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Ancelotti On For the Double…but is it enough?

Published by Ian John on April 13, 2010

It seems almost ridiculous to think that a manager could take over at a club and in his first season in charge, lead them to a League and Cup double and yet be disappointed with how the season turned out and yet that is the situation Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti could find himself in within a month or so.

So much emphasis is being placed on Chelsea winning the Champions League, particularly by the owner Roman Abramovich, that achieving the ‘double’ in his first season as manager may well be looked upon only as a satisfactory season for the Chelsea boss. Which seems a tad unfair given that over the course of the year, Chelsea have, just about, been the best team in England.

Manchester United’s frailties were once again exposed at the weekend, lacking the added bite of the injured Wayne Rooney, they struggled to break down a manful Blackburn defence to only record a scoreless draw at Ewood Park. This left United a point behind Chelsea having played a game more, with Chelsea’s game in hand coming tonight in a home game against Bolton Wanderers, a game that Sir Alex Ferguson has already dismissed as being a home banker, somewhat to the chagrin of Bolton boss Owen Coyle.

Arsenal, if they can defeat Tottenham on Wednesday, will take over second spot from United but that may be the best Arsene can hope for. The Gunners have been decimated by injuries in recent weeks and not even the long overdue return of Robin Van Persie to the team is likely to secure them enough points to overhaul Chelsea in the title race.

With the men from Stamford Bridge facing an FA Cup final against Portsmouth on the football pitch/ice rink that is Wembley stadium, few would bet now against Ancelotti leading his team to the double in his first season in charge. A remarkable achievement for the Italian, and yet the shadow of that Champions League defeat to Inter Milan still looms large over their season.

To me, this is incredibly unfair. Chelsea have had a remarkable season of consistency. Perhaps they have not reached the dominating level that they achieved under Jose Mourinho, but they have been the best team in the Premier League this season and would make deserving champions. It seems very much that Abramovich in particular has made it a personal mission to lift the Champions League trophy and that he now uses this as the yardstick by which all managers are judged. That is some degree of pressure to work under, even with all the riches at a club like Chelsea. Especially when you consider that the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich as well as all your main English rivals are normally in that competition too.

In such circumstances, that Ancelotti has led his team to the brink of a league and cup double is all the more remarkable.

Furthermore he has done it without resorting to mindgames in the press, slating officials on a weekly basis in an attempt to get them to look favourably on his team, he hasn’t offered a litany of excuses when his team have underperformed, given ridiculous guarantees as to where they will finish and he hasn’t spent a ridiculous amount of money on players in the hope that his team may have the good fortune to finish fourth. Instead he has worked with the players he inherited, kept true to his footballing beliefs and as a result, Chelsea are on the brink of a famous double.

It isnt over yet of course. This coming week could well be the defining one in the title race. Chelsea begin matters with what looks like a banker home win against Bolton. Tottenham then host Arsenal at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night. Saturday lunchtime sees Manchester United travel to Manchester City in what looks likely to be a must win game for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men. Later on that day Chelsea travel to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham and on Sunday Arsenal travel to Wigan.

The permutations from these games are almost limitless and by Monday night next week, we should have a far better idea of who just will be Champions come the end of the season. Or it may still be completely open for any of the three teams to win it.

However it is my feeling that by this time next week, we may be anointing Chelsea as the Champions to be in England and that is a remarkable achievement for Ancelotti, regardless of how his team performed in the Champions League. The FA Cup would then round off a spectacular season.

I just hope the clubs owner recognises that fact.

Image Courtesy of ***Chelsea FC 2009*** on Flickr.com

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