Okay, the title of this topic may be a little cryptic, but if the Champions League has any marked level of importance in my world it is more as a yardstick than a fixation and as such our inevitable exit, at whatever stage, always engenders review rather than massive disappoint. So let’s get last night’s game over with quickly - we lost, deservedly so - and live with that short summary whilst considering for a moment just why things have turned sour in a season that started so promisingly. Others will see this differently, yet there is no doubt in my mind that our troubles started as early as last summer…

Fresh from a double success, the opportunity was there for the club to euphemistically ’kick-on’ and to some extent we did so with the purchase of Ramires, even though his signing did not directly address the major problem identified in the CL campaign gone by, namely the dire need for a creative midfield player and a make-things-happen wide man. Back then I’ve no doubt a hierarchical meeting took place to discuss matters and can only guess that the need to bring the overall age of the squad down was an overriding factor in targeting the likes of Neymar and Sanchez. All too predictably, nothing came of either attempt after [allegedly] protracted talks and the emphasis suddenly shifted with the purchase of Benayoun, a conduit for the next stage in the summer saga…

For Roman Abramovich [we are constantly told by hacks aplenty] our annual CL ‘outing’ is far from being the non-event it always turns into and is ‘an obsession’ with major repercussions attached, once failure to win it registers on the usual Richter scale. This is held up to the general public as the prime reason for Chelsea coach dismissals over the years and fans the flames rising from the media’s burning desire to see him either lose interest in, or interfere unnecessarily with, a club that [from their duopolistic viewpoint] has caused unwelcome upheaval in the Premiership’s ’Great Scheme of Things’. In reality, those who believe Roman’s bored need only look at his antics on the sidelines and compare his passion to the Glazers’ motivation - greed, epitomised in £40 million siphoned out of profits to service £700 million of debt incurred in buying the club in the first place.

By way of contrast, those who choose the alternate barb might care to ask themselves just how a man who supposedly meddles incessantly can have achieved so much, both trophy and academy-wise, in such a short space of time. Wow, he really must know the game inside out! However, sarcasm aside, the point to be made here is one that Ray Wilkins emphasised last night on Sky when he stated that Carlo had wanted to get Torres in for the start of this season and he categorically denied any undue influence on the owner’s part over the purchase. This would tie in with Benayoun’s signing and suggest that there was universal agreement on the pursuit of Torres, regardless of how long it took. His cost was obviously not prohibitive, but his delayed arrival upset the applecart in terms of preparation for the season ahead and, for all we know, arrangements regarding players who might otherwise have been on their way out then, rather than a further nine months down the line.

Clearly, the hardest hit by these missed transfer targets and rearrangements has been Carlo Ancelotti and his situation was not helped by the subsequent departure of Ray Wilkins. Yet doubts still exist over his season-long performance [in the main tactically] and they are not assuaged by any comparison with our major rival. Of course, we cannot legislate for the integration of other players into other teams, but Hernandez and Smalling have enhanced United, whereas Ramires has taken time to settle into our system, albeit a ramshackle one on occasions. By no stretch of the imagination did I think their signings would affect the Premiership pecking order as much as they have and as a result any defence of Carlo’s failure to get even close to repeating his feat of last season has to place greater emphasis on the fact that he has still to bring in all the players he wants, thereby putting a personal stamp on the team. Ironically, this still-not-found-what-I’m-looking-for argument only serves to put the personal achievement of a year ago into clearer context.

The conclusion is almost self-evident, in that in the last ten months we have gone backwards when there was every opportunity to advance, and, if preoccupation with the Champions League exists, it has become an unnatural hindrance towards our natural development. Whilst the return of Sturridge, Kakuta, Bruma and van Aanholt, the eligibility of Luiz, the steady improvement of Ramires, the promise of McEachran, the signing of width, creativity and additional attacking stealth to partner Torres, will ease the pain for fans finding it hard to bear at present, Sunday’s Youth Cup game gave us the real defining glimpse of the future. Manchester United’s kids looked every inch a Premiership team in the roll-up-your-sleeves making, whereas we passed it around like a continental outfit anxious only to show its finery. Which style will prevail in five years time and, perhaps more importantly, who will be watching over the proceedings? Your guess is as good as mine and this season, sadly, leaves us none the wiser.

Edited April 13, 201115 yr by Dorset

We, the fans need to accept a few years of transition, its difficult when the managers keep changing to have any continuity, which means we end up depending too much on older players to hold things together...The press go on about the club not giving managers time, but it seems to be the media who get on Carlo's back, and undermine him with endless speculation, that I fear will become a self fulfilling prophecy.

As Drogba, Terry and Lampard get older, and start playing less games or worse still move on or retire, I worry that there won't be any leaders in our team, and what will happen if we keep changing managers then, doesn't bear thinking about...

Edited April 13, 201115 yr by SHELLY

Great post as usual, Dorset. You have a wonderful way with words and have managed to express feeling very similar to my own in a much more eloquent manner than I could ever have managed.

So as our season draws to a unconvincing end,what next,the medias non stop digging at nando,can't be helping the guy,just imagine him announcing "I'm sorry i wasted your time,but i cannot,and you cannot help me",agreed his unhappy demeanour will soon affect his adoring fans,the bloke don't seem at ease,the realisation that liverpool apparently could play to his strengths ,and our so called superstar midfielders cannot adapt to his style,smacks of something i cannot quite explain. The wise on this forum already know our shortcomings in MF,but what will the manager do,continue with an uninspiring Lamps and essien,we need to sign a right winger and dare i say it lennon of spuds,(sorry guys but he can make a difference,a creative skilful MF,like kaka, sneidjer,modric,Arteta,the back four seem okso i d like to see

..........................................Cech

ivan............... luiz ........... JT/alex ................coley

lennon ........Josh........Ess ................A.young

......................Benny

................Torres

pace on both flanks,A fit Ess for steel in MF and energy,young josh to do a wilshere for us,benny to link up with nando,....Using sturridge as first sub,with lamps, Nelks et al.

And goodbye and thanks to Drogs,malouda,Bossy,ferreira and whoever they decide is surplus,these will raise a bit of cash,and new guys to completely revamp,and freshen us up

Nice post as usual, Dorset.

Sadly, quite a few of us saw this coming, although none of us could have predicted the severity of the "blip" in mid-season, especially after such a fine start. I guess it started to go south when we had some key injuries and suspensions, without the able replacements to step in. Then it just basically snow-balled from there, and while, as you imply, Carlo is not totally at fault, his tactical decisions have at times given cause for a bit of concern.

Anyway, I have made up my mind. I've always been very fond of Jose, and I still cannot believe we parted ways with him. It is a mixture of disappointment and "what could have been". But I am not going to yearn for his return any longer, not because I don't want to see him here, but more because the more I think about it, the less likely it is to happen. Also, it feels wrong to be pro-upheaval.

Simply put, Jose aside, I don't think there is a better youngish manager than Carlo with whom to pin our club's hopes for the short- to mid-term future. I hope, nay pray, that we will stick with him and give him the support he requires to "rebuild" this Chelsea side. He is still basically managing Jose's team, and although there are some glimpses of change with the regular starts for Ramires and Luiz, he really deserves to be able to make some more significant changes before we really judge his ability to take us forward. I am actually quite tired of us chopping and changing managers; it really is such a short-term view to a solution, and is likely to end in more of the same. That is, we will flatter to deceive and ultimately fall flat in the crucial games. The long-term view to a solution would be to stick with a very good manager, and change the playing personnel, i.e. refresh the squad. We, and the press, talk about Neymar, Hazard, Lukaku, Van der Weil, De Bruyne, etc..., but what I hope more than anything is that Ancelotti gets to choose his own tools. If that means the likes of Pato and Pirlo, well, that is his choice and we should support him.

Let's get some continuity going.

By the way, I am also sick and tired of the UEFA Champions League. I don't think, as others do, that we actually deserved to lose to United, but they were certainly more clinical and a tad more lucky than we were in the end. However, while I may despise UEFA and couldn't give a rats arse about the competition on a personal basis, I cannot deny that is where it's at, and to really move the club forward, that is where we have to dine regularly; also that once we win it, if we win it, we will really have arrived on the big scene.

Cheers,

Butch

Good post, Butch. I agree completely that we did not deserve to lose to ManU. With the non-called penalty against 'sex-disease' Evra, things might have been been much different.

I also think King Carlo has done well and deserves to stay and rebuilt the squad for the next few years.

Dorset's post was good, but I hate the use of "Whilst", and he uses it like the word "and".

Good post, Butch. I agree completely that we did not deserve to lose to ManU. With the non-called penalty against 'sex-disease' Evra, things might have been been much different.

I also think King Carlo has done well and deserves to stay and rebuilt the squad for the next few years.

Dorset's post was good, but I hate the use of "Whilst", and he uses it like the word "and".

I’ve made a mental note, Phillip, whilst at the same time appreciating your kind comment. Suffice to say, I did try to make amends in that last sentence, but found that ’and’ didn’t quite work. That said, I’ve just realised the same cannot be said for ‘suffice to say’, or for that matter ‘that said’, so I’ve obviously still got a lot to learn.

Dorset, I must admit I'm slightly perplexed by the exuberance of your verbosity but found your post quite interesting. However, I don't agree that we deserved to lose to Man Utd in the quarterfinals of the C.L. A little bad luck and questionable refereeing decisions contributed to our demise. Our problems are deeper than a C.L. loss but I don't believe the solution is to get rid of Carlo as some folks suggest. Although I have no contact with the inner sanctum I agree that hierarchial meetings relating to matters concerning the need to reduce the overall age of the squad and targeting players such as Neymar, Sanchez etc. have been held. I do have a question about the pursuit of a creative midfielder. Ancelotti identified Marek Hamsik as a priority purchase back iin October 2009. The club was threatened with a ban from moving players to Stamford Bridge for two FIFA transfer windows because of the Kakuta dilemma. Did that in any way interfere with Carlo's pursuit of Hamsik?

Edited April 18, 201115 yr by Randy36

Good post, Butch. I agree completely that we did not deserve to lose to ManU. With the non-called penalty against 'sex-disease' Evra, things might have been been much different.

I also think King Carlo has done well and deserves to stay and rebuilt the squad for the next few years.

Dorset's post was good, but I hate the use of "Whilst", and he uses it like the word "and".

lèse-majesté!

On second thought, I think I like the word "Whilst", and so I take back what I said.

As to Moi's French phrase, I will have to check my French lessons from grade school to see what it means.

:D

I quite enjoy the world whilst..... it almost has a whimsical appeal to me.

I think we deserved to lose to Man U only because they players just seemed sharper and wanted it more, not because we were played off the pitch or tactically defeated. They took their chances better than we took ours pure and simple. The difference was always going to be by a hair, and they just shaded by playing harder/more effective.

I think Dorset really hit it when he mentioned that the ultra focus on the CL is not healthy. In a season with 60+ competitive games, we really cant afford to focus purely on the 13 or so CL games we might have. The focus needs to be having the best team possible period and not tailoring it for just one competition. The focus should also be on creating a team that requires just some small changes every season or so and not re-creating a situation where we have to completely reassemble the squad within a season or 2.