Carlo Ancelotti leads his Chelsea team into this evening’s match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane believing that the hard part of his season’s work has been done.
That is not to say that the manager thinks that any of the five remaining matches in a season that could end in the club’s first Double will be easy. Rather, he does not need to remind the players what is at stake tonight or in any of the other games.
“I don’t have to work on their focus and motivation any more,” he said. “My work is very easy, because they know what they need to do. “We never speak about the Double. That’s not the right way to prepare at all.
They are concentrated at the top level. They know that we are very close to winning. My job is focused on the tactical situation of the match.” He will start this evening with Joe Cole and Deco in midfield.
Which suggests that Didier Drogba or Nicolas Anelka will play as a lone striker. That was the formation when Chelsea beat Manchester United at Old Trafford two weeks ago and Ancelotti hopes for the same approach from his players.
“The same mentality, the same philosophy,” he said. “We want to put pressure on them immediately. I don’t know if it’s possible because Tottenham will want to do the same. But that is the right way to get a good result tomorrow.”
Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, who trail Chelsea by four points, has suggested — mischievously, no doubt — that a draw would be good enough for Chelsea, but Ancelotti was having none of it. “No, I don’t think so,” he said. “We want to maintain a good philosophy against Tottenham and try to win the game. That would be the best thing.
“I was surprised at their performance against Arsenal because they reacted well after the Portsmouth defeat and played a strong match [winning 2-1]. Sometimes they have had very good performances, like on Wednesday. But three days before they’d lost an unbelievable game against Portsmouth.
“With more consistency, Tottenham could be higher up in the table. They have played football with very good quality. They are a team that like to play. They have very good players with a lot of quality. Modric played very well in the last game; Bale, too. They have good options up front: Pavlyuchenko, Gudjohnsen, Crouch, Defoe. With experience, they can fight for the title next season.”
But which Tottenham will turn up today? “It’s difficult to know,” he said. “It depends on your performance, too. If you put in a fantastic performance yourself, you can put more difficulty on the opposing team. But I think we have to assume we’ll be playing against the best Tottenham team.”
Chelsea will take the field knowing the result of the lunchtime Manchester derby, which will affect the league prospects of both teams at White Hart Lane. Ancelotti, who confessed yesterday to an Arsène Wenger-like devotion to televised football he preferred Almería versus Real Madrid to the party leaders’ debate on Thursday may even look in. “If there’s time, I’d like to watch the game,” he said. “But we’ll see. The result of United will not change our philosophy.”
Ashley Cole will be on the bench this evening, even though he has yet to play a reserve match since breaking his left ankle in February. Drogba will play despite a hernia, but Ricardo Carvalho is unfit and although Branislav Ivanovic is available again, Paulo Ferreira and Alex are expected to start in an unchanged back four.
Chelsea also confirmed that they have instructed lawyers in Barcelona over a claim in the autobiography of Joan Laporta, the Barcelona president, that Chelsea were prepared to offer an inducement of £7 million to Laporta and Sandro Rosell, the vice-president, to facilitate a £70 million transfer of Ronaldinho to Stamford Bridge in 2004. “No offer at all was made for Ronaldinho,” the club said.