Ancelotti to return to ill father - 7M sport

Ancelotti to return to ill father

Posted Saturday, October 24, 2009 by PA

Carlo Ancelotti watched his side thrash Blackburn 5-0 and then revealed he was returning to Italy to be with his sick father.

Ancelotti only arrived back in England on Saturday morning in order to take charge of Chelsea's game against Rovers and labelled their five-goal super show as the "best performance" since he took charge at Stamford Bridge.

Frank Lampard scored twice, once from the penalty spot, and other strikes from Didier Drogba and Michael Essien plus an own goal from Gael Givet put Chelsea back on top of the Barclays Premier League.

The Blues are now two points ahead of Manchester United who play at Liverpool on Sunday.

But the condition of 86-year-old father Giuseppe is still causing the Italian coach enough concern for him to return home on Sunday.

"It has been difficult time but this is life," said Ancelotti.

"I hope my father will be better in the next day.

"Tomorrow I have a free day and will go back to Italy and return on Monday but I think my father will be better.

"These are difficult days but after Monday I think he will be better and I can stay here without problems."

Ancelotti was certainly cheered by a superb individual performance from returning Joe Cole.

The England midfielder, out for 10 months after damaging his knee ligaments against Southend in the FA Cup last January, produced a performance full of trickery and flair against Rovers.

"I was impressed with Joe because I know very well how hard he has worked in the last month," added Ancelotti.

"He is a great professional and after 10 months it is not easy for Joe to play like he did. It was a surprise and I am happy for him.

"Joe is a very important player for us. He has fantastic quality in midfield. He is a genius.

"Chelsea played very well and it is not easy to play against us when we put great quality on the pitch. Blackburn did what they could.

"After the defeat against Aston Villa last week we had a good solution about the set-plays. We had a strong defence from set-plays today. We have improved very quick and very well.

"I think it was the best performance since I came here but we have played well in other games.

"I liked this game very much. We played very well and it was a pleasure to see the team play like this.

"We had to pay attention because when you are 1-0 up we know that in football things can happen and it is not a sure result. But at half-time, I asked my team to score more."

Despite his father's illness, Ancelotti intends to watch Liverpool's game against Manchester United tomorrow.

"Tomorrow there will be a fantastic match which I would like to watch. For one day I can be a fan of Liverpool, only for one day."

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce launched a scathing attack on his team - labelling their second half performance as "pathetic" and claiming his players lacked mental toughness and resilience away from home.

"The second half was pathetic," declared Allardyce.

"I didn't see that coming. I felt we had set our stall out to frustrate Chelsea as best we could and it worked very well in the first half.

"We knew it would have been difficult to get something out of the game, but why throw a game plan that is working so well out of the window? That is what I cannot understand.

"At the moment they are not good enough. Bottom line. Mentally resilient? Not there. Physically challenge the opposition? Not there.

"If you play football away from home in the Premier League, it doesn't get you results.

"You need all the elements to go with it and we have not got them away from home.

"We have not got resilience, the mental toughness and physical presence we should have to play away from home and win a game of football.

"Our defending side was looking very solid and very good and we were limiting Chelsea to shooting from outside the box.

"But we went pathetically wrong. All the tactics we had set out went out the window when the second goal went in.

"We felt we had to go and attack even more and when you are playing against a side of this quality, they just go and score more goals.

"So I am bitterly disappointed with the players and their lack of understanding of the situation they put themselves in.

"Instead of making themselves more difficult to beat, they made themselves easier to beat after the second goal and that's why we got beat 5-0.

"Great players Chelsea, they take advantage of everything you give them and took advantage of our naivety with some great goals."

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