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Ancelotti knows Chelsea premiership race far from over

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admits he knows from the bitter experience that the Premier League title race is far from over despite his side’s healthy lead at the top of the table.

Ancelotti has a golden opportunity to win the league in his first season in England as the Blues headed into this weekend’s fixtures five points clear of second placed Manchester United.

The Italian has masterminded victories over all of Chelsea’s big four rivals, with their 3-0 win at Arsenal triggering a deluge of praise for Ancelotti and his players.

But the former AC Milan and Juventus coach has no intention of planning his title party just yet.

He only has to think about to 2000, when his Juventus team squandered a nine-point lead in Serie A to gift the title to Sven Goran Eriksson’s Lazio on the final day of the season, to remember how much can change in the final weeks of the campaign.

“In 2000 with Juventus we had a nine point lead and we lost the title in the last game. It was a difficult holiday after that,” Ancelotti said.

“I don’t know what happened. It was not easy to recover when we lost points in the end. Lazio won the title with Sven Goran Eriksson, so I helped him get the England job. But I never received any money for it!”

Although Ancelotti is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in Europe after leading Milan to two Champions League triumphs, the 50-year-old has only won a domestic league title once during his managerial career – with Milan in 2004.

He may never have a better chance to double that tally. With Liverpool and Arsenal wobbling, Chelsea have the experience and depth of squad to end United’s three-year reign as champions.

Ancelotti insists there would be no repeat of that Juventus meltdown with his current squad, who possess the experience and strength in depth to last the pace.

“I would like to arrive at the last eight games with nine points more than the next time this season. I think it is difficult to repeat the same situation,” he said.

“All the teams are behind us at the moment, although they can still have a possibility to return to the top.”

Key to Chelsea’s title challenge will be the form and fitness of captain John Terry, whose magnificent display in the win at Arsenal emphasised the England defender’s importance to the Blues.

Manchester City were prepared to give Terry 200,000 pounds a week to tempt him to Eastlands in the close-season, but the centre-back eventually snubbed their offer and Ancelotti believes the man he compares to Milan legend Paolo Maldini will never leave Stamford Bridge.

“I never thought in the close season that John Terry would go to play for another club. He is the symbol of this club,” Ancelotti said.

“It was not neccessary to speak with him because he wanted to stay at Chelsea.

“I hope for him and I hope for Chelsea he will spend his whole career here.

“His behaviour shows that he is a fantastic captain. You can compare John Terry with Paolo Maldini. They are the same, they have the same technical and leadership quality.

“He doesn’t have a physical problem. He can do a very long career like Maldini.

“John Terry for me is not a surprise. As a player and a man he is as I thought.

“I am happy because players like John are a big advantage for a coach. The other players have a very good example to follow. To know what to do on the training ground they just have to look at how John works.”

COBHAM (AFP)

Tags: ac milan, arsenal, better chance, bitter experience, captain. You, carlo ancelotti, champions league, CHELSEA, deluge, eight games, England, england job, Europe, five points, golden opportunity, john terry, juventus, last game, lazio, Liverpool, managerial career, Manchester, manchester city, manchester united, meltdown, Milan, paolo maldini, premier league, rivals, Sven Goran Eriksson, tally, triumphs

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Ancelotti keen to avoid repeat of title race meltdown

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admits he knows from the bitter experience that the Premier League title race is far from over despite his side’s healthy lead at the top of the table.

Ancelotti has a golden opportunity to win the league in his first season in England as the Blues headed into this weekend’s fixtures five points clear of second placed Manchester United.

The Italian has masterminded victories over all of Chelsea’s big four rivals, with their 3-0 win at Arsenal triggering a deluge of praise for Ancelotti and his players.

But the former AC Milan and Juventus coach has no intention of planning his title party just yet.

He only has to think about to 2000, when his Juventus team squandered a nine-point lead in Serie A to gift the title to Sven Goran Eriksson’s Lazio on the final day of the season, to remember how much can change in the final weeks of the campaign.

“In 2000 with Juventus we had a nine point lead and we lost the title in the last game. It was a difficult holiday after that,” Ancelotti said.

“I don’t know what happened. It was not easy to recover when we lost points in the end. Lazio won the title with Sven Goran Eriksson, so I helped him get the England job. But I never received any money for it!”

Although Ancelotti is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in Europe after leading Milan to two Champions League triumphs, the 50-year-old has only won a domestic league title once during his managerial career – with Milan in 2004.

He may never have a better chance to double that tally. With Liverpool and Arsenal wobbling, Chelsea have the experience and depth of squad to end United’s three-year reign as champions.

Ancelotti insists there would be no repeat of that Juventus meltdown with his current squad, who possess the experience and strength in depth to last the pace.

“I would like to arrive at the last eight games with nine points more than the next time this season. I think it is difficult to repeat the same situation,” he said.

“All the teams are behind us at the moment, although they can still have a possibility to return to the top.”

Key to Chelsea’s title challenge will be the form and fitness of captain John Terry, whose magnificent display in the win at Arsenal emphasised the England defender’s importance to the Blues.

Manchester City were prepared to give Terry 200,000 pounds a week to tempt him to Eastlands in the close-season, but the centre-back eventually snubbed their offer and Ancelotti believes the man he compares to Milan legend Paolo Maldini will never leave Stamford Bridge.

“I never thought in the close season that John Terry would go to play for another club. He is the symbol of this club,” Ancelotti said.

“It was not neccessary to speak with him because he wanted to stay at Chelsea.

“I hope for him and I hope for Chelsea he will spend his whole career here.

“His behaviour shows that he is a fantastic captain. You can compare John Terry with Paolo Maldini. They are the same, they have the same technical and leadership quality.

“He doesn’t have a physical problem. He can do a very long career like Maldini.

“John Terry for me is not a surprise. As a player and a man he is as I thought.

“I am happy because players like John are a big advantage for a coach. The other players have a very good example to follow. To know what to do on the training ground they just have to look at how John works.”

COBHAM, England (AFP)

Tags: ac milan, arsenal, better chance, bitter experience, captain John Terry, captain. You, carlo ancelotti, champions league, CHELSEA, deluge, eight games, England, england job, Europe, five points, golden opportunity, John, john terry, juventus, last game, lazio, Liverpool, managerial career, Manchester, manchester city, manchester united, meltdown, Milan, paolo maldini, premier league, rivals, Sven Goran Eriksson, tally, triumphs

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UPDATE: Should South Africa have gone local?

(Updates after Parreira appointed)

Joel Santana arrived for what he thought was a routine review of his work with his South African Football Association bosses on Monday and within hours was packing his bags for a return to Brazil, ending his tenure as the 15th coach employed by South Africa in the last 17 years.

The run of poor results in recent internationals plus last year’s early elimination from the African Nations Cup qualifiers, had left Bafana Bafana in deep crisis, a team without any confidence or direction and running out of time before hosting the 2010 World Cup finals.

Santana had done himself few favours, first with his inability to learn passable English even after 18 months in the country and secondly his glib answers to increasingly concerned questions about the progress of the team. His side have looked listless and without direction in recent matches.

Santana was the second coach in the country’s Brazilian experiment, following Carlos Alberto Parreira as South Africa turned to the land of the five-time word champions for the expertise to mould their 2010 team.

Parreira has now returned to the job. He quit in April 2008 after his wife was found to have cancer. She has since recovered and he had indicated over the last days he would be interested in returning to the job.

There was, however, a clamour for a local coach to take over, with popular sentiment believing the experiment with foreign coaches has failed. In the past the deluge of callers to phone-in shows on radio and TV has influenced the decision of SAFA, which makes for a potentially dangerous decision-making.

The issue of Santana’s successor was discussed on Friday by the association’s leadership and Parreira will be in charge for the next internationals at home to Japan and Jamaica in mid-November. He will have six months to resurrect the country’s hopes of at least making it past the first round.

PHOTO: Carlos Alberto Parreira reacts during a match against Swaziland at Ellis Park in Johannesburg March 13, 2007. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Source

Tags: african nations cup, african nations cup qualifiers, brazil, carlos alberto, Carlos Alberto Parreira, clamour, dangerous decision, deluge, ellis park, internationals, Jamaica, Japan, Joel Santana, joh, johannesburg, photo carlos, radio and tv, safa, santana, South Africa, south african football, south african football association, Swaziland, time word, world cup finals

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United thrash Spurs to retain pole position

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) – Manchester United moved a step closer to the Premier League title after coming from two goals behind to beat Tottenham 5-2 in a superlative second-half performance at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, having seen Liverpool move top of the table on goal difference with victory at Hull earlier in the day, put a lacklustre first-half display behind them in a stunning 15-minute spell that brought them their first four goals – two each for Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

But it was the half-time introduction of substitute Carlos Tevez, the Argentine international who was quoted this week in his homeland bemoaning his lack of first-team opportunities, which was the catalyst for the crucial victory.

And the win was not without its controversy, as referee Howard Webb seemed to err when he awarded United a 56th-minute penalty for a foul by goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes on Michael Carrick, Ronaldo converting the kick impressively.

Ten minutes later, former Spurs striker Berbatov started a move which ended with Tevez finding Rooney inexplicably unmarked at the far post, the England forward?s shot helped into the net by the palm of Gomes.

Tottenham, so disciplined in the first half, were in complete disarray and the 68th minute saw Rooney’s cross converted by Ronaldo’s diving header, the noise generated by 75,458 inside Old Trafford now reaching a crescendo.

The deluge was not over. Just three minutes on and United counter-attacked effectively, Berbatov springing Ronaldo clear for the winger to pick out Rooney whose strike was blocked by Jonathan Woodgate only for the officials to judge that it had crossed the line.

At 4-2, the contest was finished although United were not. In the 78th minute, Rooney’s left-wing cross picked out the head of Berbatov with Gomes initially saving the attempt before the United striker forced the ball home to make it five goals in 22 minutes.

There had been little hint of the drama to come in the opening half hour as United seemed to take control of affairs.

But the game shifted unpredictably just before the half-hour mark when Darren Bent and Luka Modric both benefited from Aaron Lennon’s dominance down the right wing.

First, Lennon’s short pass opened up the angle for Vedran Corluka to cross into the area where Rio Ferdinand was slow to detect Bent’s presence.

Having failed to connect with one header, Bent still had time to gather the loose ball and drive it past Edwin van der Sar.

Just three minutes later, Patrice Evra again failed miserably to deal with the threat of Lennon and the England winger’s cross was missed by the entire United defence, allowing Modric the time and space to take a touch and finish emphatically.

Finally provoked into life, United responded with Gomes saving well from Rafael Da Silva’s running shot and then the keeper producing a quite stunning, one-handed save to keep out a Ronaldo half-volley, attempted after the United man’s initial free-kick had struck the Tottenham wall.

But Ferguson acknowledged the dire situation by bringing on Tevez as a half-time substitute for the ineffective Nani.

The switch paid off almost immediately with the Argentinian picking out Rooney in a crowded area, only for the former Everton star to try and place his shot into the far corner, succeeding only in putting the ball behind.

Tevez himself raced clear on goal and was denied by a brave Gomes save, but United’s strong opening to the second half was a mere prelude to the devastating blitz that was to come.

Tags: Aaron Lennon, alex ferguson, Argentine, Bent, carlos tevez, crescendo, cristiano ronaldo, deluge, disarray, England, English Premier League, far post, Ferguson, goal difference, half time, heurelho gomes, Howard Webb, HULL, Jonathan Woodgate, Liverpool, Manchester, manchester england, manchester united, Michael Carrick, nani, old trafford, patrice evra, Rafael da, ronaldo, sir alex ferguson, team opportunities, Wayne, wayne rooney, winger

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