Sleep-deprived Ancelotti tells players to wake up

CARLO ANCELOTTI isn’t sleeping and it’s not difficult to understand why.

Chelsea’s disastrous dip in form has seen them go from hot title favourites to only one league victory in six games, third place in the table and awaiting matches against Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal with trepidation.

Those are the next three fixtures facing the champions and it doesn’t take a genius to work out the title could be won or lost for Ancelotti’s side long before the New Year is in.

Unfortunately for the Italian, who has spent restless nights contemplating the reason for his side’s demise, there were few signs of hope on Saturday following a 1-1 draw against Everton that left him exasperated, angry and bemused. And who can blame him?

Chelsea showed not only a worrying lack of self-confidence but also a sloppy attitude against a technically strong Everton side who fully deserved a point at Stamford Bridge and could have ended up with more.

It wasn’t what Chelsea fans were expecting after seeing captain John Terry’s name on the teamsheet once more and learning how their heroes had been given a clear pre-match warning that a repeat of their previous home performance, a shock 3-0 defeat against Sunderland, would not be tolerated.

In the history of this Chelsea side, under a string of different managers from the Special One to Ancelotti, it’s hard to remember them ever failing to respond to a rallying call so miserably.

It’s always been Chelsea’s strength; that resilience never to lose twice in a row, to always respond in a crisis and to clear the air with a team meeting.

But last week’s emergency meeting clearly didn’t have the desired effect.

True, Chelsea weren’t awful in the first half when neither side really took a grip of the game until Phil Neville inexplicably sent a back-pass straight to Nicolas Anelka, who was clearly baulked by goalkeeper Tim Howard — allowing Didier Drogba to score from the penalty spot.

It was Drogba’s first league goal in two months (since a home game against Arsenal in early October) and the first since his recovery from a malaria virus that has clearly affected his form and fitness; and it should have been the spark that re-ignited Chelsea’s title chase.

Astonishingly, however, it wasn’t. Ancelotti’s team returned for the second half a shadow of themselves, allowing Everton to dominate possession for long periods as Chelsea failed abysmally to create chances of their own.

So it was no surprise at all when Everton finally broke through, substitute Jermaine Beckford heading home from close range after the excellent Leighton Baines had jinked his way down the left and Tim Cahill had knocked his deep cross back into the six-yard box.

So did Chelsea show enough desire to win the game?

“First half, yes. Second half, no,” said Ancelotti. “I have to understand what happened in the second-half because it was poor. I’m not happy to see my team play like they did in that second half. We have to change our ideas. We are working to play a kind of football that is totally different to the way we played in the second half. We have to ask why this happened. I saw a team that was afraid, scared and unable to play our football, unable to play easy passes. It was just long ball. This is not our aim.

“I think we have to wake up from this moment. We can move on but what we are doing is not enough. We have to work harder.”

You have to feel for Ancelotti because having won the Double last season and soared to the top of the table this year, scoring an avalanche of goals early in the campaign, he seemed to have found the secret to playing entertaining, winning football — a combination so desired by owner Roman Abramovich. But something has gone terribly wrong and you can sense his anguish.

“How do I feel? Not good at this moment. Not just because we drew but because we didn’t play well. My team did not play good football. I was obviously disappointed for the result but I was not happy with the play. Right now I cannot relax, I don’t sleep well. We have to put things right.”

The added problem for Ancelotti is that given Abramovich’s history of sacking managers, he is bound to face headlines about his job being under threat. “I’m not worried about that,” he insisted. “It’s not my decision. It’s the decision of the club but I don’t feel pressure over this. We are not playing well or having good results and we are no longer top of the table so there are lots of reasons to worry about that instead.

“But I maintain confidence in my players. I maintain trust. It’s not a good moment for them or for myself but we have to stay together; we don’t have to search to find out who is guilty.

“In my career I have had a lot of difficult moments. Every year I have had them but I know the way out of it is to work hard, stay together, don’t find strange things to affect you and work hard on the training ground.”

Chelsea must hope Ancelotti’s methods reap a quick dividend because the next three matches could decide their season. The manager may not be sleeping but for his players it’s time to wake up.