Ancelotti: There is more to come
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti says there is more to come from the Premier League champions as he continues to learn about the English game.
Ancelotti joined Chelsea in 2009 and it has taken him no time at all to be successful at the club. He guided the West Londoners to the Premier League title and FA Cup double last season.
However, Ancelotti seems far from happy and says he is continuously learning things about the English game. He still has a lot to achieve and the Champions League seems to be at the top of his agenda for this season.
It's difficult to find ways that Chelsea could improve because they have been the most complete club in the Premier League so far this season. The ultimate quality on the ball that other sides possess could be the thing that Ancelotti has to tackle in Europe.
Things to improve
Ancelotti has done a lot of things well during his time in charge of Chelsea. One of the things he can still learn a lot about and do better at is communication with the English language. The harder the manager works on his communication skills in the country, the easier it will be for him to get his message across.
Counter-attacking football in England can be very high paced. Ancelotti has to get Chelsea more compact and organised at the back when the team is attacking as a unit. This is because there are huge gaps in the defence when the likes of Ashley Cole get forward from the back.
Ancelotti doesn't yet seem to have mastered the art of introducing new and fresh talent into his Chelsea team to blend with the experienced. A number of the current first team are getting older and no ready-made replacements seem to be emerging from the academy.
Ancelotti said: "I would like to watch a training session of (Jose) Mourinho, (Sir Alex) Ferguson or (Arsene) Wenger. I can really improve. Three years ago, I asked if I or an assistant could watch others' training sessions, but some coaches were not happy about this."
The European game
Chelsea's duck to break is winning the Champions League and this is something that Mourinho, Avram Grant and Guus Hiddink have all tried and failed to do at the club.
Chelsea are not a team that talks with passing football. They have their own style and way of winning but this doesn't always equate to victory. If Ancelotti wants to win the Champions League with Chelsea then he has to get the side playing more passing football.
He added: "When I finished my career as a player, I went and watched (Giovanni) Trapattoni and Marcello Lippi training. I watched Roy Hodgson training Switzerland. He prepares training sessions well. That was important for me to see."
Betting advice
Chelsea are the odds on favourites to win the Premier League and all English domestic competitions this season. Back the side on all of these fronts because they look the strongest team in England at the moment by some distance.
The more difficult decisions come in Europe. Chelsea are expected to do very well during the Champions League group stage. They will eventually be tested by bigger and better teams but this may not come until the knock-out rounds, by which stage it may be too late to back them to win in Europe.
Chelsea also have a habit of securing big wins in the Premier League against weaker teams. Keep this in mind when you are viewing the fixtures each week as the odds will be longer for bigger victories.
Tags: