Carlo Ancelotti should still be Chelsea’s coach instead of boy Wonder Avb

Posted Sunday, August 14, 2011 by Dailystar.co.uk

Carlo Ancelotti should still be Chelsea’s coach instead of boy Wonder Avb
Above: Carlo Ancelotti should be coaching Chelsea instead of new boss Andre Villas-Boas

THERE are two reasons why Carlo Ancelotti is not leading Chelsea into the new season at Stoke today – as he should be.

For me, Chelsea and Ancelotti were the perfect match. He had been at big clubs all his life and was a big player himself.

But last season Didier Drogba suffered from malaria and Frank Lampard got injured and, after that, didn’t make his usual impact.

For five years, they had been crucial players in Chelsea’s success.

That was the difference at Chelsea last season. They didn’t win anything and that cost Ancelotti his job.

They still finished runners-up in the Premier League after doing the Double the previous season but that wasn’t enough to keep Carlo in his job. It showed the pressure managers are under at Stamford Bridge.

And the pressure will certainly be on Ancelotti’s successor Andre Villas-Boas this season.

I’ve already made my feelings clear on that appointment – it’s an enormous gamble. Villas-Boas is a young manager at 33 and he has only had one good season at Porto.

He doesn’t have a playing background and he has to handle a dressing room full of star players at Chelsea.

And he has to compete with the champions Manchester United plus Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham, who will all be fighting with Chelsea for a top-four finish and qualification for the Champions League.

Let me stress that you don’t have to have been a top player to manage a club but it helps. It doesn’t do you any harm.

I was also a young manager at a big club. At 33, I started my managerial career at Rangers.

But that was a different situation. I went to Rangers to rebuild the club. They had gone nine years without winning the title and there were no star players.

At Chelsea, there are star players with power – that is something money gives you.

It will be different for Villas-Boas at Chelsea.