Club Focus - Chelsea - Ancelossi away form
2005/06 and free flowing football with glistening wingers and a natural attacking intent graced the Premier League as Chelsea reigned Champions, enthralling crowds and neutrals along the way as they toured the country dismantling each team as they passed. Jose Mourinho pushed each player to their footballing limits, with Arjen Robben and Damien Duff unattainable for opposition wing-backs Chelsea scored freely and held the strongest defence in Premier League history. Mourinho’s men lost just four away games in that season winning the league by a considerable margin of eight points. Four years on and the Blues have already accumulated their four away defeats, with twelve games remaining this season including away ties against Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham, their title hopes are left languishing in doubt.
Chelsea’s away form has been appalling of late with a mere two away wins since late October. John Terry in particular looked uncomfortable away from home on Wednesday night, exclusive of support from the stands it was clear the heckling of the Everton faithful was rotting in the back of his mind. The captain’s head was not in the game on both a literal and physical level, as the media target misjudged two aerial balls. Terry’s most admirable attribute being his defensive abilities in aerial combats were put to shame as he fell short of the mark on two occasions with detrimental consequence. Late to react to Louis Saha’s run in the opening encounters the Frenchman duly headed across goal to draw the host’s level. The second goal perhaps providing more palpable evidence of the England International being adversely distressed by the media hostility, as his usual professional attitude was challenged on the pitch. Possibly journalistic hyperbole to suggest his performance was directly influenced by his off the pitch battles but these mistakes are certainly uncharacteristic of the player’s usually consistent form at the back.
From an attacking perspective the Blues were incoherent, often misreading signals or lethargically failing to maintain possession. Didier Drogba was surprisingly controlled by the Everton defence who seemed to know what Drogba was going to do before the Ivorian knew himself. John Heitinga was a key performer in nullifying what did amount from the pathetically constructed Chelsea attacks. Predictable and narrow - Chelsea’s attacks were relatively easy to anticipate - showing urgency in the last 10 minutes - the Evertonian defence stood strong picking balls off at ease. Chelsea’s only notable attack came out of nothing as a long ball was flicked on by Drogba seeing Flourent Malouda latch on and convert his eighth goal of the season.
Horrendous news for Chelsea is that their arguably most consistent and one of the most influential individuals in the team hobbled of injured mid-way through the second period. The worst case scenario was confirmed late Thursday evening as news of Ashley Cole’s fractured left ankle spread, and he will be out for a minimum of three months claim the club’s physiotherapist. Cole came off worse as he put a leg into a 50-50 challenge with injury returnee Mikel Arteta. The left-back will be sorely missed as his width has been key to creating space in the middle of the park. With both natural full backs out injured in Cole and Jose Bosingwa, Ancelotti must re-think his tactics in order to accommodate width. Possibly reintroducing wingers in a 4-3-3 would suffice. Joe Cole was omitted from the squad on Wednesday although it is unconfirmed whether this was due to injury or preference. The midfielder has been a fans’ favourite at the club since his arrival, winning Chelsea player of the year in 2008. The creative wizard has struggled to merge into Carlo Ancelotti’s plans however; his narrow formation has often seen either Frank Lampard, Malouda or Deco stand at the forefront of the diamond.
John Terry has been granted a week off his football responsibilities in order to recover his failing marriage. Therefore a make-shift back four will be in place to contain Championship challengers Cardiff in the FA Cup clash this weekend. A win will put Chelsea in great shape for the competition with Manchester united and Liverpool crashing out early.
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