After winning the domestic double in his debut season with the Blues, many expected Carlo Ancelotti to be the right man to bring home Chelsea’s holy grail of titles in the form of the Champions League.
But after a tremendous start to the 2010/2011 campaign, Chelsea’s form dramatically turned following the sudden sacking of coach Ray Wilkins in November, who Ancelotti had previously credited as crucial to Chelsea’s double winning season.
Since then, Chelsea find themselves hanging on to a Champions League qualification spot as they sit in 3rd place in the table, nine points behind leaders Man Utd and just four above sixth place Tottenham. Having been knocked out of the FA cup to Everton last month, there season effectively came to an end after Tuesday night’s defeat to Manchester United in the quarter final of the Champions League. Anyone following the goalwire live scores wouldn’t have been surprised by the result.
The recent performances put Ancelotti in a precarious position at the club with owner Roman Abramovich desperate for European success.
Abromovich’s influence on Ancelotti’s team selection is there for all to see could be seen as a huge problem for the Italian and his staff. Out of form striker Fernando Torres controversially started the game on Tuesday night only to be replaced at half time by the recently lively Didier Drogba, who scored on the night and would have felt hard done by with his place on the bench. Those who watch the latest football scores will know that Torres has yet to find the net for his side.
Ancelotti later admitted that he may have got his team selection wrong, which lead to claims that Torres’ starting place was purely a gesture to keep Abramovich happy by playing the £50million man, only for Ancelotti to prove his point about the out of form striker by replacing him at half time.
With rumours circulating that Ancelotti will return to his native Italy to manage Roma and the seemingly unsettled relationship between himself and Abramovich, it seems that once again Abramovich will flex his powers by parting with a further Chelsea manager this summer on the back of another Champions League failure.