Carlo Ancelotti drew some criticism last week when he suggested that Chelsea’s exit from the Champions League at the hands of Inter Milan might actually be a blessing in disguise. Although being the most coveted prize in European football, I’m certain that if you gave Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger the choice of success in either the Champions League or the Premier League, they would both opt for domestic league success.
For Ancelotti too, a league win in his first season would certainly represent a successful debut in the English game, and would provide a very healthy foundation for the future. And although most viewed his comments as a smokescreen to disguise his disappointment after their abject performance against the Italian champions, the cost of Champions League progression for both Arsenal and Man United in previous days has really hit home.
United have consistently been overly reliant on Wayne Rooney. Surely I wasn’t the only one who could see an injury coming his way? Lauded by the wonderfully frivolous English tabloid media as the man who will guide England to World Cup glory, the images of a crutch-bound Rooney leaving hospital on Wednesday morning had already passed through my mind’s eye a hundred times in the past few months.
The extent of Rooney’s injury has yet to be confirmed, and although it won’t rule him out of England’s World Cup campaign, it will have serious repercussions on United’s quest for a fourth successive league title. Without Rooney, Ferguson will have to hope that Bulgarian lethargio Dimitar Berbatov will be in the mood to step up to the plate. With Berbatov, you just never know what to expect. And if United’s bizarre run of own-goals scored by the opposition (11 so far this season!) dries up, Ferguson’s decision not to hold on to the services of Carlos Tevez may come back to haunt the Scotsman for a long time.
Arsenal, despite their Manuel Almnia-assisted setback last week against Birmingham, are still in contention for both the league and the Champions League. Having showed a great deal of character in coming back to earn a 2-2 draw last night against the at-times sublime Barcelona, they awoke to a plethora of injury headaches. William Gallas, Andrei Arshavin and most worringly Cesc Fabregas all suffered potentially long-term injuries in the thrilling contest at the Emirates.
Gallas, just back from a six-match lay-off looks set for another, and while Arshevin is expected to make a swift return, the news that Fabregas may have broken his right fibula could signal the end of their league intentions. With the long-term absence of Robin Van Persie, Fabregas was the man who kept his side ticking over, and it’s hard to see how they would cope without him.
All this spells good news for Carlo Ancelotti and his aging Chelsea side, and there is little doubt that Chelsea will be all the better in the league as a result of their European exit. A win at Old Trafford on Saturday would quickly compensate for any pain that Chelsea fans suffered last week at the hands of Mourinho’s Inter and put the firmly in the driving seat for this years league title.
