Carlo Ancelotti has achieved a great deal during his time in the West End yet faces a summer of uncertainty regarding his future with the defending English League Champions. Has he got a case to answer if he wants to keep his job?
History – unchanged. Ancelotti’s legacy in blue will feature one glaring omission if he is to depart as a result of Roman Abramovich’s post-season recriminations. The hugely-coveted Champions League trophy continues to elude this club, notwithstanding the former AC Milan manager’s past pedigree in winning UEFA’s top prize twice as both player and manager during his illustrious career.
Meeting expectations – unchecked. Having gone into the season on the crest of a tidal wave busy washing away anyone with the temerity to stand in their way, Chelsea have since fallen short and, while their home record proved the foundation of last season’s successful campaign, Stamford Bridge has this time around been breached no less than five times, over three competitions, including by Sunderland, who eased their way to a well-earned 3-0 win in front of the demanding Blues faithful in November.
Progression – unfulfilled. Three trophies have been surrendered by the Blues in 2010/11, with the league title they won to great fanfare 11 months ago now all but lost to Manchester United, who were also responsible for their exit from last week’s Champions League Quarter-Final. Seasons without return are not met with much above contempt by owner Abramovich, as Avram Grant will recall from his ultimately unmerited tenure.
Transfer record – unsure. The one-time serial winner’s signings have been a mixed bag; while Brazilian midfielder Ramires has shone in recent weeks after a steady start to life in London and compatriot David Luiz has been dubbed a future world star, British record acquisition Fernando Torres’s move on the same day as the former Benfica centre-half has thus far produced meagre reward for Roman’s vast outlay. However, funds have appeared hard to come by in pursuing other reported moves, such as that for Andrea Pirlo, whom Ancelotti unofficially targeted upon arrival from previous employers, AC Milan.
Coping with external influence – unavailable. While his prolonged post in the Milan dug-out provides evidence of the coach’s innate survival instincts, his time under Russian reign has been blighted by contributions from ‘the Company’; truly commencing with the alleged announcement to his squad as to the introduction of a performance-based pay scheme and tightened wage structure on the eve of this campaign. His response to the owner’s new emphasis on youth has been less than emphatic, as the signing of Torres, seemingly at the owner’s insistence, suggests.
Ego-handling - As with Luiz Felipe Scolari, another previous incumbent of the Stamford Bridge hotseat, Ancelotti has been apparently unable to deal with the combined egos, in the Italian’s case, of three strikers well-endowed in this department. Whereas Scolari confessed to feuding with Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack respectively, it was due to the contending profiles of Drogba and Torres that this manager inevitably lost his way, failing to find a preferred formula in time for a final push for the Premier League and a late onslaught on Chelsea’s ‘holy grail’.
Tactics – unproven, if unconfirmed. Whether it was his decision to play Torres at Old Trafford or one that was pre-ordained, the fact remains that Ancelotti was aware of his need to at least come close to winning the European Cup in order to keep the powers that be onside. The fact that he was out-thought by Jose Mourinho last season in the competition and again by Sir Alex Ferguson over two legs this term, even taking into account a clearly flawed 4-4-2 system (the replicating of which by a top-class tactician being seemingly unthinkable following their lucky escape in the league against the same opponents weeks earlier),may have represented the curtain-call for the affable Italian eyebrow-raiser.
No comments:
Post a Comment