Everton FC News: Ancelotti hits back at Chelsea in crisis jibes

Dec 14 2009 by Philip Kirkbride, Liverpool Daily Post

Everton FC News: CARLO Ancelotti rebuffed suggestions that Chelsea are in crisis after some desperate defending from set-pieces allowed Everton to claim a 3-3 draw.

Chelsea, who had not conceded a point at home until Saturday, have now not won for four games, two of them in the Premier League.

“Who can say we are in crisis?” asked Ancelotti. “I don’t think so. I want to be objective and when I look at the game and the way we played I saw that my team played very well.

“We didn’t win because of mistakes at set-pieces. But we played very well for 90 minutes with intensity and good concentration.

“We created a lot of chances to score and were unlucky today. I am happy because Chelsea played very well for 90 minutes, (but) I am unhappy with the result. I didn’t have to say anything to my players because they did the maximum.

“We didn’t win but that can happen in football – you can draw at home. We defended too close to our goal. It was not necessary. The defence stayed close to the goal and Cech had no room to catch the ball.

“We conceded three goals from the same situations. We had the same problem against Aston Villa earlier in the season and we have to improve again.

“We still have the same chance to win the title. It will be a long race until the end of the season. The Premier League is very competitive.

“We did not make individual mistakes, they were collective ones.”

The Italian was adamant that he would not be signing any players in January and is clearly getting frustrated with that familiar line of questioning.

Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Michael Essien and John Mikel Obi all leave for the African Nations Cup after Chelsea’s fixture against Fulham on December 28.

“I believe Didier Drogba, at the moment, is very important for us but I believe we can win without him in January,” added Ancelotti.

“I would like to say, for the last time, we will not buy anybody in January – 100%.”