Studs Up

Unsurprisingly, Carlo Ancelotti is Chelsea’s new boss just moments after resigning from Milan.

Good coach, questionable hire.

Whether they like it, or know it, Chelsea wanted a short term solution with this hire. They want someone who can win immediately and not in a year or two after shaping “his team”. Most managers can not do both and the ones who can are the rarest of animals.

Harry Redknapp? Short term fixer. Rafa Benitez? Long term fixer.

Ironically one manager in world football who has proven to deliver immediate and sustained success is Jose Mourinho, and Chelsea is still running on the fumes of the Portugese’s era. This is a squad that is still so well built and well trained that they could probably march 90% towards every trophy without any manager at all.

The club just needs that special someone who can push them that final 10% through powerful motivation and the tactical nous. Roman has shown curious restraint in the transfer window with the last few managers and there’s no reason to expect that to change.

So if a short term jolt of inspiration is what they need, does Ancelotti hold up? Erm, not quite.

He’s coming from a career entirely based in Italy, a league whose style is streets away from that of England. He did a brilliant job with Milan but as a result is coming to Chelsea on the back of 8 years with a system-dependent team that relied on the very unique talents of Andrea Pirlo, a rock-solid defensive four and the genius of Kaka. Suddenly moving away from that very, very comfy comfort zone to a brand new league and a brand new language screams “transition period”, a luxury no Chelsea manager has had under Abramovich.

It’s actually a very interesting time to take stock of Chelsea’s situation as they’re in the midst of their first transitional period under Roman’s ownership.

They’ve actually reached a rather scary tipping point that comes with any club that hires and fires managers with reckless abandon – the players are no longer being held accountable by themselves or the club because they know that at soon as things are going wrong they can just pack it in and wait for the boss to be sacked. Drogba, Ballack, Anelka and even Terry will have no problem turning their back on Ancelotti the moment things go off just as they’ve done for everyone since (and perhaps including) Jose Mourinho.

When the players lose accountability like this, then every season is balanced on a razor’s edge. One loss can easily become two, three four and a slump can quickly turn into a lost dressing room and ultimately yet another firing. Spurs and Newcastle fans can probably speak to this phenomenon a little.

Chelsea’s best bet of success is to allow Ancelotti time to clear house of the players who may not want to be at there anymore and bring in those who want to play for him and can do the job he needs. The current squad just feels a little… stale.

If Roman decides to get the chequebook out like old times, however, all bets are off.

I was invited onto the season finale of the Soccerlens podcast where I chatted about Ancelotti and some other bollocks, so if you have some time spare then take a listen.

It’s also Boys Week on Kickette where I’ll be guest posting along with other, erm, “boys” as they turn the site over to the men for seven days. Should be a good time and the little redesign they did to celebrate the event amuses me greatly.