Chelsea end of season report

It didn’t exactly begin in sunshine. The 08/09 season was forgettable on so many levels. It took a miracle going by the name of Hiddink to revitalise a ragged and jaded squad. There was a real sense of “will he, won’t he†as to Guus’s future with us and I’m sure we were all a little disappointed when he decided to stick to international football instead of pledging his next few years with us. The situation was made all the more uncomfortable when Carlo Ancelotti was being bandied about as a strong favourite for the top spot.

“No experience with youthâ€

“Hasn’t won all that much in Italyâ€

“Played the same squad for so many yearsâ€

These were some of the comments being thrown about by many fans (myself included). We weren’t all that impressed with CA to be honest. How wrong we were. In hindsight, Carlo was the man for the job on two grounds:

1) He’s used to having demanding bosses (like the Prime Minister of your home country)

2) He’s used to controlling and mediating egos (Clarence Seedorf anyone?)

These two criteria were important for any manager to take up the Chelsea job. His calm demeanour and avoidance of head games in the media meant that Chelsea stayed out of the spotlight most of the time (certain extramarital indiscretions aside). He also managed to get the best out of players like Didier and Nico while keeping Malouda in pretty good form (stellar in fact, come the end of the season).

Another worry we had was his supposed inability to react to dynamically situations. There were runs of games where he didn’t change the system despite ample evidence on the contrary. The football-killing midfield of Lamps-Mikel-Ballack cost us a fair few points and almost put us out of the title race (again). All that changed when January came around. The tournament that was much-maligned in the past actually proved the catalyst for a successful title-winning run. The African Cup of Nations deprived us of Mikel, Drogs and Kalou. Rather than breaking the team (as some predicted), it actually worked the complete opposite effect. The side began playing more dynamic football with greater mobility and real pace (gasp shock horror!!). The diamond was ditched like the cheap fake that it was. Lamps was restored to his original position in the centre of midfield and began to play and score with real form and frequency.

The ACN joy was short lived however, as the wheels almost came off in Feb-March. JT’s scandal rocked the nation and affected a great many of the squad. With the Captain distracted by off-field issues and Cech getting injured for 5 weeks, Man City made short work of us, doing the double with a 4-2 victory. A CL exit against Inter and a dour draw away to Blackburn despite leading the tie for most of the game made for nervy, if not downright depressing times.

The players and the staff, following the Blackburn game, had a real sit down, heart-to-heart talk and voiced their views on the team’s performance. I’m not sure what was said but it worked a charm. A 7-1 win over Aston Villa was followed up by a marvellous, well-disciplined performance against Man Utd, putting us in the driver’s seat for the title once more. The 4-point cushion meant that we had one “get out of jail†card to be used for the remaining games. This mean that we could lose one game and still be top of the table. Little did we realise that the card would be used almost immediately. A tame 2-0 defeat to Spurs meant that we were 1 point ahead of a man Utd that, while were far from the dominant force they were for the last 3 years, still managed to win most of their games, albeit less convincingly.

Once again, an unlikely source of relief came to our aid. Steven Gerrard’s back pass to Drogs sparked vibrant conspiracy theories about Liverpool willing to throw the game at Utd’s expense. The lacklustre home side did nothing to douse those flames. A solid 2-0 win at Anfield meant that we would go into the last game of the season, at home to Wigan with a slender 1 point advantage. Memories of the 3-1 thrashing earlier in the season were fresh in many mind and Martinez’s media games were not helping. A nerve-wracking one week passed between the Liverpool game and the Wigan one. Fans were trying to remain optimistic, but level-headed. Well, most of them anyway.

Unlike previous occasions where a lack of focus meant that we could never keep a solid lead over any of our closest rivals, the Chelsea boys gave a stellar performance against Wigan, trouncing them 8-0 and winning the title in style, while simultaneously scoring the most number of goals in the history of the EPL. The following week, more history was made as we successfully defended the FA Cup against a spirited Pompey side, and therefore, doing a Double, the first in our 105-year history.

A memorable season all in all, with many highs and lows. Carlo proved himself a masterful tactician in the end, with solid and spectacular victories to be savoured. It is my hope that he has learnt the intricacies of the EPL and what it takes to be a manager here. The fact that he managed to win the title with so many odds stacked against him (language being a prime concern, as were the growing injuries to key players) showed that we were wrong to judge him so at the start of the season.

YOUUUUUUUUUUUU BLUUUUUUES!

Nice one Oblivion,

Credit to the Manager who done in his first season with hardly any additions to the Squad and none of his own choosing, what no manager has achieved before.

I look forward to seeing what types of players he feels are the most important to keep the momentum for next season.

Superb post oblivion...you just summarized the whole season for us .

Many memories were rejuvenated from all over the season....I couldn't stop myself from having another glimpse of the best back pass of the season after reading about it.

The people who have put you on Ignore list are definitely gonna regret it as they will miss a great read here :).

A great read Oblivion. I really enjoyed it and very much agree with some of the points that you made. When Carlo Ancelotti was selected as manager last summer I was quite skeptical. Like many over Chelsea fans at the time I had hoped that Guus Hiddink would have stayed on as manager, but sadly that was not to be.

On how Carlo hs progressed this season I have been delighted at how well he has done, especially with the fact that he help win our first classical double. My only critique of Carlo was that he was not good enough when it came to the games against Jose's Inter Milan. I personally thought that the got it wrong in both games tatically. Although to be fair to Carlo had we got that penalty in the first half at the San Siro it would have been a different game. Who knows we have may have gone through.

I hope that if we do come up against Jose and Real Madrid in next season's Champions League (We could draw them in the group stage possibly on the account of Real's recently poor record recently) Carlo would be able to devise a strategy of which to counter the style of Jose Mourinho.

Getting back to Carlo and his performance this season I felt that overall he performed magnificantly. I feel that Carlo has been able to get the best out of players, especially the likes of Malouda, Lampard ect as mentioned by Oblivion. Another positive has been the support he has given towards the younger players that are on the books at the club. I deeply hope that this policy continues, and that hopefully a few will establish themselves next season.

Overall carry on the good Carlo, he is doing well :)

Little off topic, but it's surprising to see Seedorf named as an "ego" given some of the players Ancelotti managed at Milan. Seedorf has always come across as one of the model proffesionals of the game and generally a wonderful personality.