ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:CHELSEA HAVE won the title by a single point but their superiority is far beyond dispute.
Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, the other members of the usual elite, lost every game they played against Carlo Ancelotti’s team. The Premier League trophy, four years after they last lifted it, has been swept back to Stamford Bridge on a spate of free-scoring gusto, and there is still an FA Cup final to come.
The Italian has far to go before fans at Stamford Bridge put him on a par with Jose Mourinho, who last conveyed the title to Chelsea, but he has exercised a different sort of expertise. Ancelotti’s alterations to the squad went little further than the addition of Yuri Zhirkov, who has started only 10 league games, although his presence was a mighty relief when Ashley Cole broke his ankle.
The true impact has been simple yet memorable. Chelsea have racked up 103 league goals, six more than the previous record total set by United in the 1999-2000 campaign.
There is a paradox to the ebullience from a side that could be seen as a team of old sweats ill-suited to capering around excitedly. Adventure, however, has been the only option. The defence has nothing of the stringency associated with the Mourinho era and injury sidelined the imposing midfielder Michael Essien since early December. Any effort to grind out wins would have been misguided.
Nowadays Chelsea are at their healthiest in attack and Didier Drogba has 29 goals in the league, his best return in half-a-dozen seasons. Ancelotti has been highly effective in utilising his predators without unduly compromising the organisation of the whole line-up.
With the penalty against Wigan that took Frank Lampard’s tally to 21 league goals, this has already been by far the most prolific campaign of his career. Nicolas Anelka, too, has been assimilated into the system. It may not please the Frenchman to be a foil to Drogba but the slightly deeper and wider role means he exercises an influence on the build-up and also finds the net quite often.
Goals had vanished from his displays after the end of January but the knack was rediscovered on April 13th when the team scraped a 1-0 home win over Bolton in the teeth of penalty appeals. Anelka’s instinct returned with the first of the day against Wigan that relieved any tension among team-mates and he would hit another exuberantly.
That narrow victory against Bolton pointed to a paradox about Chelsea. The figures demonstrate they can be free spirits but the advance in the league has also needed to be dogged, since there were setbacks. After opening with half-a-dozen wins they became the first prestigious club to be beaten at Wigan in this campaign. While it is no scandal to fall at Manchester City, a further defeat by Roberto Mancini’s team at Stamford Bridge, by a 4-2 margin, was more disturbing.
Of course, the title confirms they have been less accident-prone than their rivals. Ancelotti has no blot on the record, for instance, to compare with United’s failure at Burnley, one of only seven league wins at Turf Moor for the relegated club.
To some extent Ancelotti has to cope expertly with a side in decline, even if Alex Ferguson confronts a steeper challenge after being obliged to trust in outfield players in their mid-30s such as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville.
Chelsea’s results are well short of the level achieved when Mourinho landed the title in consecutive seasons but there have been developments that probably came as a happy surprise to the current manager.
When Jose Bosingwa injured his knee badly in October, Branislav Ivanovic, hitherto a centre half, went on to show outstanding drive and reliability at right back. It was gratifying for Chelsea fans to witness Florent Malouda evolve into such a creative force during the long absence of Joe Cole.
Chelsea’s circumstances, however, are also delicate. Standards at the top of the table have dipped and few would pretend that the side are as formidable as they once were. A pair of victories for Mourinho’s Internazionale in the Champions League eliminated Ancelotti’s team and underlined their limitations. When asked about the possibility of bidding for Liverpool’s Fernando Torres the manager replied that he already has Drogba. That ignored the fact that the Ivorian, at 32, will not necessarily stay at his present level for much longer.
Ancelotti knows there cannot be a splurge because Roman Abramovich made the rational decision some time ago that it was senseless to repeat the transfer sprees of yore. The manager instead highlights Gael Kakuta and four other youngsters whose opportunity will come next season but none has yet begun a league game for Chelsea.
Perhaps the quintet will constitute a revitalising force but, just to be on the safe side, supporters should make sure they relish this trophy to the full.
Guardian Service
