Stamping his personality: Could Chelsea boss Carlo
Ancelotti fill the huge void left by Jose Mourinho?
Carlo Ancelotti will dismiss it as little more than a
training exercise - a tune-up as they say over here - but the
significance of
Chelsea's pre-season friendly
against Inter Milan on Wednesday goes far beyond the events in
California's Rose Bowl.
Ancelotti's success in his new job will ultimately depend on
whether he can chase the lingering presence of Jose Mourinho from
the corridors of Stamford Bridge and persuade the Josephiles -
players and fans alike - to release their emotional bonds with the
self-professed Special One.
Five trophies in three years cast a Mourinho -shaped shadow
across the work of Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari but there
were signs during Guus Hiddink's brief reign that Chelsea's
dressing room was ready to shake free from their recent past.
Ancelotti's task is to complete this operation and Frank Lampard,
always one of Mourinho's inner circle, expects him to do it by
winning silverware.
'I don't think Ancelotti will have any issue with stepping out
of Mourinho's shadow,' said Lampard. 'He comes to us having won the
Champions League twice and the Italian league. He's worked at the
highest level and is respected as being one of the top coaches in
the world.
'If we can win the Premier League or the Champions League this
season, he will have been a success in his own right and nobody
will be asking that question.'
Former AC Milan manager Ancelotti engaged Mourinho at close
quarters last season, with regular verbal skirmishes, but came off
second best as Mourinho's Inter claimed another Serie A title.
Now, in only his second game as Chelsea boss, they meet again,
with Mourinho up against his former club for the first time since
his dramatic departure in September 2007.
'It will be great to see him,' said Lampard. 'It's been a while
and, personally, I love him as a man and a manager. He's been a
massive figure in my career.
'He was the man in charge during an amazing period in Chelsea's
history and maybe only now we fully realise what a special time it
was.
Staying put: Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho
looks set to stay at Stamford Bridge and not link up with former
his former boss at Inter Milan
'We hadn't won the league for 50 years. We had a team of
very good individuals but we didn't win things. He added some
players but the most important thing was the confidence he
instilled in us. It was that little bit of magic which rubbed off
on the whole club.'
The animosity between Mourinho and Ancelotti adds spice to
tomorrow's game, which kicks off at 4am British time. When asked
about living up to the 'Special One', Ancelotti said: 'I don't know
any Special One. I don't want to do comparisons with other coaches.
I want to do it my way.'
When this was put to Mourinho, he said: 'I don't know one
either, but I do know a coach who won two consecutive titles with
Chelsea after 50 years without winning it.'
And, when asked how his 'friend' Ancelotti might cope in
England, he snapped back: 'He's not my friend. He's a good coach
with plenty of experience and he could do well.'
Meanwhile, defender Ricardo Carvalho, who had hoped to link up
with Mourinho again with a move to Inter, said on Monday that he is
resigned to another campaign at Chelsea.
'I have a contract and I think I will stay,' he said. 'Last year
was disappointing, I didn't play. I was injured for quite a long
time last season. I wasn't happy and maybe the club wasn't happy
with me, but now I have to get myself fit and ready to play.'