The team is at a major crossroads at the moment, and the path chosen will have a mojor influence on our success or lack of in the years to come.
It is blatantly obvious we need an injection of youth, pace and that magic element, by this I mean a player that can create something out of nothing ie Torres, or Gerrard at Liverfool , or Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez, Berbatov blah blah blah you get my point. We dont have a single player that can just turn a game on its head when we are struggling to create, I know we have some world class players such as Essien, Terry, Carvalho, Lampard and Drogba, but these players are industrious rather than "Magic", ok the latter two are a goal threat but Drogba's heart isnt always in the game and Lampard is in the twilight of his career. For me the only player capable of turning a game is J.cole and he hasnt shown his true potential since the 05/06 season.
It is no coincidence that the teams above us have these "Magic" players. To challenge these teams we need to bring in some real danger men such as Villa, Benzema, or even Tevez who could be available. The defence is fine. I think we need a creative Midfielder and/or Def Midfielder depending on where the new manager wants to play Essien, we definately need two quick skillfull wingers and at least one or maybe two new strikers. Ancellotti is not the man for the job simply because he cannot speak the language proficiently, which is vital to the team and players as individuals. This team seems to thrive under the leadership of a coach with good man to man management skills and speaking fluent English (Not basic Engllish as in the case of LFS)is vital to do this effectively.
Rijkard fits the bill perfectly, his "Legend" within the game will automatically gain him the respect from his players both young and old; he gives youth a chance, has won everything (champs league included) and likes attractive football. Also I wouldn't mind seing David Moyes be given a chance, the team would give him 100%, the only doubt would be his ability at attracting the players we require and European pedigree, but these managers need to be given a chance, I seem to recall a certain team from Manchester taking a risk on a young Scotish manager.....................we all now what happened there.