There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Carlo Ancelotti’s position as manager at Stamford Bridge recently and rumours of Roman Abramovich wanting Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola, but I do not believe a change in manager is what we need. We need patience.
Chelsea have made a complete u-turn in their spending policy over the last few years and are attempting to bring through young players from within and cut expenditure by doing so. If this is Abramovich’s will (and I assume it is the board’s idea) then patience has to be given to Ancelotti to do the job he has been asked to do.
The current youth option could take some time to develop into fruition as the likes of Josh McEachran, Patrick van Aanholt, Gael Kakuta and Jeffrey Bruma won’t become stars over night, so it would surely be harsh by Abramovich to have such high expectations on Ancelotti considering the small and young squad he has at his disposal.
However, it would seem as though the pressure is on the former AC Milan manager as our owner is expecting to cut costs and maintain a high level of success at the same time, but in my opinion this is simply unrealistic. If Abramovich wants short as well as long term success then he should have invested in the squad a little more as it’s too much of a burden to bare on what is the smallest squad over 21-year old in the league.
We currently have a good manager who won a Premier League and FA Cup double in his first season in England with a minimal amount of funds spent, all with a squad that somebody else had put together. He probably raised expectations following his initial achievements, especially when Chelsea were mauling teams with scorelines more akin to what you would see on EA Sports’ FIFA game than the vidiprinter on Soccer Saturday.
If Abramovich had backed Carlo in the transfer market like he did with Claudio Ranieri and Jose Mourinho then perhaps he could expect a high return on his investment. He instead chose to impose a new policy which meant less expenditure and a number of high profile exits with Michael Ballack, Joe Cole, Ricardo Carvalho, Deco and Juliano Belletti going out of the door. Yossi Benayoun and Ramires were brought in to re-bolster the ranks, but our summer business left many fans underwhelmed.
A few months, injuries, suspensions, losses and dismissals later and suddenly we are in a ‘crisis’ and the tabloid journalists start getting notions that Abramovich will want the latest shiny thing which at the moment seems to be Guardiola.
But what difference would Guardiola make anyway? He has had the best squad at his disposal since he started his managerial career, so why would he fare any better than Ancelotti in exactly the same circumstances?
I wish someone would put an end to all the nonsense. When Manchester United brought the likes of Ryan Giggs and Beckham through the results were not immediate and the same goes for the likes of Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal. Our current young starlets have been doing well so far, but we may not reap the real benefits this season. The squad does not have the depth it once boasted and Ancelotti is not responsible for the lack of funds spent or the casualties suffered, so I would hope and implore Abramovich to not make Ancelotti into Chelsea’s latest scapegoat by the end of the season.
What do the fans think?
