Winter of discontent continues for Chelsea

[Dunny]

Chelsea's winter of discontent continues: Wolves defeat marks club's worst run in 14 years

With just one league win to their name since November 10, Chelsea are losing their grip on retaining the title. Defeat to Wolves has seen them slip to fifth in the league and with the FA Cup coming up and Champions League set to resume, the task of rectifying their faltering season is not set to get any easier.


What's going on? Chelsea have won just once in the league since November 10 Photo: GETTY IMAGES






By Vicki Hodges and Emily Benammar 9:45AM GMT 06 Jan 2011 Comment




Chelsea's dismal run

Nov 7: Liverpool 2 Chelsea 0
Chelsea suffer second defeat of the season courtesy of two Fernando Torres strikes either side of half-time, seeing their lead at top of Premier League cut to two points.

Carlo Ancelotti: "Sometimes you lose but the team showed the same mentality and strength. To come here and lose can happen. Liverpool are a good team – but we have to be positive, we played a fantastic game in the second half."

Nov 14: Chelsea 0 Sunderland 3
Coming three days after the sudden departure of Ray Wilkins, defeat to Sunderland not only saw Chelsea concede first Premier League goals of the season at home but was only their fourth defeat at Stamford Bridge in 127 league games.

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Ancelotti: "I think this was the worst performance since I've been here."
Nov 20: Birmingham 1 Chelsea 0
Relegation-threatened Birmingham held on for victory as Chelsea bombarded the hosts in the second half. Despite their third defeat in four games, Chelsea remained top on goal difference but rumours intensified that Ancelotti was poised to quit the club.
Ancelotti: "These rumours are totally untrue, I don't know why this rumour came out today in the papers. I said before my aim is to stay in this club, this country, this atmosphere for a long time."
Nov 28: Newcastle 1 Chelsea 1
A day after watching Manchester United move to the top of the table with a 7-1 thrashing of Blackburn, Chelsea miss chance to regain top spot needing Salomon Kalou to rescue them a point. Further speculation continues regarding Ancelotti's future with Barcelona's Pep Guardiola linked with a move to west London.
Ancelotti: "We are not interested in what happens off the field. We focus on our training and our matches. I know Pep Guardiola, that's different. You don't have to ask me. Usually the coach is the last to know these rumours."
Dec 4: Chelsea 1 Everton 1
Despite the return of captain John Terry after a four-game absence with a nerve problem, Jermaine Beckford's late equaliser secures deserved point for visitors.
Ancelotti: "We were scared and I didn't like this. It's not a problem of concentration. They all knew it was an important game for us to move on from the difficult spell we are still in. We have to work harder than we are now. The problem is on the pitch."
Dec 8: Marseille 1 Chelsea 0
Even a dead rubber of a final Champions League group match could not see Chelsea get back into the groove as they concede a winner with nine minutes to go.
Ancelotti: "This is the life of a sportsman in this job. You don’t get what you deserve. This is normal. We don’t have to lose composure, character, our ability. We have to maintain confidence for the future."
Dec 12: Tottenham 1 Chelsea 1
Not even the gift of an injury-time penalty was enough to help Chelsea turn their fortunes around. Curiously it was Drogba that stepped up for the spot-kick despite the return of Frank Lampard. Scoring would have sent Chelsea top but Drogba's miss saw them drop to fourth.
Ancelotti: “This is not good, but it’s a long race. There are a lot of teams who can win the title, and Chelsea will be involved until the end. It doesn’t matter that we’re fourth. It might be a problem at the end but not now.”
Dec 27: Arsenal 3 Chelsea 1
Chelsea slipped out of the Champions League spots with defeat at their title rivals but the club rallied behind Ancelotti who was told his job was not under threat.
Ancelotti: "I didn't expect this. I was surprised. We have to wake up – until now we've been sleeping. Maybe I have to be the first to wake up. The table is not good. We have to do better."
Jan 2 Chelsea 3 Aston Villa 3
Did anyone see this coming? Chelsea thought they'd won the game when John Terry scored late on as Chelsea rallied from 2-1 down to lead 3-2 only for a defensive lapse to throw away two points against relegation-threatened Villa.
Ancelotti: "Defensively we lost something – obviously we thought the game was won, we lost two points, so for this reason I am disappointed because at this moment when you deserve to win you need to win
Jan 5: Wolves 1 Chelsea 0
A desperate defeat that even Ancelotti admitted could have written off their hopes of back-to-back titles. A cheap own goal inside five minutes again highlighted the weakness in Chelsea's backline.
Ancelotti: "It’s difficult to come back in the Premier League but we have the FA Cup and the Champions League, and the most important thing now is to move on.”
What's coming up for Chelsea (all Premier League unless stated)...

• Jan 9 Chelsea v Ipswich (FA Cup third round)
• Jan 15: Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers
• Jan 24: Bolton Wanderers v Chelsea
• Tue Feb 1: Sunderland v Chelsea
• Sun Feb 6: Chelsea v Liverpool
• Mon Feb 14: Fulham v Chelsea

[Dunny]

Where it has all gone wrong for Chelsea this season?

From an over-reliance on Didier Drogba to a small and ageing squad, the champion's season is on verge of implosion.


Lack of forward thinking: no one has made up the shortfall in Didier Drogba's absences this season Photo: AP







By Alan Smith 7:12AM GMT 07 Jan 2011 Alan's Twitter
2 Comments


Over-reliance on Drogba

You cannot expect the centre-forward to deliver all the time. After leading the charge in previous seasons, there will inevitably come a spell when Didier Drogba struggles, be it through lack of form or, in this case, a bout of malaria.

Critically, no one has made up the shortfall. Florent Malouda has managed just two league goals in his last 20 appearances, Salomon Kalou only one in 11, while Nicolas Anelka has not scored in nine. In addition, Daniel Sturridge has failed to make an impression off the bench.

If you study the statistics, this is clearly more of a problem than anything happening elsewhere.

Changes in defence

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It is indeed surprising that the team have conceded only one more league goal than at this stage last season, when they went on to clinch the Premier League and FA Cup.
That said, the lack of a settled back four has not helped understanding. Jose Bosingwa has been in and out, Alex is recovering from a knee operation and Paulo Ferreira has proved unreliable. Consequently, the rearguard have lost some of their aura. Opposing strikers now fancy their chances of getting some joy.
Lampard’s absence
Losing the midfielder for four months hit extremely hard. It was not just his goals either, though that was bad enough. Having scored 27 last season, he has so far managed two, to leave a huge hole in Chelsea’s tally.
And even if he does not score, those brilliantly-timed runs beyond the strikers cause the opposition all sorts of problems. Without them, however, Chelsea became more predictable, often playing in front of teams rather than getting behind.
The good news, though, is that Frank Lampard is finding his feet again, delivering some killer passes and popping up unmarked in the box. That will certainly help Drogba, who depends on his team-mate for the quick pass.
Ageing squad
Not so easy to solve, this one, unless you have got a spare £100 million. The club have allowed this talented group of players to grow old together without gradually introducing younger components. Against Aston Villa recently, seven thirtysomethings started the game.
The result is a team lacking energy and verve. Set against Arsenal’s young bucks or the pace at Tottenham, Chelsea start to look rather pedestrian. Neither do the young kids being promoted look capable of solving the problem.
Josh McEachran definitely has a big future, but the others are either not ready or not good enough. It is going to be a massive problem at Stamford Bridge.
No room for rotation
The squad is not just ageing, it is also very small, which leaves Carlo Ancelotti with little room for manoeuvre. As a result, the same faces are being asked to turn out every match. No wonder some looked tired at Molineux. Most of them had played four games in 10 days – a stark contrast to their main rivals, who can rotate.
So with the FA Cup upon us and the Champions League resuming next month, Chelsea need more bodies to cope with the challenge.
Low confidence and morale
When all is said and done, this is the main reason for Chelsea’s woes. The senseless sacking of Ray Wilkins kick-started the decline and a string of poor results has compounded the problems.
In essence, some very good players are failing in the basics – always a sure sign that confidence is low. Look how easy it was for Villa’s Stewart Downing to get in his cross for Emile Heskey’s headed goal. Ashley Cole, normally so reliable in these situations, did not do enough to stop the cross.
It was a similar story at Wolves the other night. Lampard failed to do his job properly at the near post, adopting the wrong position to allow a low corner past, resulting in Bosingwa’s own goal.
What’s more, at times like these someone needs to have a quiet word, either in the dressing room or on the training ground. Without Wilkins, Ancelotti finds himself alone, robbed of experienced lieutenants who can speak with authority.
With all due respect to Paul Clement and Michael Emenalo, will established internationals listen to a former youth team coach with no playing experience, or a bloke promoted from chief scout, boasting Molenbeek and Notts County on a limited CV?
In this regard, then, Ancelotti finds himself isolated, unable to call on trusted advice.

[Gamma]

same squad that was winning when ray wilkins was on the staff .... so? same squad that beat arsenal ....... dem SUDDENLY tun rucks?

i chalk it up to a lack of continuity following wilkins' dismissal....a fragile balance was disrupted.