Petr Cech approves Ancelotti's tinkering

The Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech thinks that Carlo Ancelotti’s penchant for rotating the squad on a weekly basis is now a necessary part of modern football, especially for big clubs that go far in all competitions.

Ancelotti made eight changes to the Carling Cup team that lost to Blackburn on penalties last week, and he is likely to do the same thing against Apoel Nicosia this week, with Chelsea already assured of finishing on top of their group.

Cech said: “I think as a player you can’t play every game. When you play for Chelsea you have 38 League games, then you have the Carling Cup, FA Cup and Champions League.

“We always go far so it means we play at least another 20 games. In modern football if you can stay fit for 60 games it is not something which is normal.

“You need to have an exceptional season to stay fit and to feel well to play all these games.

“If we want to win things we need to have fresh legs at the end and if you can rotate players this is the way you’re going to save the legs for the end of the season. This is always good and shows the strength of the squad.”