It was no secret that the Chelsea players wanted Guus Hiddink to stay on as manager at the end of last season. He built a fantastic relationship with the squad and had it not been for the fact that he had a World Cup qualifying campaign to contend with as Russia manager, he would probably have stayed where he was.
However, he left Stamford Bridge and was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti. For the sake of morale, the way the players performed and general success at the club, it was important that the Italian had as good a relationship with the players as Hiddink did. He needed to get the best out of them like Hiddink did.
Well, according to Frank Lampard, he has done just that. Speaking about the impact the Chelsea boss has made on proceedings, he says that Ancelotti ‘seems very good with people’ much like the man he replaced.
As for his approach to management, Lampard says that he has a special ‘personal touch’ which is important for the Chelsea players. If I was ever a manager, I would try and make players feel special and like a million dollars and this seems to be an approach that is working with Ancelotti.
Lampard went on to reveal how even though the former AC Milan boss ‘doesn’t get too involved with what’s going on outside football’, he has a chat with the players about how they are and asks how they are
feeling. Basically, he makes them feel good about coming to training.
This is very important. The players need to enjoy coming to ‘work’ each day and they need to enjoy being around their team-mates and coaching staff. I don’t think any club will achieve success unless this is the case.
The overall impression that Lampard gives is that he is happy with Ancelotti at the moment and to be honest, I wouldn’t expect anything less. The team is winning as well, which always helps. Chelsea are top of the Premier league at the moment and things are looking very good indeed.
Hopefully this will continue throughout the season as Ancelotti’s impact on this Chelsea squad remains as positive as it is to date.
Blue is the colour
