newcastle in the Carling Cup and hasn’t been seen since), Josh McEachran (good, but 17 and slight) and Gael Kakuta (talented but inexperienced, and in contract dispute with the club). Squad depth unlikely to strike fear into any of their next five opponents – Newcastle, Everton, Man Utd, Tottenham and Arsenal. The latter of those games, at the Emirates on December 27th, is followed two days later by a home game with Bolton – just what you need with a stretched squad.
Ramires, who came to the club for €20m from Benfica will take a season to bed in, while Benayoun (a strange buy) won’t be seen again this campaign.
With Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack et al departed in order to bring down the wage bill as much as the average age, and Alex’s knee operation only postponed out of desperation, the last thing Ancelotti needed was John Terry’s admission last week that he has not been free from injuries in around five years. The boss was quick to demur: “I played for 20 years and don’t remember how many times I was 100% fit.”
Yesterday’s red-tops were full of stories of stalled contract talks and ultimatums, though doubtless Ancelotti will rise above all that – for the time being at least. But if his squad continues to suffer the same luck as the Italian has with club owners, January could be an interesting month in west London – not least if Abramovich keeps the investment tap turned off during the transfer window.
