Ancelotti quick to find his gritty side as Chelsea dig out victory

It doesn't take them long to realise that the sustained success needed to win the Premier League title demands, first and foremost, qualities that can be traced back decades in the English game.

Carlo Ancelotti quickly acknowledged at Wembley yesterday that if Chelsea are to deny Manchester United a fourth consecutive title they will have to match the commitment and physical prowess of the defending champions.

A prince among coaches in his native Italy with two Champions League titles to his credit, Ancelotti demonstrated an ability to think on his feet, alter tactics and motivate players as Chelsea recovered from a one-goal deficit to win the FA Community Shield.

The nuts and bolts of Chelsea's 2-2 draw, followed by their 4-1 win in the penalty shoot-out, are not as important as the lessons Ancelotti will have learned from his first taste of life among the Premier League's big hitters.

United were indisputably the better side in the first half and had Wayne Rooney accepted the chance to inherit Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring role the champions could have had the match won by half-time.

They ran Chelsea ragged in the opening period but failure to take their chances gave Ancelotti a second opportunity to strike.

In the dressing room at half-time he tweaked his listless 'diamond' formation, replaced right-back Branislav Ivanovic with Jose Bosingwa and impressed on his players the need to compete more efficiently.

The message got through. As his immediate predecessors, Guus Huddink and Luiz Felipe Scolari, both discovered, the players in the Chelsea dressing room can be very receptive.

Once again the English pillars in this Chelsea team, John Terry and Frank Lampard, made critical contributions in the second half as Chelsea fought for every ball, denying United time and space to build attacks.

Michael Ballack's bust-up with Patrice Evra highlighted the feisty nature of the contest and let Ancelotti know that, in England at least, pace and power and a never-say-die attitude rule over the slower, more technical game that proved so successful in Milan.

There was a great deal of disappointment amongst the Chelsea supporters when Ancelotti announced his summer spending was over on Friday.

Yet in truth, the decisions of Terry, Ballack, Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole and Ricardo Carvalho to stay at Stamford Bridge were the most important pieces of business Ancelotti has done since taking over last month.

It wasn't that long ago that Chelsea seemed to be facing a mass exodus with Terry being chased by Manchester City, Carvalho demanding to be sold to Inter Milan and Drogba's future, as ever, uncertain.

However, the latter has signed a new contract, Carvalho has been told he is staying and Terry has confirmed he is going nowhere.

The sight of Drogba terrorizing United's defence and of Terry making crucial challenges at the back, was enough to convince Lampard that Chelsea will be more of a threat in the title race this season.

He said: "Didier is as good a signing as you'll get anywhere, along with JT. It was important John stayed. He's a big player for us and no one wants to lose huge players. When Drogba plays like that, no one wants to play against him. He's powerful, quick, strong and scores goals. He is one of the best about and still will be for a few years.

"All the big players are fit and firing. I think we're ready to go and we have learned a few lessons from last year. A couple of things went wrong in mid-season and we don't want that to happen this year."

Nani put United ahead and Carvalho equalised early in the second half. Lampard netted Chelsea's controversial second before Rooney took the match to penalties.

The Blues then finally ended their 11-year wait to win a penalty shoot-out as Ryan Giggs and Patrice Evra both missed for the champions.

Lampard has scored 100 goals in his past five seasons at Chelsea and looked even more threatening playing behind two strikers rather than just the customary one.

The midfielder believes that he could break his personal best of 21 for a campaign this term due to Ancelotti's new formation.

Lampard added: "Playing behind Drogba and Anelka, who make so many runs and moves, causes such a problem for the back four that you can run in behind them.

"People will be so worried about those two that if I make those late runs behind them then hopefully I will get the opportunities to score more."

United, without the departed duo Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, will not be the force they were and for Ancelotti and Chelsea this is a season of opportunity - if he gets the tactics right from now on.