Four games without a win after yesterday’s 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge against Everton, are Chelsea in the midst of a dangerous slump at just the wrong time of the year?
Several reporters following the Everton game suggested to manager Carlo Ancelotti that the club could be suffering a “crisis”, which is a little strong given they actually improved their position at the top of the table by a point following Manchester United’s home loss to Aston Villa, and manager Carlo Ancelotti was quick to dismiss the notion that the club are suffering from a lack of form and a crisis of any sort;
“Who can say we
are in a crisis? I don’t think so.
“I want to be
objective and when I look at the game (against Everton) and the way we played,
I saw that my team played very well.
“We didn’t win
but that can happen in football – you can draw at home.
“We still have
the same chance to win the title. It will be a long race until the end of the
season. The Premier League is very competitive.”
Despite the remarks, and United’s loss, Ancelotti must be increasingly concerned with the defensive side of his team at present. They shipped three goals in their Carling Cup defeat on penalties to Blackburn, two last weekend at Manchester City and five at Stamford Bridge in the past week, two in the Champions League against APOEL and three yesterday in the 3-3 home draw with Everton.
Much of the criticism for the draw yesterday will fall on the shoulders of the man wearing the Chelsea goalkeepers jersey Peter Cech once again. The keeper was roundly criticised at times last season for his less than assured performances and he was certainly at fault for at least one of the Everton goals yesterday.
The fortunate thing for Chelsea and Ancelotti at the moment is that the teams who are likely to challenge them for the title, Arsenal and Manchester United, are also starting to drop points. Arsenal suffered a poor run of form recently and Manchester United’s loss to Aston Villa saw them lose the chance to close the gap on Chelsea completely. With Arsenal facing a tough encounter at Anfield against Liverpool, it could well be that Chelsea’s home draw may well yet prove to be vital, edging them a point clearer of their two main rivals for the title.
However the feeling will still pertain that this was two points dropped, rather than a point earned.
Next up for Chelsea is a meeting with their former manager, Avram Grant’s Portsmouth should not offer much more than a token resistance against the Blues and unless Chelsea can register a solid victory, perhaps with the aid of a clean sheet, then questions will be continued to ask in the press whether this team is genuinely good enough to win the title, especially with the difficult Christmas period looking on the horizon, and then several player disappearing to the African Cup of Nations in January to try and change soccer history.
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