Ballack – Chelsea have to win something for Ancelotti

The Germany captain Michael Ballack believes that Carlo Ancelotti is the right manager for Chelsea, but the players have to repay his trust in them by winning a trophy for him.

“The coach is the guy who shows us in which direction we have to go, and everyone follows him,” Ballack said. “He’s the boss. Here, of course, he has a lot of experienced and responsible players who have won a lot to call upon, so it’s a walk together. This is working better and better. For this club – for any club – it’s so important that you can work with a manager over a long period, benefiting from that stability. In Ancelotti, we have a man with a fantastic reputation who will be fantastic both in the current situation here and for the future.

“It is working well. But, if you have a good relationship between the team and the coach, you have to win something. You have to show everyone that, yes, it’s true. Things are working well. Otherwise, if you don’t get the results, you start getting criticism and the atmosphere changes. Every club is the same. That’s why we want to win something. He’s got us playing back at the level we showed a few months ago, when everyone was really relaxed. Perhaps not having too many midweek games has helped that. Over the last month of the season we’ve only got one ‘English week’ – next week – with three games in seven days. Apart from that, we play at the weekend, and that allows us to prepare well. We always look strong when we can do that.”

Chelsea only have three days to prepare for the home game against Bolton this Tuesday. I wonder if Ancelotti will make a few changes to freshen up the side?