Carlo Ancelotti has admitted Chelsea is “not my team” and maintained that owner Roman Abramovich played a major part in the decision to bring in players during the January transfer window.
In stark contrast to rivals Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, Ancelotti insists that he does not want full control of the club and was open about the process which brought £100 million of talent to Stamford Bridge over the past two transfer windows.
”It’s not my team, I’ve said that. It’s the team of our owner. I am proud to manage this team and I want to do my best. I thought this the first day I was here. I hope to think the same on the last day I’m here,” Ancelotti said.
“It’s not true that only I wanted Ramires, or Luiz. I’ve said a lot of times, we have discussions with the (backroom) team and we take a decision together. We thought Luiz, Torres and Ramires would be good to have to improve the squad, and the owner did a great job to bring them in. We took a decision together.”
The Italian paid tribute to the current crop of players, many of whom were at the club prior to his arrival, and asserted that those who claim Chelsea are a new side now, are in the wrong.
“In my opinion, we can’t say it’s a new Chelsea,” he said. ”We have new players who are very important players, playing in the first team. But also I think the spine is the same – Petr Cech, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.
“We changed something in the last month because we wanted to put more pressure on the pitch, to get the ball up front. But the philosophy is the same.”
Ancelotti also admitted he lied about the confidence crisis in Chelsea’s dressing room being over during their worst Premier League run in 15 years, but now believes last week’s victory over Manchester United could finally resurrect his side’s season.
“A lot of times in the past, I’ve said the atmosphere is good,” he said. “Sometimes it wasn’t really good because the players had more difficulties to train, with less confidence. Now the confidence has improved with the results. The atmosphere is really good. The players are training well with confidence and ability, so I have confidence in the future.
“When you win against United, it means you’re good enough to play against stronger teams. So this result obviously improves your confidence.”
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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