Ancelotti running out of time to find right answer

CARLO ANCELOTTI has provided the soundtrack to Chelsea’s rapidly disintegrating season and once again the manager was reduced to describing his side’s predicament as “not a good moment”.

He was right. Ancelotti is again resorting to his favoured refrain, and the coach is still struggling to find a way out of another dip.

Different explanations have been offered for Chelsea’s decline this season and almost all of them are relevant. Before the turn of the year, a prematurely overhauled squad and the departure of Ray Wilkins, the assistant manager, were plausible reasons for the downturn.