Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti watching his side take
on Reading
Chelsea
manager Carlo Ancelotti has vowed to stick with his diamond
formation despite a patchy pre-season performance against
Reading.
Ancelotti's midfield diamond of John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard,
Michael Essien and Deco found life tough against the Championship
outfit, with Chelsea scrambling for a 2-2 draw.
The Blues’ Italian manager breathed a sigh of relief as his side
rescued the draw on Saturday thanks to a last minute Salomon Kalou
strike and injury-time own goal from Alex Pearce.
The performance raised more questions than answers for
Ancelotti however, as he lost his 100 percent pre-season
record.
The former AC Milan chief has brought the new formation to
Stamford Bridge this summer, and until the weekend there were no
doubts that it could work, with easy wins coming over the Seattle
Sounders, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Club America during the Blues’
tour of the United States.
Michael Essien in action for Chelsea at the
Madejski Stadium on Saturday
However, against gritty Reading, Chelsea
struggled to turn their dominant possession into chances on goal,
and it is clear that any width in the side this season is going to
come from the full-backs.
Blues supporters can expect, or hope, to see Ashley Cole and
Jose Bosingwa pushing forward more often this season to provide
ammunition for the forwards - because Ancelotti is adamant he will
not be changing his tactics in the middle.
The new style of play will face a major test at the weekend when
they face Sir Alex Ferguson’s champions at Wembley, but Ancelotti
explained: 'We can play Lampard, Deco and also we can play Joe
Cole, he has the quality to play behind the striker and maybe also
Kalou.
'Lampard can play on the left and he can play offensive
midfielder. I want to try this because I like games where he is in
this position.
'The other players can play in the diamond in a different role,
they can play up front or they can play behind the striker, so I
want to play with the diamond.
'The most important thing to win is the Premier League and the
Champions League. To win these would be a success, but we also
need to have an identity with the team and I think we are going
the right way about doing this.
'In the last games I saw some very good ideas coming from the
players.' Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka both missed chances to
score at the Madejski Stadium, but Ancelotti is intent on sticking
with the pair as his first-choice partnership.
A late friendly draw at Reading is seemingly not a concern to
the Chelsea manager, as he has his eyes on the long-term plan.
John Terry battles for the ball with Reading's
Shane Long
He added: 'My patience is my biggest strength, although
I also love football and I think this is the biggest
point.
'I love the tactics, the play, and I love finding solutions and
trying new solutions. But the most important thing is to have a
team who play with a clear idea of how they need to play. So we
prepare the training with this objective.'
The feel-good factor has also extended to defender Juliano
Belletti who had became disheartened after just five League starts
last season.
The 33-year-old Brazilian has fallen in love with Chelsea again
since Ancelotti’s arrival, and said: 'Last year was hard, the team
was in China and I was here, it was a difficult moment because I
had some questions about my future and it was tense. But this year
I feel more important. I can tell you we never know what is next,
but now I feel important to the team.'