I was having a conversation with my son at the weekend, as the goal we conceded to West Ham signaled that already this season we have conceded more than in any full season since 2003-04. If you think about it logically though, that makes complete sense because that was the last season our play was adventurous enough not to rely more heavily on our defence than attack to win games.
Claudio Ranieri liked us to play a bit and bought in the sort of creative, attacking players to do that and whilst Jose Mourinho went on to win the back-to-back titles following the Tinkerman’s departure, we had to sacrifice entertainment for efficiency.
Jump forward to this season and whilst you could point to our defence and suggest it’s a bit ‘leaky’ here and there, maybe that sacrifice has simply gone into reverse? I mean, of course it could be because John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and even Petr Cech aren’t quite as impregnable as they used to be generally – and there’s definitely an element of that – but my explanation to my son at the weekend went along the lines of it being a trade-off for our attacking players spending a bit more time doing what we’d rather watch them do these days, and the statistics certainly bear that out with Ancelotti’s Chelsea far superior in the attacking sense, with 2.38 goals per game in the Premier League compared to Mourinho’s 1.79.
So, despite the odd defeat here and there, Carlo Ancelotti believes he’s giving Abramovich what he wants, stating “I think some things we have changed since I arrived, and this team has an identity now. Now we have to improve even more. The system of play is a little bit different but we keep possession and play attacking football. Our aim is to keep control of the game with possession of the ball, We have players with a lot quality who can do that. Roman wants to see the team play in this way and I think we are doing this. You will have to ask him whether that is more important than winning things.”
As for what has always been regarded as the Holy Grail for Abramovich, Ancelotti insists “When I came here Roman never told me I had to win the Champions League. For him it’s the same as winning the Premier League. But these players want to win this competition. They have reached the semi-finals five times in the last six years and, if we get there again, I will deal with the details. This is the worst draw for us, just as it is for Inter, but this is a time to seize the opportunity.”
And if it just happens to come at Jose’s expense, I’m sure Abramovich will live with that. 🙂
Blue is the colour
