When Ancelotti replaced Anelka in the last minute of the game, I couldn’t help but think ‘the man is only 90 minutes late’. I think that substitution summed up the situation for Ancelotti and for Chelsea. I still wonder what the purpose could be with that substitution. If anything, it helped Blackburn to waste some crucial seconds at the end. My way of interpreting the decision is that Carlo realized that Anelka being on the pitch is not going to help him. Otherwise, in the dying seconds, he could have got Sturridge in for a defender or a midfielder. I thought that always clear for the last few weeks. Anelka is not the man in form. If we had played Kalou or Sturridge in place of Anelka as soon as we had realized that he’s not in form (which was in early Feb), our numbers in the table could be quite different. Even in the pre-match post, I had mentioned that Anelka must NOT start. Unfortunately, he did. Quite unsurprisingly, all good chances fell for Anelka. Equally unsurprisingly, he didn’t take any of them.

I might sound like I’m blaming Anelka, that’s natural. But I’m not blaming him. Players being in or out of form is quite normal. Unlike before, Anelka is giving his all. He is working hard. If he is unable to finish chances, he is unlucky. But as a manager, Carlo Ancelotti makes the decision of who plays and who doesn’t. And that’s the reason why I won’t blame Anelka. It is Ancelotti’s decision not Anelka’s. Fair play to Carlo, he mustered his courage to drop Ballack. If he had also dropped Anelka, we would have made a good start. Of course, Anelka played a key role in our goal. I don’t discount that. Our drop from glory this season is more because of our missed opportunities that the ones we had taken.

As you have figured out by now, I give a lot of credit as well as debit for the manager in charge. If the players don’t play to their potential, I would question the manager. If the players consistently play to their potential and sometimes pull above their weight, I’d praise the manager. If players consistently play below their potential, and succumb to pressure and fail at such crucial stages, I have to ask the manager about his value to the team. Even the best teams in the world always have needed a manager. Irrespective of whether we have bunch of geniuses or ballon d’ ors playing, there is still a need for a manager to pull them together, work for the team goal, keep their motivation, keep the momentum and most importantly to help, guide and mentor them. It is because of these expectations from me I tend to get critical on Ancelotti.

Ancelotti absolutely has the pedigree. No doubts about that. But he comes from a legendary club. Being a manager in Milan, Inter, Barcelona, Juventus, Man Utd, Bayern etc are a little different than being a manager of Chelsea or Man City. The urgency is different. The patience is different. In those legendary clubs while there is pressure to win titles, it’s not so much as it’s in Chelsea or Man City. Those clubs have won enough and have a glorious past to trophyless for a few seasons and still be patient. It doesn’t quite work that way in Chelsea unfortunately.

Also, I don’t agree to this logic that this is not his team and all that. No matter who assembled the team, it is a team of top professionals with various and versatile capabilities. The Chelsea team is one of the most respected in Europe. Why would it matter if Ancelotti had the opportunity to build his own team or not. It doesn’t always happen like that in football. You get in and start delivering. The difference between a Sam Allardyce and a Carlo Ancelotti must just be that. We may not expect Big Sam to lead us to the premier league title because he is Big Sam and not Carlo Ancelotti.

Having said all this, I must say that I have seen this Chelsea team improve under Ancelotti in technical areas. Our players have become better technically. The first touch of the players improving by 100% may not and need not result in the team winning matches or coming back from adversities. As a team, we don’t seem to have the bull dog spirit. A lot has been said about Michael Essien’s absence but I think that’s a convenient excuse. Season after season, you have injuries – some minor, some major, some less crucial, some very crucial – but they’re always there. As a manager you never make a plan with an assumption that you’re best eleven would play all the 38 matches in the league. Injuries happen – they have happened to all big teams, every single season. That’s where the winter transfer window comes in handy. Carlo could have pushed the black suits to get some mid-season reinforcements. He didn’t or he was convinced that he doesn’t have to – either way it’s his decision.

To be honest, it’s still no disaster. We are still in with a great chance to win the title. We sound worried only because we don’t see the promise, we don’t have the hope. We have a tougher run-in too. More than anything, neither the manager nor the players sound or look positive. That kinda catches on to the fans very easily. But all that we need to do is to win 8 matches and we’re home. It may not be very easy but beware that the next month both Man Utd and Arsenal would be busy with their champions league fixtures too. That’s when we need to quietly overtake them.

We have Portsmouth for the mid-week. I don’t have to insist how important it is to win this match. If we don’t win this, we can officially sign off for the season. That’s not because we might fall behind in the table but because of the damage it can do to the already weak morale of the team. All that we need to do is to show up and play decently. Unlike the Blackburn game, we should not destruct ourselves. Anyway, I think we will win and win comfortably. See you after the Pompey result. Stay hopeful.