Without a shadow of a doubt, the summer of 2009 has resulted in a very promising start for Chelsea. Under the two month leadership of their new Manager Carlo Ancelotti (Lotti) – Chelsea has destroyed most of its old stereotypes and managed to exorcise six of the seven of ghosts from Stamford Bridge. Using the depth of the Chelsea squad, Lotti has proved to be quite the exorcist vanquishing 6 of the 7 ghosts that have been haunting Stamford Bridge and the Chelsea faithful. Here is how Chelsea has freed itself of the phantoms in chronological order:

1)      Jose Mourinho

Ever since the charismatic manager left Chelsea “by mutual consent” in the fall of 2007 Mourinho’s presence has been felt at the Bridge. The unprecedented success that the club had enjoyed under his leadership (2 Premier League Wins, one Carling Cup, and one FA Cup) still remained fresh in the fans’ minds. The abrupt way in which he “divorced” from the club left a bitter taste in the fans’ mouths with finger being pointed from Roman Abramovich to John Terry for who was to blame for the departure. When the club fell into a bit of a trophy rut under Grant and Scolari, comparisons with Jose would always be made. Didier Drogba’s lack of enthusiasm and mediocre performance out of nostalgia for Jose added to this deprived feeling.  The empty feeling was all pervasive and it appeared that the club would have done better under Jose. Jose’s statements about Didier diving and the team being weaker without him added to this post-breakup Stamford Blues.

Everything changed one ward July night in Pasadena, California this year as Chelsea took on Jose’s new team – the Italian Champions Inter Milan in the World Football Challenge friendly. The confident way in which Chelsea dominated the game and won easily 2-0 as well as the lackluster manner in which Inter played demonstrated that there were limits to Jose’s brilliance. Jose losing his cool at the end of the match and angrily storming off the pitch as well as refusing to present his usual cocky self at the press conference finally put an end to his era of invincibility. Chelsea now understood that Jose, as great as he was, is not irreplaceable and that Ancelotti may be able to uncover more of the team’s potential than Jose. Finally, Chelsea had moved on!

2)      Getting scored on in the last minute

The controversial way in which Chelsea was eliminated from the Champions League against Barcelona last year by getting scored on in the 93^rd minute by Andres “Heartbreak” Iniesta was painful. It seemed like Chelsea had become a bit of chokers, unable to preserve a one goal lead in important matches. The resulting reactions from the Chelsea faithful were well known and even inspired some poetry from the blue “Blues” supporters.

At the start of the season in the Community Shield against Manchester United, Chelsea had a lackluster first half being down 1-0 after an early goal by Nani. But in the second half, Chelsea began to take over possession and brilliant goals by Carvahlo and Lampard put the Blues in front 2-1. The shield appeared to be all but secure until a long pass by Owen to Rooney resulted in a stoppage time goal. As Rooney flexed his muscles in front of the Chelsea fans, it had appeared that defeat has once again been snatched from the jaws of victory. Fortunately, Ancelotti did not despair.

3)      Penalty shootouts

Having lost the past 5 penalty shootouts, most memorable of course being John Terry’s missed kick in the Moscow Champions League final back in May of 2008 to this very same Manchester United team. The specter of Chelsea losing on Penalty Kicks had a very strong presence. However, this time the outcome would be different as Didier Drogba, who had gotten red carded and did not shoot a penalty kick at the Moscow CL Final, would redeem himself by scoring an easy goal. Also, the absence of Van der Saar in the net would prove to be a boon to Chelsea as all 4 penalty kick takers: Lampard, Ballack, Drogba, and Kalou would easily put the ball past Ben Foster (replacement goalkeeper).

4)      Petr Cech and concussion

Likewise, Chelsea’s weakness in penalty shootouts and in penalty saves in general has been often attributed to Petr Cech’s concussion which he received against Reading a couple of years ago. Since donning the rugby (or tanker’s) helmet, many have pinned his inconsistent performance on the concussion. Most memorable being giving up 3 goals in 2- minutes against Bolton due to sloppy play last year. Cech’s lack of confidence in him and lack of confidence by the fans was certainly in need of exorcism.

This was accomplished in 5 minutes as Cech was able to get a brilliant save on the Champions League game winner and last years PFA Player of the Year, the legendary Ryan Giggs. The easy save on Evra was just icing on the cake. All was all right with Cech and Manchester United was at last defeated. Finally, the Blues were ready to march on knowing that their goalkeeper was still one of the best in the world.  

5)      Deco’s scoring drought

Since joining Chelsea in 2008 under Scolari, the Portuguese international that has shined so much for Barcelona and his national team, Deco had a promising start at the Bridge. Scoring early goals in 2008 seemed to validate the transfer but an untimely injury sidelined him. Ever since recovering from the injury, his performance had been lackluster and he spent most of his time on the bench. He became one of the most hated players by the fans who constantly called for his trade.

Fortunately, Deco has appeared to have regained his old from under Lotti, played very ambitiously in the pre-season. The ghost was finally gone when he scored a well-deserved goal at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland to give Chelsea a well deserved 3-1 victory. The fan base gladly welcomed Deco back and Chelsea now appears to have more depth than any other team in the world .

6)      Anelka and Drogba working together

Another old stereotype that was finally laid to rest was the old notion of Chelsea being a one striker team with Drogba being the lead and Anelka being his “understudy” despite winning the golden boot last year. Lotti had other ideas as he instituted a diamond in the midfield and 2 strikers: Anelka and Drogba upfront. At first, he was criticized by the fans that Anelka and Drogba could not work together as they were too individualistic.

This week, the 2-0 win at Fulham proved the criticism to be hogwash. Anelka got an assist to Drogba and Drogba assisted Anelka as the two strikers worked together like one well-oiled unit. Not a trace is left of the “lonely striker” ghost.

7)      London European Cup Curse

With early success the question must be asked of whether Ancelotti’s Chelsea will be able to exorcise the biggest and oldest ghost that has been haunting the Bridge since 1955. To elaborate, since 1955 when the European Cup (predecessor to the Champions League) was founded there 18 clubs slated to take part. The English Champions Chelsea had been one of them. However, club chairman Joe Maers withdrew Chelsea from the league due to fear of too many fixtures being played. As a result, then Spanish Champions Real Madrid received all the glory of the European Cup while Chelsea was cursed to never win it (along with other London clubs for that matter). The “Ghost of the European Cup” has reared its ugly head in Monaco in 2004, at Anfield in 2005, at Camp Nou in 2006, again at Anfield in 2007, in Moscow in 2008, and most notably at the bridge in the form of Norwegian referee Tom Ovrebo in 2009.

Will Ancelotti’s squad be strong enough this year to finally lift the heavy European Cup and vanquish the ghost of Champions League past? If the month of August proves to be the rule and not the exception, all signs point to yes. It appears that at last Chelsea have the depth, the talent, the tactics, the leadership, and the confidence to conquer England and Europe at last.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1021125/Londons-European-Cup-curse-goes-53-years- Chelsea-NEARLY-played-tournament.html

Tags: Ancelotti Lampard Cech

Bookmark: