As usual I was looking around the net and came across one of the best articles I read this season from Mark Worral on the CFCNet website. This article along with our double success has prompted me to write the following apology to "King Carlo".
If you have been a follower of my blog you will know that at different times this season, for me personally, I called to question Ancelotti as our manager.
To be honest I guess it all started for me with his appointment as manager. I called to question the club's decision more or less straight away. To be fair to Carlo he handled the John Terry/Man City situation really well and his first interview with his broken english was well received by all including me.
After a great start in the Premier League the cracks started to show in Ancelotti's 4-Diamond-2 formation. I wondered what was going on after a defeat away at Wigan and an unimpressive performance at APOEL.
I wrote again after the defeat away at Villa and JT's reaction and for me questions were being asked.
Chelsea's form picked up under Carlo and all came to a head with (at the time) our best peformance of the season with the win at The Emirates. I wondered if the defensive performances since the Villa defeat had all been down to Ancelotti.
For me at the time what followed put serious doubts in my mind with performances against City, Carlo had stated that he wasn't worried to which I responded with a post explaining how I was!, APOEL, Everton, West Ham and Birmingham.
Our form picked up once more in the league and again came to a head later in the season at Hull and Everton where I stated Ancelotti got it wrong!.
Our first trip to Inter left me wondering if it was a good or bad result but the game after at home to City frustrated me even more as I called for Ancelotti to WAKE UP!.
Shortly afterwards the 2nd leg to Inter once again prompted me to call to question Carlo and to point out what he lacked as our manager. Maybe right or wrong and maybe some of you would have agreed with me. I reported shortly after that the fall out had begun following our exit from the Champions League.
Our now famous trip away at Blackburn had me stating to the players and Ancelotti in my preview that we felt they owed us a performance. What followed on that day led to another post by me stating that our manager lacked ideas.
It turns out that Carlo had his best idea of the whole season. After it was reported by the press that Abramovich had been into see the team after losing to Inter and reading the riot act. Ancelotti took it upon himself to stay with the players once Roman had left to "have it all out in the open". The players and every member of staff were allowed to say what they wanted about how they felt things were going and allowed to air their views. Ancelotti listened and did the same. The players listened and at that moment in that room Ancelotti turned our season around.
The 4-diamond-2 formation had gone as we reverted back to our tried and trusted formation of 4-3-3 which I had been asking for us to play for weeks and what followed for the remainder of the season (apart from Spurs) was simply fantastic.
We beat Portsmouth 5-0, Villa 7-1, United 2-1, Villa 3-0 in the cup semi, Bolton 1-0, a stumble at Spurs losing 2-1, Stoke 7-0, Liverpool 2-0, Wigan 8-0 to wrap up the title and finally beat Portsmouth 1-0 to win the FA Cup and the Double!
I have to say the celebrations after winning the League and the parade last week and Ancelotti on the microphone has really made me warm to him even more.
You know what, the more I think about it and sit back and take stock of the season I can see now I was a bit hasty. I honestly believe at the time I still would of felt the same because at Chelsea after winning two titles under Jose we have been frustrated at United winning the League for the three seasons inbetween. I didnt want to see us let it all slip away.
Maybe, as Mark Worrall points out in his article I was holding onto the Jose factor for far too long and needed a shove to realise that Carlo has delivered exactly what Roman wanted apart from the Champions League. We've scored over 100 goals in the league this season which is a record. The players had gone on record to say that Carlo allows the players to express themselves within the structure of the side and we have seen the fruition of the fact in the last weeks of the season.
Carlo has led us to the double this season and the double over United, Arsenal and Liverpool. This cannot be under-estimated in any way.
So Carlo, here at Chelseadaft.org I would like to apologise for questioning you as a manager first of all and as our manager. I apologise for being frustrated at times but my posts were from my heart, my Chelsea blue blooded heart. I can see now our blue blood is flowing through yours.
Thank you because as I have written above I had asked you to wake up during the course of the season, in return you have woken me up, shaken me out of my Jose hangover and proved to me you aren't just special you are KING CARLO!
CARLO, CARLO, CARLO!!
(Check out the Carlo Ancelotti song!)
CAREFREE & KTBFFH EVERYONE!
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