Abramovich just doesn't understand football? (1 Viewer)

[Coventry La La La]

Nine months in the creation, countless hours in the preparation.
But still it tasted like his worst banquet ever for Roman Abramovich.​

Yet while the Chelsea owner left his seat in the Old Trafford directors' box seconds before Chelsea's season came to an end six weeks early, the Russian needs to realise he is as much the architect of the debacle as the man who will carry the can.
Pressed on his future, by Italian television, Carlo Ancelotti finally conceded the truth.​

"I don't know," said Ancelotti. "It's not the kind of question a manager can answer. I have to try my best. It's not my decision to stay or not stay."

So much for the claims of 24 hours earlier, when the Italian had suggested the year remaining on his contract made him safe.​

It will make him even wealthier than he already is, perhaps. But not safe. Not at all.
Yet while Sir Alex Ferguson stirred the pot by hinting that he believed Ancelotti was under orders from above to play Fernando Torres - who, it has to be said, stank out Old Trafford - the reality is that there are plenty who must share the blame.​

Ancelotti, of course, takes the ultimate responsibility. He was the one who allowed it to get to this stage.​

When the Stamford Bridge hierarchy decided on a partial clear-out last summer, with the academy filling the spaces, Ancelotti acquiesced.​

So out went Michael Ballack - whose winning mentality would have been so useful - along with Joe Cole, Juliano Belletti, Deco and Ricardo Carvalho.​

In came Ramires - who took six months to find his feet and then proceeded to lose his head in the biggest game of the season - and the injury-hit Yossi Benayoun, as Patrick Van Aanholt, Josh McEachran, Jeffrey Bruma, Gael Kakuta and Fabio Borini were promoted.​

But, as surely Ancelotti knew, they were not ready. Not for the pressure of Chelsea, where a draw is viewed as a defeat that earns you a point.
Of that quintet, only Kakuta and Bruma started a league game. One is now on loan at Fulham, the other at Leicester.​

McEachran has genuine talent but has made just seven cameo appearances. Van Aanholt, also at Leicester, has not played a minute in the Premier League, Borini went to Swansea after not getting a kick at first-team level.​

It did not help that Ancelotti's "bad moment" lasted three months, meaning the Italian dared not risk the younger players being destroyed.​

But by the time Ancelotti recognised the problems in his squad - the ones that had been glaringly obvious, but denied, from the start of the campaign, it was too late.
Wise after the event? No. Wise BEFORE the event.​

Quizzed on August, on the eve of the Community Shield, about what seemed to be an unbalanced squad, Ancelotti insisted: "I think that this is the philosophy of the club. I'm involved in this.​

"I agree to put young players in from our academy. I'm fine and feel good. It is very good motivation and I have a lot of experience. For me it's good to work with young players because I can teach them a lot of things. If you agree with the philosophy, everybody has to support the young players. You can take a risk, in important games, but we can take this risk."​

The truth though, was that he could not take the risk. By mid-winter, Anceotti was conceding he effectively only had a squad of 16 first teamers, nine of whom - Hilario, Paulo Ferreira, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Benayoun, Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka and Drogba - would be 30 or older by the end of the campaign.​

Things were not helped as Ancelotti stood idly by as Abramovich abruptly sacked his deputy, Ray Wilkins, sending out a message to the squad that he would not stand up for anybody.​

January's £71m double swoop to land David Luiz and Torres looked what it was - a desperate attempt to make good the damage that had been done.
But Luiz, already a cult hero, was cup-tied in Europe and everybody in football knows what Torres is going through.​

It left Ancelotti in an impossible position. He had survived eight years at Milan by knowing what he had to do to satisfy Silvio Berlusconi and adopted the same approach - the line of least resistance.​

But Berlusconi always accepted he might make mistakes and absolved Ancelotti of total responsibility.​

Abramovich is cut from a very different cloth. He got it right. It was not working. Ergo, Ancelotti must have messed it up. Simple.​

The fact that Abramovich did not even stay to see his Champions League dream shattered again said it all, leaving as injury time ticked away, missing the United celebrations.​

He just doesn't get football, doesn't understand you cannot win every game. And perhaps he never will.​

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[derbyskyblue]

It almost seems like every manager has failed at chelsea. There is a stat that says since torres went to stamford bridge he and drogba have passed the ball to each other 5 times,and one of them was from the kick off. Young players who arnt ready and an ageing squad means roman has to be looking at spending 100 million in the summer. I wonder if he will do that, even for him it must be a lot of money and no guarantee of the one trophy he really wants.