It's official. Ancelotti is the man

[Senator WIRES]

.

I believe he's capable of doing a fine job at Chelsea, he's an experienced coach and he has worked with different kinda players all over the world.
One thing is for sure, Ancelotti is not Scolari, most Chelsea players would respect a 2-time CL winning coach like him.

I have my doubt

[green4life]

... and they made certain players drag their feet like pregnant women just because they did not like the manager's methods. Another rant from an ignorant EPL hater.

Problem with Chelsea fans is a lack of patience. They are football nouveau riches who do not seem to understand what it takes to build a winning franchise.. Hence there view of football as a zero sum game where the ends justifies the means as long as it brings wins. I guess you can't blame them too much cuz the Russian bought himself a team. We can give them a pass but me thinks this mentality will affect how Ancelotti is judged. I have a feeling he won't be around for too long

[YUJAM]

Kai talk about the ostrich head in the sand syndrome. You just don't want to hear the truth and instead cling to lame excuses such as EPL hater etc etc. You will be forced to come up for air soon

... and they made certain players drag their feet like pregnant women just because they did not like the manager's methods. Another rant from an ignorant EPL hater.

Problem with Chelsea fans is a lack of patience. They are football nouveau riches who do not seem to understand what it takes to build a winning franchise.. Hence there view of football as a zero sum game where the ends justifies the means as long as it brings wins. I guess you can't blame them too much cuz the Russian bought himself a team. We can give them a pass but me thinks this mentality will affect how Ancelotti is judged. I have a feeling he won't be around for too long

[Vincent.]

Unless the indoctrinated Mourinho brigade is cleared out, Ancellotio will not be allowed to make progress.
Abramovich has to let everybody know that Ancelotti is here to stay and any player who does not like it should leave...

I agree with Vincent in principle. The locker room politics better be sorted out or he may not make it thru xmas otherwise welcome to Chelsea.

Exactly!
If players continue to choose which coaches they want and which one they don't want, it is a recipe for disaster. The coach should have full authority and the commitment of all the players (that is what they are paid for).

As Hiddink himself said, Chelsea needs stability if it is to make progress. We all agree that the players loved Mourinho, but is time to realize that Mourinho's era is gone and that new coaches will do things their own way. It may not waork immediately, but the only way a new coach will succeed is if they accept that every coach is different.

One Chelsea player was saying last week that they new coach must play to the strength of the players already at Chelsea. That is code for saying the new coach must do things the way the players are used to (i.e. similar to the Mourinho way). That is nonsense. Every coach has the right to lay down his own template in pre-season and any player who does not want to be part of it should be shown the door...

[green4life]

Unless the indoctrinated Mourinho brigade is cleared out, Ancellotio will not be allowed to make progress.
Abramovich has to let everybody know that Ancelotti is here to stay and any player who does not like it should leave...

I agree with Vincent in principle. The locker room politics better be sorted out or he may not make it thru xmas otherwise welcome to Chelsea.

Exactly!
If players continue to choose which coaches they want and which one they don't want, it is a recipe for disaster. The coach should have full authority and the commitment of all the players (that is what they are paid for).

As Hiddink himself said, Chelsea needs stability if it is to make progress. We all agree that the players loved Mourinho, but is time to realize that Mourinho's era is gone and that new coaches will do things their own way. It may not waork immediately, but the only way a new coach will succeed is if they accept that every coach is different.

One Chelsea player was saying last week that they new coach must play to the strength of the players already at Chelsea. That is code for saying the new coach must do things the way the players are used to (i.e. similar to the Mourinho way). That is nonsense. Every coach has the right to lay down his own template in pre-season and any player who does not want to be part of it should be shown the door...

That was part of the reason why Scolari failed. Some influential players never fully bought into the manager's methods and philosophy. People forget that early in the season thru mid November, Chelsea was rolling. The other reason he came up short was inability (tactically) to solve the big 4 or quality opposition. Both went hand in hand but had certain key players played hard for the manager, his weakness in lacking a plan B would have been mitigated. My personal gut feeling.

[analyzer]

Unless the indoctrinated Mourinho brigade is cleared out, Ancellotio will not be allowed to make progress.
Abramovich has to let everybody know that Ancelotti is here to stay and any player who does not like it should leave...

I agree with Vincent in principle. The locker room politics better be sorted out or he may not make it thru xmas otherwise welcome to Chelsea.

Exactly!
If players continue to choose which coaches they want and which one they don't want, it is a recipe for disaster. The coach should have full authority and the commitment of all the players (that is what they are paid for).

As Hiddink himself said, Chelsea needs stability if it is to make progress. We all agree that the players loved Mourinho, but is time to realize that Mourinho's era is gone and that new coaches will do things their own way. It may not waork immediately, but the only way a new coach will succeed is if they accept that every coach is different.

One Chelsea player was saying last week that they new coach must play to the strength of the players already at Chelsea. That is code for saying the new coach must do things the way the players are used to (i.e. similar to the Mourinho way). That is nonsense. Every coach has the right to lay down his own template in pre-season and any player who does not want to be part of it should be shown the door...

I totally disagree with both of you....

IMO, it is the duty of the manager to earn the respect of the players... Players are no mugs.. They can ot an inept manager or a push over from miles away.... Scolari came in and was initially loved by all chelsea players... Every interview in the beginning of the season by the players always had something positive about the Brazilian including the ballacks and DDs.... But as time flew by they started spotting weaknesses especially when results were horrible... They looked up to the coach and just saw someone who appeared clueless.. Gradually they started losing respect for the bloke... Same ish happened to ranieri at Juve

As a player, you want to look to your coach and nod your head always with the conviction that the man on the sidelines sure knows what he is doing....

I say scolari failed mainly cos in the time of trouble, the players lost faith in his philosophy which the man was too stubborn to change.... How do you explain players who were up and about early in the season all of a sudden lose interest....

[green4life]

Analyzer, DD did not fully buy in. Ballack also was not fully on board perhaps due to the fact that he was sharing mins with Deco (you've forgotten he was on the bench in some games around Nov/december). Lamps & JT worked the socks off regardless of the results as did others like Anelka, Mikel, Kalou & Joe Cole, etc when healthy. But the biggest culprit for me was Drogba b/c he makes wingers more effective by his presence on the pitch (gobbling up CBs & keeping them busy). The man simply was playing with zero passion. You get paid to play and he just wasn't moving. Ballack was another slacker back then and he could afford to slack b/c Essien was injured while Deco was not any better than he.

[Vincent.]

Unless the indoctrinated Mourinho brigade is cleared out, Ancellotio will not be allowed to make progress.
Abramovich has to let everybody know that Ancelotti is here to stay and any player who does not like it should leave...

I agree with Vincent in principle. The locker room politics better be sorted out or he may not make it thru xmas otherwise welcome to Chelsea.

Exactly!
If players continue to choose which coaches they want and which one they don't want, it is a recipe for disaster. The coach should have full authority and the commitment of all the players (that is what they are paid for).

As Hiddink himself said, Chelsea needs stability if it is to make progress. We all agree that the players loved Mourinho, but is time to realize that Mourinho's era is gone and that new coaches will do things their own way. It may not waork immediately, but the only way a new coach will succeed is if they accept that every coach is different.

One Chelsea player was saying last week that they new coach must play to the strength of the players already at Chelsea. That is code for saying the new coach must do things the way the players are used to (i.e. similar to the Mourinho way). That is nonsense. Every coach has the right to lay down his own template in pre-season and any player who does not want to be part of it should be shown the door...

That was part of the reason why Scolari failed. Some influential players never fully bought into the manager's methods and philosophy. People forget that early in the season thru mid November, Chelsea was rolling. The other reason he came up short was inability (tactically) to solve the big 4 or quality opposition. Both went hand in hand but had certain key players played hard for the manager, his weakness in lacking a plan B would have been mitigated. My personal gut feeling.

The truth is that different coaches take various lengths of time to adapt to new environments, so patience is necessary. I remember when Rijkaard too over at Barcelona, the team was 12th in the league in January and everyone was calling for Frank to be fired, but Laporta and the players kept faith and granted Frank's request to buy Edgar Davids. From January the team went on a 17-match winning streak and finished second in the league...

Next season the team won the league and began playing the style of football that Guardiola has now adopted. The rest is history.

The point is that even if Ancelotti does not make an impact in the first six months, there has to be patience. He should be given the time to pass his idea to the players and weed out the egos in the dressing room if necessary.

The difference between the relative successes of Grant and Hiddink is that they took over the team when the season has already begun, so it made no sense to embark on a total overhaul of playing personnel and style. In the case of Scolari (and now Ancelotti), he had the pre-season to introduce his own style and bring the players into it. The question was now whether he would be given enough time to realize his ideas and whether the players would be open to his ideas.

Abramovich needs to make it clear that Ancelotti is his choice and any player that does not lke it should move to another club.

[odi]

Spot on, Analyzer.

If your competence is obvious, and you lead your players to victories, they'll love you and work for you. It's as simple as that.

[Vincent.]

Unless the indoctrinated Mourinho brigade is cleared out, Ancellotio will not be allowed to make progress.
Abramovich has to let everybody know that Ancelotti is here to stay and any player who does not like it should leave...

I agree with Vincent in principle. The locker room politics better be sorted out or he may not make it thru xmas otherwise welcome to Chelsea.

Exactly!
If players continue to choose which coaches they want and which one they don't want, it is a recipe for disaster. The coach should have full authority and the commitment of all the players (that is what they are paid for).

As Hiddink himself said, Chelsea needs stability if it is to make progress. We all agree that the players loved Mourinho, but is time to realize that Mourinho's era is gone and that new coaches will do things their own way. It may not waork immediately, but the only way a new coach will succeed is if they accept that every coach is different.

One Chelsea player was saying last week that they new coach must play to the strength of the players already at Chelsea. That is code for saying the new coach must do things the way the players are used to (i.e. similar to the Mourinho way). That is nonsense. Every coach has the right to lay down his own template in pre-season and any player who does not want to be part of it should be shown the door...

I totally disagree with both of you....

IMO, it is the duty of the manager to earn the respect of the players... Players are no mugs.. They can ot an inept manager or a push over from miles away.... Scolari came in and was initially loved by all chelsea players... Every interview in the beginning of the season by the players always had something positive about the Brazilian including the ballacks and DDs.... But as time flew by they started spotting weaknesses especially when results were horrible... They looked up to the coach and just saw someone who appeared clueless.. Gradually they started losing respect for the bloke... Same ish happened to ranieri at Juve

As a player, you want to look to your coach and nod your head always with the conviction that the man on the sidelines sure knows what he is doing....

I say scolari failed mainly cos in the time of trouble, the players lost faith in his philosophy which the man was too stubborn to change.... How do you explain players who were up and about early in the season all of a sudden lose interest....

If players disagree with a coach's methods, that does not give them the license to openly sabotage him as Drogba did to Scolari. As a player, you have to give 100% because that is what you are paid to do. If you are giving 100% and things are still not working then you can sit with the coach to work out why things are not working. If there are no improvements, then the players can sit down and communicate their frustration to the people in the boardroom to decide whether to give the coach more time or fire him. That is what happened at Juventus. Even at Juve, the players gave everything for the coach for two years before deciding that there was no room for improvement.

Openly sabotaging the coach because you don't like his methods should not be allowed at any club.

[Globero]

If players disagree with a coach's methods, that does not give them the license to openly sabotage him as Drogba did to Scolari. As a player, you have to give 100% because that is what you are paid to do. If you are giving 100% and things are still not working then you can sit with the coach to work out why things are not working. If there are no improvements, then the players can sit down and communicate their frustration to the people in the boardroom to decide whether to give the coach more time or fire him. That is what happened at Juventus. Even at Juve, the players gave everything for the coach for two years before deciding that there was no room for improvement.

Openly sabotaging the coach because you don't like his methods should not be allowed at any club.

What of if you feel giving 100% is not worth it for a person that CANNOT improve ?

[green4life]

If players disagree with a coach's methods, that does not give them the license to openly sabotage him as Drogba did to Scolari. As a player, you have to give 100% because that is what you are paid to do. If you are giving 100% and things are still not working then you can sit with the coach to work out why things are not working. If there are no improvements, then the players can sit down and communicate their frustration to the people in the boardroom to decide whether to give the coach more time or fire him. That is what happened at Juventus. Even at Juve, the players gave everything for the coach for two years before deciding that there was no room for improvement.

Openly sabotaging the coach because you don't like his methods should not be allowed at any club.

What of if you feel giving 100% is not worth it for a person that CANNOT improve ?

My thing is you get paid to do a job. If you don't like working for the man put in a transfer request. But until then, when your number is called, you should go and do the job you are handsomely paid to do. Would Scolari still have flunked if every player was on board? That's anyone's guess but we will never know the answer to that question. In the meantime, if Chelsea starts slowly or is 10pts back by xmas, should Roman now fire Ancelotti if certain players complain about his methods, tactics or philosophy?

[Globero]

If players disagree with a coach's methods, that does not give them the license to openly sabotage him as Drogba did to Scolari. As a player, you have to give 100% because that is what you are paid to do. If you are giving 100% and things are still not working then you can sit with the coach to work out why things are not working. If there are no improvements, then the players can sit down and communicate their frustration to the people in the boardroom to decide whether to give the coach more time or fire him. That is what happened at Juventus. Even at Juve, the players gave everything for the coach for two years before deciding that there was no room for improvement.

Openly sabotaging the coach because you don't like his methods should not be allowed at any club.

What of if you feel giving 100% is not worth it for a person that CANNOT improve ?

My thing is you get paid to do a job. If you don't like working for the man put in a transfer request. But until then, when your number is called, you should go and do the job you are handsomely paid to do. Would Scolari still have flunked if every player was on board? That's anyone's guess but we will never know the answer to that question. In the meantime, if Chelsea starts slowly or is 10pts back by xmas, should Roman now fire Ancelotti if certain players complain about his methods, tactics or philosophy?

G4L, in all honesty, in no way shape or form, am I slightly interested in debunking your theory. I simply asked the question in that there is a difference between stating that one should do a job ( which I see/saw no evidence to prove that he didn't ), vs said person being enthusiastic enough to perform at a higher standard, part of which is actually the Coaches job to inspire such an outcome in the first place !

[green4life]

G4L, in all honesty, in no way shape or form, am I slightly interested in debunking your theory. I simply asked the question in that there is a difference between stating that one should do a job ( which I see/saw no evidence to prove that he didn't ), vs said person being enthusiastic enough to perform at a higher standard, part of which is actually the Coaches job to inspire such an outcome in the first place !

Now you are hiting the issue. Its like me we dey only watch assnal recerationally trying to argue with Papa K & Waffi with regards to Adebayor's effort this season. Sure, I watched a lot of assnal games but from a detatched angle given I no be assnal fan. Drogba did not give us close to 50% effort under Scolari. He did not even deny it but explained that he was not fit under Scolari (in a chelseatv interview after the away win at Villa Park - Hiddink's first game in charge). We saw his effort following Hiddink's hire. Either Hiddink is a magicial part time doctor to heal him up that quickly or someone was holding back. I still love Drogba though but the man sabi wetin he do.

[green4life]

Ancelotti's first interview

[Globero]

G4L, in all honesty, in no way shape or form, am I slightly interested in debunking your theory. I simply asked the question in that there is a difference between stating that one should do a job ( which I see/saw no evidence to prove that he didn't ), vs said person being enthusiastic enough to perform at a higher standard, part of which is actually the Coaches job to inspire such an outcome in the first place !

Now you are hiting the issue. Its like me we dey only watch assnal recerationally trying to argue with Papa K & Waffi with regards to Adebayor's effort this season. Sure, I watched a lot of assnal games but from a detatched angle given I no be assnal fan. Drogba did not give us close to 50% effort under Scolari. He did not even deny it but explained that he was not fit under Scolari (in a chelseatv interview after the away win at Villa Park - Hiddink's first game in charge). We saw his effort following Hiddink's hire. Either Hiddink is a magicial part time doctor to heal him up that quickly or someone was holding back. I still love Drogba though but the man sabi wetin he do.

G4L, its easy to argue with Waffi & Papak be you an Arsenal fan or otherwise.
Just stick to anything opposite what they say and you are probably right !

Waffi / Papak I just dey joke o !

[analyzer]

Everyone keeps pointing finger at DD saying he openly sabotaged the coach.. how exactly did he achieve that.....

The only proof everyone points to is a Man U game in which DD was totally isolated and the game plan was obviously not working....

The same DD that played with alot of fevor in the game vs. Cluj.. Same DD that performed admirably under Grant last season....

Like I keep saying, players are no mug... the only way a manager can convince players to buy into his philosophy is if that Philosophy actually works... In Scolari's case, the moment Man u showed the rest of the EPl how to play vs. Chelsea we could not readjust.... The players and fans saw this and the questions started arising... They looked up to scolari to change things around and he could not....

Dont get me wrong Vincent.. Alot of our Chelsea players are still hung on the Jose coolaid but hiddink and to a lesser extent grant, have shown that same players can perform with equally high standards under a different manager......

[Catalyst]

Waffiman has posted in this thread more than anyone else.

Waffiman is about the main reason why I strongly dislike Arsenal, and placed a curse on them.

Arsenal will progress when you Arsenal Fans vote Waffiman off the board - as your leader. Only then will I lift the curse. I have warned you people and you refuse to open your eyes. Obstinate folks - you deserve your leader, and what you get.

PS. Best wishes to Ancelotti and Chelsea.

[wanaj0]

Scolari is CLUELESS!!!

If DD was sabotaging him what of Anelka? The guy was lost. What happened to his magic wand, Deco?

Why did the players agree to play for JM after the sack of Ranieri? Why did the players bought by Ranieri not sabotage JM?

Ancelloti will not have time! You don't collect that huge cash and be asking for time. If it was a 10year project they can get a coach at half the price. That's the undoing of Scolari. He collected money for a ferrari but was delivering like a kombi bus.

[Catalyst]

Ancelotti said: ''For me (English) is not easy but I want to learn and I want to improve. I have the time and when we start the season I will speak well. It is important for me to speak with the players, the team, the assistant and all the operators that will work with me.''

Well said.

[Molue Conductor]

Another Scolari....good CV but..

we shall see

[phantomjournalist]

Unless the indoctrinated Mourinho brigade is cleared out, Ancellotio will not be allowed to make progress.
Abramovich has to let everybody know that Ancelotti is here to stay and any player who does not like it should leave...

Roman has picked Ancellotti for a reason. He has a history of working with interfering owners like he did with Berlusconi for 8 years, he is politically savvy enough to let them pick teams and call tactics whilst marrying this with his own view. In effect, he is a pragmatist who will allow Roman play fantasy football whilst carrying his own ideas.

Berlusconi's relationship with Ancellotti broke down when he became aware Ancellotti was having meetings with Roman.

So a coach that allows others to pick players and call tactic is pragmatic? Abeg make him come Naija. He will have his full of such lol.

The guys ability (or inability) to speak english will be a crucial factor

Forget Nigeria, this is about the owner whose money makes the club stay in business. Without him, Chelski are just a mediocre mid-table outfit because all those players will leave for better money elsewhere. He wants a say and he will get what he wants.

His ability to communicate will be crucial but Scolari's English was not too bad either. Scolari's problem was he had too many people in his ear, giving him all sorts of advice. He also tried to change the way Chelski way of playing and he met resistance from certain players. These eventually led to him antagonising certain players.

Scolari also had a problem dealing with a multi national squad. All he had dealt with in terms of players were Brazillian or Portuguese. Even in Brazil, his pool of players were all Brazillian. The squad at Chelski was a shock to him and he could not deal with it.

Ancelotti is different, he is Roman's personal choice following a series of meetings as announced by Anceloti himself also he willing to play the game as we have seen him do with Berlusconi over the years.

Mid-table, eh? See this is how I can tell that you are only a recent follower of the Premier League.

Since 1996-97 we've finished as such:

1996-97 - 6th
1997-98 - 4th
1998-99 - 3rd
1999-00 - 5th
2000-01 - 6th
2001-02 - 6th
2002-03 - 4th

Throw in 2 FA Cups, UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, League Cup in that span and you'll see why you only spout nonsense that you've read other people type and think is trendy to say. We aren't Man City. We've always hovered near the top in recent times, so Abramovich's money was always going to make us an elite team in the world. Abeg, concern yourself with your club that has won nothing in 4 seasons . I can't wait till Arsene leaves you undeserving wretches so you can finally collapse into oblivion.

As for Ancelotti, his English is passable and he also says that he will make steps to improve on it - something Scolari never seemed keen on doing. The interview he gave to Chelsea TV was also his very first interview in English, and it's still better than anything I've heard from Scolari.

[rust09]

Waffiman has posted in this thread more than anyone else.

Waffiman is about the main reason why I strongly dislike Arsenal, and placed a curse on them.

Arsenal will progress when you Arsenal Fans vote Waffiman off the board - as your leader. Only then will I lift the curse. I have warned you people and you refuse to open your eyes. Obstinate folks - you deserve your leader, and what you get.

PS. Best wishes to Ancelotti and Chelsea.