So it’s official: Carlo Ancelotti has been sacked. Roman didn’t even wait until his scheduled post-season meeting, set to take place a week after the last game of the season. Roman decided to sever Carlo’s ties with Chelsea after a frustrating game and season.

This is, and has been for quite a while, the expected outcome of the season. I think this is the icing on the cake after a year of inconsistent and bad decisions made by Roman and the rest of the Chelsea hierarchy.

For one, Roman hasn’t learned that managerial stability is important in order to bring out the best in his players and to ensure longer-term success. His players have spoken out on that subject during the interregnums of Chelsea’s various managers.

Quoting Michael Ballack (one of my favorite ex-Chelsea players) on managerial instability, “It was difficult in one way because you have to adapt to a new coach, the manager has to adapt to the players. Sometimes it goes a little bit too quick because you should give them a little more time. If you work with such big players it doesn’t always work from the first minute. Sometimes clubs don’t have this time and that’s why they change managers to hope that it gets better but normally it’s not always right.”

It seems like the Chelsea hierarchy was trying to unsettle Carlo throughout the year. First, we let go of a bunch of senior players, and we only brought in kids to replace them. I think that the new focus on bringing up youth from the academy is great, and I see lots of talent in the ranks of our youth and reserve team, but it seemed a bit foolish to expect a bunch of kids who haven’t really gotten their feet wet in the EPL to come in and replace five experienced current and former internationals.

Second, Ray Wilkins is sacked. Did we ever hear the full story? Why on earth would they sack an excellent assistant manager, who has great relationships with so many players and staff across many clubs? He was instrumental in helping us reach the Double, and he’s shown the door with no class and no warning. He was then replaced with Michael Emenalo, who hadn’t even earned all of the proper qualifications to be an assistant manager at the time.

It just seemed as if Carlo couldn’t get his way, no matter what. In January, we bought the one player that Carlo really wanted (David Luiz), and the one player that Roman really wanted (Fernando Torres). I have nothing against Torres; he just doesn’t fit into our system. While there is no doubt we are going to change to accommodate Torres, it was just an impulsive buy that did not seem to do much to reinforce Carlo’s position. Why not wait until the summer?

I am really against Carlo leaving. Not that it matters now, but I really think he should have been given one more chance. I know, we were awful many times during this season. The midfield fell flat and our attack was pretty dull. The only in-form Chelsea strikers: Daniel Sturridge (who has scored more goals since January than Torres, Drogba, and Anelka combined) and Fabio Borini, both out on loan.

Our tactics were poor, the same underperforming players were on the team sheet week in and week out, and we just weren’t good enough. I know Carlo is to blame for some of this, but the blame can’t rest entirely at his feet.

For someone who won us our first Double, and who has an excellent European pedigree, this was just a poor decision executed tastelessly.

As for Chelsea’s next manager…I’ll make a new post soon, I’m still in mourning for Carlo.

We thought it may come but not even the most cynical of us would have seen it happening so soon.

Barely hours after the season ended with a 1-0 defeat away to Everton, Chelsea released a statement that read;

“Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Carlo Ancelotti parted company with the club today (Sunday, 22 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.

Carlo will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge, where he will be given the reception and respect his position in our history deserves.

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”

Ancelotti is the latest in a long line of managers not to see out their contracts at Chelsea, starting with Ranieri, then Mourinho, Grant, Scolari and now Carlo.  Only Hiddink left of his own accord.

After winning the double for Chelsea last season, a feat many of us years ago would have given a limb for –  it seems a barren follow-up season just wasn’t up to the standards Roman has come to expect.

Carlo, you were a gentleman until the end. Thank you for all you’ve done.

Chelsea’s start to the season promised so much but fell flat on its back as they ended the campaign without a trophy.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti failed to build on last term where he won the double in his first season in charge of the Blues.

Chelsea’s mid-season demise has really taken its toll as reports suggest Ancelotti is the football betting favourite to be the next manager for the chop after the final game of the season this weekend.

The Italian’s dismissal wouldn’t come as a surprise after the long list of previous managers that have failed at the helm following poor seasons. Owner Roman Abramovich wants success instantly, yet sacking the former AC Milan manager would be harsh considering the achievements he had in his first season in England.

On the other hand, why would the Russian millionaire want to keep a manager who has failed to get the best out of player that cost him £50 million? Fernando Torres’ performance haven’t reflected his price tag and Ambramovich may want a fresh manager to get the best out of the Spaniard to stick by his decision to splash the cash on the striker.

Chelsea have also failed to bring players through the youth system in recent years and are falling behind in terms of youth with the other title challengers thus far. There is an argument Arsenal have too much youth while Chelsea have too much experience. Manchester United, the champions, have the correct balance of emerging youngsters and veteran performers and it has showed as they wrapped up their 19th title and face Barcelona in the Champions League final next week, a match which won’t be as one sided as “football bets” suggest.

The Blues do have Josh McEachran and Daniel Sturridge coming through the ranks with both featuring a little bit this season. Sturridge has showed his potential on loan at Bolton and should be at the forefront of the Chelsea attack next campaign, though the club still needs players to freshen up the squad. David Luiz has had an impact since he joined from Benfica but Torres has done the opposite.

Torres, a January transfer signing from Liverpool, has hampered Chelsea’s title bid with Ancelotti persistently choosing the Spanish striker in order to justify his transfer fee. Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka have since failed to shine and become unsettled since Torres’ arrival and the goals have dried up.

Chelsea need to freshen their team in order to get back on the right track to challenge for major honours. Some players are starting to go past their peak years and Abramovich may need a clearout this
summer, starting with the manager.

So, here we are at the season’s end, and I have a problem. So I thought I’d put quill to parchment to put a few words out there and see what you, the goodly lords and ladies who follow our fine club, think.

My problem is that I appear to have a different perspective on things to the majority of observers I see who comment on these matters. Specifically; on the title race, on Carlo, and on Salomon Kalou.

The title race first; It is not over.

Okay, all bar the shouting maybe, but there is still a lot of shouting to do. I am most definitely not one of the hysterical idiots who are yelling about our season being a failure. I may, however, be an idiot for thinking there is still a glimmer of hope left, pale and feeble though it is.

Maybe it’s because I’ve followed Chelsea through the 70’s and 80’s when hope was all we had. Hope and a debt, anyway. But let me explain my thinking.

United have to go to Blackburn on Saturday. Blackburn need the points, perhaps even more desperately than United. Blackburn have only conceded two goals in their last three League games, and they haven’t lost for two games. And it’s a lunchtime kick-off. And yes, I’m clutching at straws!

But at least those straws are still there to be clutched.

So, to continue: a poor performance from a United side who think the title is theirs and Blackburn luck it with a 1-0 win.

And United’s next match? The mighty Blackpool. Okay, maybe not so mighty, but a few days before the European Championship Final? I’m willing to suggest even Ebbw Vale Town FC could appear a bit on the mighty side a few days before having to play in the game which is the real pinnacle of club football.

Add into the equation: players fearful of injuries, extra pressure because we’ve beaten Newcastle, and maybe a deliberately weakened United. So lightening strikes twice, and Blackpool win.

It’s not likely, but it’s not impossible. And while it remains possible, it remains time to keep on shouting. Because as we all know, anything can happen over two games.

Secondly; In praise of Don Carletto.

We’ve heard and read the arguments for and against keeping him so many times already. I don’t want to go into them all yet again, because no doubt this will continue until the club say something definitive.

Suffice to say, I think we are all agreed that our “bad moment” cost us domestically. So, I want to have a quick look at the two main reasons why our bad moment was so bad.

Two significant issues contributed to it: too many injuries, and the Wilkins situation.

You cant do much about a run of injuries (and illnesses) to key players, on a scale that happens only once every few seasons apart from maintaining a big squad. The board had already decided that was not an option. Finances dictated that the squad size needed to be reduced and so experienced players were let go.

It is entirely possible that a Ballack or a fit Benayoun would have been enough to turn the tide during that period. That’s all conjecture though, and hindsight is as wonderful as it is useless. In fairness the board couldn’t have foreseen the spate of injuries, but by the same token they cannot now blame Carlo for that either.

Injuries are part of football. We get through them with total support from all parts of the club, and that’s where the club failed. Whereas injuries are unavoidable, turning a bad moment into a horrific time was most certainly avoidable.

At a time when the team is struggling for form, fitness and players, the club decided to shoot itself in the foot by firing Ray Wilkins.

This disgraceful piece of inept boardroom mismanagement could have, and should have, been avoided. A more ludicrously stupid decision I have never seen; a more pitifully managed scenario you could not hope to witness.

After everything that Carlo, Roman, the players, the fans and those in the boardroom themselves have done over the last 18 months to promote a better image for the club, they managed to undo most of that work in a single phone call. Not to mention the effect on team morale, the silence at board level after the event was deafening in the way it spoke volumes about the character and nature of those who govern our club.

Pathetic and incompetent – whatever the cause or the reasoning behind it, the handling of the situation was truly, shockingly, and risibly inept.

Rant over. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes (I don’t make a habit of criticising the club, but I think in this instance it is justified). My point is that Carlo cannot be blamed for the sacking, or for the abject team displays that followed it. You cannot sh*t and p*ss on an artists’ paints and brushes and then say to him “Now go and paint a masterpiece”.

I would argue then that Carlo was not responsible for the two primary factors that caused us to miss out on the title this time around. How then, can we dismiss the man who bought us the double last year?

Finally; Kalou and Spurs.

Did you see his face when he scored against them? The way he brushed off Ashley Cole’s exuberant celebration? The way he left the pitch at the final whistle?

Most observers are suggesting that his behaviour was throwing his toys out of the pram after being relegated to the bench. Yes, I know it is frustrating when you don’t start a game, but would it really affect him so much that he behaved in a way that is so totally out of character?

Surely he is used to being benched. He’s gone through this scenario many times before and he’s surely used to it. This has been the story of his career at Chelsea – sad, but true, because the boy has so much skill, so much potential, and perhaps the club are getting tired of waiting for that potential to come to fruition.

Why should he suddenly turn into an overgrown child a spoilt brat, a Le Sulk, as he has been branded in some quarters. It doesn’t add up and I don’t buy it. But maybe, just maybe, his time is up. Personally I would be sad to see him go, but the club could be looking to revamp. Maybe he is gone. The question is, where to?

Settled in London, doesn’t want to leave the city or the Premier League, once wooed by Arsene Wenger (no, surely not!!), he is most certainly Uncle Harry’s type of player. Maybe it’s already been sorted. A deal at White Hart Lane anyone?

His goal, the one that knocked the stuffing out of Spurs may also have stopped our Sal playing Champions League football next season. At least, that how it could have looked at the time. It’s that which, to me at least, could well explain the out-of-character behaviour.

There are a lot of “maybes” here, aren’t there? I must admit that I’m surprised no one else has thought of this; when I saw his muted celebration it all became obvious to me.

So, am I making two and two into four, or 21? Is it Bye Bye Salomon? What do you folks think?

The night after the day before and it’s all still a bit too much to take.

Having clawed back from so far behind, to get within touching distance of retaining the title and then lose it in just 45 minutes of football has left many of us feeling deflated.

In March we were wondering if we’d even make fourth place, so credit where it’s due to Carlo and the lads.  To come back from 15 points behind United after our spectacular mid-season collapse was some achievement; they got us believing again.

Now I don’t want to get into pointing fingers at players, or managers, or the tactics they played against United, we lost and rarely did we look like we would do anything  but lose once we’d gone behind via Hernandez’s first minute opener. Once the second went in, the rest of the afternoon was sorely predictable.

We lost the title mid-season; those dark days in December and January with so many players out, injured or playing with knocks. With benches full of youngsters and no real game changers or options other than the unknown. Games coming thick and fast, with every opposition manager able to all but name the team they would face, all the while praying for the transfers to come.

Those battles took their toll and did the damage then. The recent renaissance that saw us storm back to second was a mere flirt with the title we hold, like a sullen mistress who knew she was leaving, and just wanted that last lingering look.

The facts are plain and simple; this season Chelsea have taken only six points from six league matches against United, Arsenal and Liverpool, after completing a perfect run last time out. Over the course of a season, the points dropped against non top four/five clubs generally evens itself out.  For a loss to Villa away, Arsenal will take one at Bolton, and United at West Ham.

Invariably it comes down to the record against those also challenging for the title that decides where the trophy will end up, and this year we simply have not been good enough in the big games.

If you believe the eulogies being written for Ancelotti in the media after the defeat, then this fact may just have cost Carlo his job.

Champions League aside…

As it looks as though Carlo Ancelotti’s tenure as Chelsea manager is coming to an end after our exit from the Champions League and failure to win any trophies there are a number of candidates that have already been tipped to take over from the Italian.

It was recently reported that the players have asked Roman Abramovic for a “dream management team” of Jose Mourinho manager and Guus Hiddink as sporting director.

Although both are already contracted with Real Madrid and Turkey respectively, both already have a connection to Chelsea from their times as manager, and it has also been widely reported that Jose and Abramovich have buried the hatchet that saw the Portuguese manager leave, and ever since the Chelsea Inter Milan Champions League match last season, the pair have been in constant contact.

Both would obviously be favoured choices by both the players and fans as both were adored by all when at the club and both were successful in their times at the club. However it may be hard to obtain either as they already have contracts with other clubs, furthermore Jose seems to have his heart set on taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson once he retires.

There are other managers that have been put into the hat to take over from Carlo, Frank Rijkaard has been included on the list, a name which may be favourable to Roman’s desires of European success and attractive football as he won the Champions League with Barcelona, playing attractive football that truly was pleasing to the eye.

Another manager that has recently offered Roman his services was World Cup winning manager Marcello Lipp,i who wants to come out of retirement and has already expressed his desire to work in the Premier League, and that he would welcome the challenges of the Chelsea job. Other names have been included on bookies list of potential managers including; Marco Van Basten, Didier Deschamps, Martin O’Neil, Andre Villas-Boas, Pep Guardiola and even Rafa Benitez.

The long shots are ex players like Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo and Gus Poyet, who all would obviously be fans favourites as managers although none of them have enough experience yet, so to choose them would potentially cause more problems as we are a team that need, and to a certain extent expect, instant success. Therefore going for an unproven manager would in my mind, be extremely unlikely.

The obvious choice would be to bring back either Hiddink or Mourinho, however the Turkish FA have already said they would not welcome any approaches for Hiddink. As either would be unlikely, Roman must go for someone that has proven success and can bring on the next generation of Chelsea players.

Therefore, I feel Deschamps would be the perfect choice as he has shown at both Monaco and Marseille has can create a good team spirit and having got Monaco to the Champions League final a few seasons ago, and having won the league with Marseille after 18 years without winning it.

Having been France captain he’s also showed he is a leader, and during his time as Juventus boss he showed he was capable of managing big egos as players like Del Piero and Buffon were present in a team playing in Serie B. He also has experience winning the Champions League as a player with both Marseille and Juventus, and also was the World Cup winning captain with France.

To further add to his already favourable CV for Chelsea, supporters must look at his time as a Chelsea player where he helped guide us to winning the FA Cup, which shows he has experience and knowledge of the club, and would already have some knowledge of Chelsea’s history and culture that is present.

January is the worst time to buy players. Clubs and managers are reluctant to break up squads, especially let their prize assets go when they are playing so well.

But we are getting desperate now; Spurs and Arsenal are sitting above us and were in the Europa league spot with Sunderland and Bolton breathing down our necks. Wow, who would have thought that 6 games into the season?

A new creative player is needed, particularly a winger that plays on the wing. Not who constantly drops deep to play or has his back to goal for 80% of the match afraid to shot. We need a young, hungry right footed player who isn’t scared to get past a defender and then deliver a decent ball and contribute with goals.

Options: Thomas Muller, Alexis Sanchez , Pablo Hernandez or even Jordan Henderson.

Our defence was the best in the league and now we struggle to keep a clean sheet. This isn’t Petr Cech’s fault, he’s been in fine form this season but we have struggled with our back line. The loss of Riccy C and injuries to Alex and Terry hasn’t helped, however I was impressed with Bruma against Villa, young, fast and seems an excellent reader of the game. One for the future, if given the right chance.

Bosingwa looks a lot weaker than before his injury and less confident, he needs time but I’m a huge fan of Ivanovic, his workrate and versatility means he should be our right back giving Bosingwa decent competition and time to recover, whilst Ivanovic can be used as cover in the CB position for injuries and suspensions.

Therefore that leaves a gap at centre back that we need to fill, Terry is a hero but not getting younger and is constantly playing with injuries; would be ideal to give him time to rest.

Options: David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Mats Hummels or Roger Johnson.

I believe we only need to bring in two new players at the moment, but we need to give certain players game time. Sturridge looks dangerous, confident and hungry to score goals, yet he is rarely given a chance. I feel Kalou is a lost cause; Anelka doesn’t look interested; give Sturridge 3 or 4 starts and see what he has to offer.

Every Chelsea fan is excited about young Josh McEachran, he looks like an exceptional talent but he hasn’t even started a Premier Lleague game this season. Look at Jack Wilshire, he was given 6 months at Bolton and now is a starter for Arsenal. If your good enough, you’re old enough.

I watched Gael Kakuta closely in the summer at the Under 19’s European Championship, he was incredible. He won the golden player of the tournament for the champion’s scoring crucial goals and assisting the winner in the final. Yet he hasn’t been given much time to show Chelsea what he is about.

That’s three players I’ve mentioned that haven’t played enough, without even considering Van Aanholt and Fabio Borini.

I appreciate that the correct integration along with time is needed to develop talent; we can’t drop half our team for youth it doesn’t work. Rather than giving 15 minutes every now and again to a player, let’s see some stars and a few risks taken, it’s not like things can get any worse can they?

We interrupt our normal service of light-hearted travel reminiscence and assorted ramblings for a more serious look at matters at the Bridge.

Even Stevie Wonder could see that the defeat against Wolves probably marked a 10-year low point in our history. Certainly there has been no such air of uncertainty about the future since the 2002/2003 season, the last of the Ken Bates regime, when Claudio Ranieri was hamstrung in the transfer market and we were a defeat against Liverpool away from probably hitting the wall.

There are however steps I believe that Carlo can take now to mitigate the undoubted problems that are besetting the team.

1. Pack Drogba off to his beloved Marseille on a free transfer.

I see a lot of my own character in Drogba. We were born on the same day (he wears No. 11 for a reason), albeit in different years, and I understand his ultra-sensitivity, wanting to be loved, wanting to be the centre of attention and general drama-queenyness like I do my own.

However, there comes a point when the egotism of a star player has to come secondary to the interests of the team. I strongly suspect that cliques are developing within the dressing room and Drogba is leading a number of other players astray. If my suspicions are correct, there is only one way to terminate the problem. Taxi to Heathrow, flight to Marseille.

2. Drop Boswinga like doggy doo off a shovel.

Great going forward. An absolute nightmare going back. Ivan to take over as right back and Jeffrey Bruma, so assured against Villa, steps in at centre-half till Alex returns.

3. Tell Essien he’s in the last chance saloon and if he doesn’t improve he’ll be off at the end of the season. A ridiculous self-inflicted sending off against Fulham, gave away free kick against Villa, general poor performance this season. We can’t afford passengers anymore. Nuff said.

4. Have more faith in youth. I would rather see five years of kids who want to play for CFC than ageing mercenaries. I’d certainly rather see us win nothing with the former than the latter. And if the glory-hunters amongst the fans don’t like it, they can go and buy tickets for Spurs.

5. Have a meeting with Ron Gourlay and Eugene Tenembaum in which he politely but firmly asks to have Michael Emmelano removed from the first team coaching staff, a position which he is not qualified to fill, and replaces him with an assistant of his own choosing. It is important that he has complete confidence in his assistant, and that his assistant is not simply a “plant” by the board.

It’s worth remembering that at this point, Carlo does have the dual trump card of his European experience (winner as both player and manager), and notwithstanding the scary prospect of Benitez washing up in SW6 – although rumours abound he has re-enrolled his mini-dippers in a school in scouseland – there are no viable candidates currently available to take on the job.

At best he gets the assistant of his choosing. At worst, he’s either a lame-duck manager who could f*** CFC over big-time by failing in Europe and the league, or he’s sacked with an enormous compensation package.

One final point – although I would admit to not being a happy baby just now, quite frankly we’ve been spoiled over the past 15 years and now is the time for the real fans amongst us to stand up and be counted, even if we don’t like what we’re currently seeing.

Well, that was embarrassing wasn’t it?

All the teams around us dropped points last night and we fail to even get a point against rock bottom Wolves. Some say you can’t become a bad team over night, a lot people would argue Chelsea have.

In 2010/2011 Chelsea has now dropped as many points as we did in the whole of the 2009/2010 season (29). As champions, this is unacceptable. We have also only gained 9 points out of a possible 18 against the bottom 6 and if Manchester United win their game in hand (against Blackpool), we are only 3 points closer to the top of the Premiership than the bottom.

As time goes on the title is just going up the A1 from London, heading towards Manchester and it’s looking like Carlo is chasing it in a Kia Ceed as opposed to the usual Ferrari we started season driving in.

Seriously, what is going on? Every team has problems, but has any premiership winning team ever gone from such a strong position to where we are in a matter of months. I Doubt it.

Problem: Ray Wilkins – Still we don’t understand the full reason to why Wilkins got dismissed/left early or however you want to put it. He was fundamental in helping Carlo settle, just like Mourinho will admit Clarke was for him. He was his avenue to the players to help develop trust and communicate, being fluent in Italian helped too.

But the fact is he knew how the club worked, the players liked him the fans alike, but it seems as Roman thought ‘the grass is greener on the other side.’ You’re an Oil Tycoon Roman, a businessman and yet you still have yet to convince many you know much about football.

Prevention: Carlo should have stood his ground and said, ‘If Ray goes, I go’.

Solution: We now have a new assistant manager but surely would be the time to bring in a highly influential/motivational backroom character, of Carlo’s choice, to give the players a new lift and sense of direction. I.e Zola or Maldini.

Problem: The Squad – On form, Chelsea’s starting 11 is arguably one of the best in Europe. Most top European clubs would take Cech, Cole, Essien or Drogba only to name a few, in an instant. But the problem lies beneath that.

We have a small squad, only registering 18 players at the start of the season (youth not included) was a worry. It’s the team with the best squad that wins the league, not the best starting 11.

Competition for places isn’t there anymore and we have now become so predictable it’s shocking. Anelka hasn’t scored in 10 games, he needs dropping. Not for Kalou, who has proven time again he’s only an average player in a great team but for someone who will have a cutting edge and make a difference.

Prevention: Although ageing, we should have offered contracts to Ballack, J.Cole and if Carvalho was leaving he needed replacing straight away.

Solution: We need to buy players and give the youth a proper chance. Last night’s statistics against Wolves proved that having 19 shots at goal and 3 on target is desperate and appalling. The likes of Kalou, Mikel, Ferriera aren’t good enough and don’t have enough to offer and were still a couple of new players short.

It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this, the needless texts off Arsenal and Spurs fans really has put a damper of the start to 2011. But if things don’t improve soon, Carlo will be gone. That’s not what anyone wants to see.

On a positive, we have a Copenhagen in the next round of the Champions League. I hope we find more motivation before the first leg. It’s very winnable and a kind Q-final draw would give us a huge chance.

If you said to me at the start of the year ‘you will finish 5th but win the Champions League’, I would of taken it.

Our poor away form continued as we lost against Birmingham in the Premiership on Saturday afternoon, or did it?

Despite battering the Birmingham defence we somehow managed to leak a goal with the only real effort on target. It was a classic snatch and grab.

Birmingham keeper Ben Foster earned all three points for Birmingham with a string of good saves to deny Anelka, Drogba, Malouda and others, as Chelsea were at times camped in the Birmingham half.

Despite some often excellent attacking play, Chelsea were defeated by some determined defending, great goalkeeping, and some luck.

Carlo Ancelotti reflected post match, stating; “It is not good, I think that when you deserve to lose you have to lose, as against Sunderland. When you deserve to win you have to win. We didn’t win because I think we were unlucky.”

“I have to say nothing to my team because everyone showed good spirit, good attitude, everyone wants to win, we played good football, had a lot of chances, but we lost,” said the Italian. “It is a difficult moment but we don’t have to lose confidence.”

“I was really disappointed with the performance against Sunderland, but this is different, just with the result. We have to know this is football and it’s important to maintain confidence in our play and our ability. It is difficult to explain this defeat.”

He added; “It is easier to explain a defeat against Arsenal, because we played a poor game, they played better but today was different. Chelsea played a fantastic game and deserved to win.”

Reflecting on the moment we lost the match, Ancelotti said; “We lost the player that ran in the box, Bowyer ran in the box without control and maybe there was a mistake, but just one during the game. Didier had a lot of opportunities but at the moment he is not so lucky.”

“We have to know that in one season it can happen to have this moment but I already said to my players don’t lose confidence, we have to worry when we don’t play good football but when we play good football… as we showed today we don’t have to be worried”

Chelsea(4-3-3): Cech; Ferreira (Bosingwa 64), Alex, Ivanovic, Cole; Ramires (Sturridge 72), Mikel, Malouda; Kalou, Drogba (c), Anelka.

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