Carlo Ancelotti’s Success With Chelsea Is Overstated - We Ain’t Got No History

In his two years at Chelsea FC, Carlo Ancelotti won a domestic double in his first season, then finished second in the league in his second season. After the last game of that second season, he was promptly fired. Harsh? Not according to Graham MacAcree of SB Nation’s Chelsea blog We Ain’t Got No History, and I have to say, he makes a couple of excellent points in his post about Carlo Ancelotti’s dismissal and time at the club.

Most outlets are reporting this as ‘Chelsea sack Carlo Ancelotti 12 months after winning Double’, but while accurate, that’s also a thoroughly misleading statement. Ancelotti’s average of 78.5 points in a season is lower than the lowest points tally achieved in any other season during Abramovich’s reign as Chelsea boss. Once you start actually looking at the Blues’ performance, the Double isn’t nearly so impressive.

‘Carlo Ancelotti fired after leading Chelsea to second place’ is similarly misleading - yes, they are indeed in second place, but they also stand at 71 points, nine behind leaders Manchester United and twelve behind their lowest finish since 2003, having lost nine games this season. They failed to progress past the first round of the Carling Cup and also were knocked out of the FA cup in the fourth round at home to Everton. That’s a poor season, no matter how you slice it.

Though Chelsea did finish in second place, it’s reasonable that 71 points was not a good enough performance for Roman Abramovic. Last year (and in almost any year in recent history), 71 points would have only put a team in fourth place. With the players and resources Chelsea has, 71 points is not an acceptable finish, and Abramovic was probably justified in his decision.