Ancelotti won´t overlook League Cup

October 28, 2009

The English League Cup may rank a distant fourth on the list of Carlo Ancelotti’s priorities this season but the Chelsea manager knows even this most derided of competitions has its value.

Anyone doubting that thesis should just cast their minds back to February 2005 when Chelsea defeated Liverpool 4-2 in the final.

That victory gave Jose Mourinho his first trophy at Stamford Bridge and provided the first concrete evidence that the club had appointed a born winner.

Ancelotti will hope that some of Mourinho’s League Cup stardust rubs off on him this season as he seeks to put his stamp on Chelsea in the form of cold, hard silverware.

He should be confident enough: his team face Bolton Wanderers at home in the fourth round on Wednesday and, while Gary Megson’s team can be irksome opponents, Chelsea will still be overwhelming favourites.

The Blues boss’s determined approach to the competition was underlined in the previous round, when he surprised everyone – not least members of his own squad and backroom staff – by selecting a virtually full-strength side for the visit of Championship side Queens’ Park Rangers.

While Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka were given the night off, there were starting places for John Terry and Frank Lampard and a good job, too. Rangers proved doughty opponents and were only seen off by a single goal.

Ancelotti is expected to stick with his safety-first policy again this week, with Joe Cole set for a second outing in five days.

There will be no complaints from the England midfielder, who needs time on the pitch to regain match sharpness after eight months out with a knee injury.

“There is so much to look forward to and I am so excited about just playing football for Chelsea and England,” Cole said.

“There are a lot of ups and downs in football and I’ve had eight months of sitting on my backside watching so I’m just happy to be playing for Chelsea. My job is to help the club win something this year.”

Bolton will not travel south in great expectation, although Megson’s side are in form of their own.

They shrugged off a spirited Everton fightback at the Reebok Stadium last weekend to ensure they have now only suffered one defeat in seven matches, playing the kind of slick football not often associated with their manager.

Not that Megson is about to put style before substance as he seeks one of the most notable wins of his tenure in Lancashire.

“Quite a few people have been talking about the way we are playing, which is nice, but we want to be winning games,” he said.

“They are not particularly interested in Bolton’s results but they have seen us on the television when we have played against Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United and Everton.

“We are playing some decent stuff but we have to play decent stuff and win the games.”

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: carlo ancelotti, concrete evidence, eight months, England, frank lampard, full strength, gary megson, great expectation, Joe Cole, john terry, Jose, knee injury, Lancashire, Liverpool, Nicolas Anelka, queens park, reebok stadium, stamford bridge, team face

Ferguson shocked by Scolari sacking

February 10, 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Luiz Felipe Scolari’s sacking as Chelsea manager on Monday left Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson feeling stunned the Brazilian’s time at Stamford Bridge had been so brief.

Scolari, who led his native Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002, only arrived at Stamford Bridge towards the end of June.

But the 60-year-old was sacked after seeing the London club fall down the Premier League table to fourth place, seven points behind leaders United, after a goalless draw at home to Hull on Saturday.

"I am really surprised. It is a shock so soon – he only took the job seven months ago," Ferguson told MUTV, United’s own television station.

"He is a man of great experience; he took Brazil to World Cup winners – and was the obvious choice to replace Avram Grant," added the Scot, who has been in charge at Old Trafford since 1986

"It is a sign of the times. There is absolutely no patience in the world now," said the former Aberdeen manager who early in his United career faced calls for his sacking before, after United great Sir Bobby Charlton spoke up for him, winning the FA Cup in 1990.

Ferguson said that with the sports pages of Britain’s newspapers increasingly fixated with football, the media had a role in the increasingly short tenure of many managers.

"It just seems to be more volatile now. You can’t always blame the press – but they play a part," he added.

"The way the tabloids are – competing against the Internet and Sky News – there is a sensationalism every time someone has a bad result.

"There was great expectation at Chelsea that they were going to do well this year – and it is only this last month they have had a bad spell.

"The judgment really is only on the last month."

Former Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle, in charge at the Bridge from 1993 to 1996 before taking on the England job, backed Ferguson’s view by telling Chelsea TV: "I think any manager nowadays needs a bit more time than Scolari’s had – so yes, I’m surprised.

"But obviously the standards Chelsea are looking for are right up there and anyone that takes a job like Chelsea knows the pressure is there.

"That pressure has probably built up in the last month and it looks like that’s the reason."

Hoddle said clubs should follow the example of United and Arsenal, where Arsene Wenger has been in charge since 1996, and give their managers a decent length of time to build a team.

"Teams like Manchester United and Arsenal have built over longevity, they’ve let the manager build a team then rebuild and rebuild again.

"It works even down in the lower leagues. People are changing managers two or three, maybe four times a season – they don’t understand how long it takes to build a side and once you’ve built a side you only need to change two or three players, or maybe one player, to make it better.

"But if you keep sacking managers it’s never going to happen."

Written by: AFP