What Chelsea have learnt from preseason tour to United States with Carlo Ancelotti

28 July 2009 14:16
There have been irritations. It’s understood the players were not enamoured with the itinerary which included a match against the Seattle Sounders and then participation in the so-called World Football Challenge, which they won. Fixtures against Inter Milan, AC Milan and Club America saw them criss-cross the US with the final two matches crazily scheduled so that Chelsea played in Baltimore and then flew back south-west to Dallas – before going east again as they headed home. Ancelotti, also, looked exhausted by the end of it. Here are 12 things Chelsea will have learnt from their trip to America. 1. Ancelotti is his own man and wants his team to play in his system rather than adopting the one laid down by Jose Mourinho. This means a diamond in midfield and two strikers. Such a formation allows so-called ‘playing between the lines’ and is more flexible than Chelsea’s traditional 4-3-3. But there are concerns. It’s a system that has had limited success in the Premier League and can lead to a team being over-run. And what’s plan B? 2. The holding midfielder is the key. Ancelotti has hailed the quality of midfielders at his disposal at Chelsea but he must be worried that he doesn’t have a specialist in the role he is placing so much importance on. John Obi Mikel will be given an opportunity there, but there are huge question marks over his suitability, while it doesn’t get the best out of Michael Essien who can be destructive but isn’t the greatest passer and is more effective powering up and down the pitch. Michael Ballack could be an option but Ancelotti must still be craving his own recruit. Andrea Pirlo would fit the bill but would also represent an expensive risk. He doesn’t want to become Ancelotti’s Deco. 3. A clear-out is still needed. The sight of Andrei Shevchenko and Claudio Pizarro – the mullet twins as they were dubbed – on this tour was a reminder of some of the mistakes made in the past. Shevchenko is a shadow of his former self while Pizarro is so disinterested that he wasn’t even aware that John Terry had released a statement pledging his future to the club. 4. Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka can play together as a strike partnership. There are growing signs that what appeared unlikely is possible. Drogba is in fine form and scored twice – the second goal was breathtaking – and while Anelka didn’t score he did appear more involved in the link-up play and was a threat. 5. Daniel Sturridge and Yuri Zhirkov are two good acquisitions. Sturridge has an irritating arrogance that Ancelotti would do well to clamp down on but he is a talent. He has pace, ability and confidence and, at 19, will only improve. He also appeared to settle in quickly. Manchester City will regret losing him. Zhirkov, meanwhile, is more the finished article but will have to adapt to find a regular place in the team. He scored on his debut, against AC Milan, and was Chelsea’s best player but it’s unthinkable that he will dislodge Ashley Cole at left-back. His best bet is to try and take Florent Malouda’s spot on the left of midfield. 6. Chelsea still need more creativity. In the system Ancelotti wants to play, buying Franck Ribery would be ideal. He has the pace, energy and ability to tie down the role on the right of the midfield and also support the strikers. Bayern Munich don’t want to sell, Ribery would prefer to go to Real Madrid but Chelsea – surely – should real push the boat out further than the £40 million they have already bid. That would be some statement. 7. It was a good decision not to allow Ricardo Carvalho to leave. Guus Hiddink preferred Alex but Carvalho, if he is happy, is still Chelsea’s wiliest defender and it would appear crazy for him to go which is something Ancelotti has quickly realised. They need his experience and Ancelotti loves nothing more than using experienced defenders as he showed at Milan. 8. The manager’s English has to improve. Ancelotti is working incredibly hard at the new language – and it must be mentally exhausting for hm - but is still struggling to communicate. He has had intensive lessons and is getting better but the last thing Chelsea want is for him to lapse, as Luiz Felipe Scolari did, when the hurly-burly of the season started. Poor communication breeds frustration and if results wobble, it will be an issue. 9. John Terry had to make a public statement about his future. However much he now claims otherwise, Terry was tempted by Manchester City. Relations have not been good between the club and its captain and it has been unsettled for all. If Terry had left it would have been a terrible statement for Chelsea to make – unless of course they had a world-class replacement lined up and that wasn’t the case. It would also have hugely undermined Ancelotti. Finally Terry did speak and Chelsea will hope that’s the end of the matter. 10. The old guard are still hungry for success. Yet again this summer Chelsea considered wholesale changes but the familiar names – Terry, Lampard, Drogba – were also the ones who impressed most. In training and in matches. There is a renewed hunger to the side and perhaps a realisation that Abramovich was right. They have under-achieved. It will also help that Ancelotti, from his Milan days, has vast experience of getting the best out of such older players. 11. Ancelotti can be the man to help Chelsea ‘get over’ Jose Mourinho. The spectre of the Special One still haunts this Chelsea team. It has been his team for so long playing his way. Ancelotti appears to have the ability, strength of character and charisma to finally lay that to rest. It may also help that Mourinho is no friend of Ancelotti with the two clashing bad-temperedly in Serie A last season while the Portuguese, never one to stop bearing a grudge, refused to shake the Italian’s hand after the friendly in Pasadena last Tuesday. 12. Chelsea have to show patience. Ancelotti has spoken of his desire to emulate the eight years he spent as Milan coach at Chelsea and that wasn’t even something that Mourinho declared. Longevity hasn’t been considered at Chelsea but Ancelotti has – in private and in public – stressed the need to be given time to build something. The changes at the club have been embarrassing and have happened with embarrassing frequency and it appears that Abramovich – having also been told so by Hiddink – also now accepts that. Maybe that’s why, ever summer, Chelsea get into such protracted contract sagas with their players Still, if Ancelotti loses his first four games then all bets are off.

Source: Telegraph