Morning:
8°c
Carlo Ancelotti has made clear that winning the Champions League is his main goal as Chelsea manager, yet the Italian will win over the supporters just as quickly if he ends Manchester United's dominance of the Premier League.
It has been three years since the Blues were last crowned champions and Sir Alex Ferguson has taken great joy in securing a hat-trick of League titles at Old Trafford.
When previous manager Jose Mourinho secured back-to-back championships for Chelsea in 2005 and 2006, it looked like they were in a position to rule English football for years to come.
But the club have gone backwards since then and finished in third place last season, their lowest position of the Roman Abramovich era.
Ancelotti is tasked with reversing the decline and to do so he must learn from the mistakes of his predecessors, most noticably Luiz Felipe Scolari, who lasted just seven months before being axed in February.
Here, Standard Sport identifies the key areas Ancelotti must address for Chelsea to have any hope of catching United and conquering Europe . . .
Keep Didier Drogba
He may come with a lot of baggage, but even at 31 Drogba is still one of the best strikers in the world. The team were virtually unstoppable last season once the Ivory Coast international returned to the starting 11 under Guus Hiddink, after being foolishly frozen out by Scolari. He almost single-handedly fired Chelsea into the Champions League semi-finals with five goals in as many games and notably scored in the FA Cup quarter-final, semi-final and final, which helped them win their first trophy for two years. The hierarchy at Chelsea had wanted to sell him last summer but could be having second thoughts. However, with only a year remaining on his contract they will now have to move decisively either way. Drogba admitted he was in the wrong with his infamous rant at referee Tom Henning Ovrebo and appears to have finally appreciated how good life is in south west London. Ask any opposition defences whether they would prefer to face Chelsea with or without the striker and the majority will certainly vote for the latter. That in itself should convince Ancelotti to give Drogba his backing.
Sign flair players
Chelsea have been too reliant on Drogba as well as Frank Lampard to make the difference in games. They used to have the strongest squad in the Premier League, but that mantle has gone back to Manchester United since owner Roman Abramovich became more frugal with the use of his chequebook in recent seasons. It has left Chelsea with a lack of real flair in attacking positions as well as a weak bench. Abramovich wants entertaining football, but to do that he needs to give Ancelotti the funds to bring some marquee players to the club. David Villa, Franck Ribery, Kaka and Yuri Zhirkov are all being targeted. Ancelotti is not renowned for playing too adventurously, despite working with some of the best players in the world at AC Milan, and he must learn that the conservative approach won't work in the Premier League.
Learn the language
First impressions of his interview via the official club station yesterday hinted that his knowledge of English is better than first thought, but then the same could be said of Scolari's 12 months ago. The Brazilian's big mistake was that he failed to build on the good work he did in the early stages of his time at Stamford Bridge and didn't get his message across. It was noticeable how quickly the players responded to his successor Hiddink, whose English is excellent. Scolari was unable to communicate effectively to his players, so Ancelotti must work hard to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.
Get Cech bouncing
Mourinho once said that Petr Cech was worth several points to Chelsea, but in the last two seasons that quality has not been so evident. His shot-stopping is still as strong as ever, but he no longer commands his penalty area as effectively and is particularly vulnerable from crosses. The 26-year-old, who joined in 2004, made a number of high-profile errors last season and his performances against Bolton and Liverpool in April were particularly alarming. He wasn't helped by Scolari interfering with his training methods and trying to sideline his favoured coach Christophe Lollichon. However, in goalkeeping terms he is still young and Ancelotti would be wise to make clear to the Czech international that he has his full support.
Win over the dressing room
Player power has increasingly become a hazard at Chelsea and it is crucial that Ancelotti gets all the squad on his side. Key figures the dressing room reportedly played a big role in the departures of Avram Grant and Scolari, while captain John Terry was accused by former team-mate Claude Makelele of contributing to Mourinho's departure in 2007 - something the defender strongly denies. What's not in dispute is the positive effect good man-management can have - one only has to see the impact Hiddink had. Chelsea became a different team and looked capable of winning the Champions League rather than one that was struggling to qualify for it next season. Ancelotti was very popular at AC Milan and he has worked among some of the biggest names, and egos, in European football. He will need to be just as effective in SW6.
