Chelsea was going well in the English Premier League season, with only two defeats before the match against Sunderland. The first defeat came at City of Manchester Stadium against Manchester City, while Liverpool emerged victorious at Anfield. The home record,
like always, was perfect and Stamford Bridge remained a fortress for the London side.
At this point, it also looked like Chelsea is going to retain their English Premier League title, as their rivals had their problems. Manchester United has been failing to get good results away from home, while Arsenal failed to produce results against some
weaker sides. Therefore, everything was going Chelsea’s way until this Sunday’s clash against Sunderland.
Sunderland defeated the current leaders, in their home ground, by an amazing difference of three goals. The supremacy of Chelsea in the league faltered as Sunderland landed the London side their biggest defeat of the season, and their biggest in their home
ground since April of 2002. Chelsea looked weak in that match, and they never looked like a side sitting on top of the table. This must have been a good sign for Arsenal, who is now only two points behind the leaders. Other sides, like United and Manchester
City, would also feel that the title race is still open and they need to work a little harder to achieve their dreams.
Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Chelsea, is bewildered at this moment. He is finding faults that resulted in a big defeat for his side. Apparently, like all other pundits, he has blamed his players for failing to produce their A game during the match. Ancelotti
praised Sunderland for their football and their winning mentality, which was displayed from the first whistle. Ancelotti said that the difficult times have arrived at Chelsea, but his players would have to work harder in training and regain their focus during
the matches. Against Sunderland, according to the manager, none of his players played well, resulting in a humiliating defeat.
Many are blaming the sacking of Ray Wilkins for the defeat. Ray Wilkins, the assistant manager at Chelsea, had a lot of influence in the team. However, due to some undisclosed reasons, he did not get a contract extension with the London side. Ancelotti had
a lot of praise for his assistant as he gave him credit for the two titles last season. Despite these developments, Ancelotti did not blame his departure for the defeat, and he continued to give credit to Sunderland for playing better football.
There is no doubt that Chelsea was not playing at full strength against Sunderland. Therefore, missing some players might be one of the reasons for the defeat. Frank Lampard has been sitting out for quite some time now because of an injury. However, his
space was filled as some other players, especially Florent Malouda, has played well so far. Also, Ramires and Yuri Zirkov have stepped up to fill the gap left by Lampard. However, these players failed to shine against Sunderland, who dominated the midfield
in the match.
Chelsea was also missing some of their defenders due to injury. Their two usual starters, John Terry and Alex, were absent because of injuries. Therefore, the job was entrusted to part time defenders who failed to do it for Ancelotti.
But injuries are part of football, and every manager has to develop resources in order to overcome the injury problems. Carlo Ancelotti failed to do so, as he did not fill the gap in Chelsea’s squad after Ricardo Carvalho left for Madrid.
How well can Chelsea recover from this humiliating defeat, only time will tell.
Tags: