After Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park yesterday Chelsea decided to part company with boss Carlo Ancelotti.
There have been doubts of the Italian’s future for the last few months and he has now paid the price for his sides poor displays.
Confirmed
The Blues confirmed the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti in a statement on the clubs official website: “Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Carlo Ancelotti parted company with the club today (Sunday, 22nd May).
“The owner and board would like to thank Carlo for his contribution and achievements since taking over as manager in July 2009, which included winning the Double for the first time in the club’s history.
“However, this season’s performances have fallen short of expectations and the club feels the time is right to make this change ahead of next season’s preparations.
“Chelsea’s long-term football objectives and ambitions remain unchanged and we will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager.
“There will be no further comment until that appointment is made.”
Underperforming
As the statement says the club haven’t fulfilled their expectations this season under the Italian. They have finished second in the Premier League and also lost out to Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The club paid the price for a very poor two months in the middle of the season were the club failed to win in six games. That’s not the sort of run of results you expect from a team hoping to be champions.
Players
During the tough times it seemed that the Italian had lost the dressing room. He was unable to pull the club out of their slump quick enough and it resulted in the club finishing with a trophy.
The players were also unable to pull themselves out of their slump and didn’t seem to have the energy to turn it around. The players definitely missed the influence of experienced number two Ray Wilkins, who was rather harshly let go by the club.
Class
Carlo Ancelotti has always been a winner both as a player and coach. He is still rated as one of the top coaches in Europe. Somewhere along the way it’s all gone wrong at Chelsea for the former-AC Milan coach.
He will however no doubt go on to another top job in Europe. And his experience at Chelsea will most likely make him a better coach in the future.
Replacement
Carlo Ancelotti’s sacking wasn’t exactly a surprise but the timing did surprise me slightly. The Chelsea hierarchy must have been planning for this contingency for awhile, as the Italian’s future has been in doubt for the past few months.
It will take a top manager to come in and revive Chelsea’s fortunes next season. The squad is in need of a major rebuild with a large number of the squad in their thirties and looking their age.
Former-Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink and Marco Van Basten have both been linked with the vacant position. Hiddink is currently in charge of the Turkish national side and the country seem content on keeping their boss.
Hiddink however enjoyed his previous short-stint at the club and it seems he would like to work with the club again. Marco Van Basten is less experienced than his compatriot and his only club managerial experience came at Ajax, where he didn’t exactly cover himself in glory.
One coach who seems ideal for the role is former-Barca boss Frank Rijkaard. He won major silverware with the club before departing after a poor run of form. He is currently out of work following an unsuccessful spell in Turkish football with Galatasaray.
Despite his struggles in Turkish football he is still a highly-regarded coach and has shown he has what it takes to bring success to a big club. He is also a very attack-minded coach, which is what reportedly Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is looking for.
I’m sure other people will come into the equation and Chelsea will looking to act fast to give their new manager as much time to prepare for next season as possible.
If Chelsea are to reclaim their crown from Manchester United next season then they will need to hire a highly-experienced and highly-talented coach. If they don’t then they will struggle to compete with the top teams again next season.
Did Carlo Ancelotti deserve to be sacked?
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