Ancelotti blames loss of fear for poor performance

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admitted that his side no longer had the confidence which they had when they started off. The Blues had an excellent start to the Barclays Premier League, reaching the top and maintaining a place there. However, recently, they have failed to continue with their good form and two back to back losses saw them on level points with rivals Manchester United.

The Italian manager, who saw his side lose three of their last four Premier League matches, will be taking his side to Newcastle this Sunday. He will be without Captain John Terry, vice captain Frank Lampard and star midfielder Michael Essien. The loss of these experienced players dude to injury has undoubtedly been one of the reasons for Chelsea’s recent poor form.

John Terry is expected to make his return next week after the pain from a nerve problem subsides in his leg. Frank Lampard, who is suffering from a recurring groin injury, is expected back in full training this week. Michael Essien is suspended; the Ghanaian international scored the winning goal against Fulham and received a straight red in the same match.

However, it wasn’t the unavailability of the first team players that Ancelotti was worried about; it was the loss of fear in the opponent's mind. He said, “At the beginning of the season, when you're winning 6-0, you can put pressure on teams. Now a lot of teams have improved their confidence to play us. This is normal. We've had some problems playing against particular teams.”

However, John Obi Mikel believes that the recent poor performance has been because of the squad being stretched too far. He was of course referring to the injuries of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Alex and Didier Drogba and the suspension of Michael Essien. Chelsea have not been able to score as many goals as when the season started.

Mikel said, “Everyone who knows Chelsea knows the reason why this is happening - we are short of players. We have so many players injured or suspended, so I think people know why this is happening, but at the same time there are no excuses for the players who are playing. We have to take responsibility for results and start to win these games.”