How Chelsea overcame their bleak mid-winter blip to occupy pole position in the Prem

By Martin Lipton in Laptop with Martin Lipton

Published 11:20 02/02/10

• 

It was supposed to be the month when they would be found out, when the wheels would start to come off.

No Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel or Salomon Kalou, forcing Carlo Ancelotti to delve into the callow and shallow depths of his squad.

Instead, Chelsea won all five games in January and have the chance tonight, with Drogba back in harness, to beat Hull and go four points clear.

And if they do,with confidence flowing through the Blues ranks despite the latest furore engulfing John Terry, it would take a brave man to bet against them lifting the crown in May.

The expectations for slips were raised by the events of December.

Chelsea's bleak mid-winter saw them reacting adversely to their brilliant demolition of Arsenal.

The seven matches up to Boxing Day saw just one win and a total of nine points dropped out of 15, allowing Arsenal and United to close the gap, a Carling Cup exit at Blackburn and a Champions League draw with APOEL Nicosia which was costly in terms of the loss of the hamstrung Essien.

When Fulham led at Stamford Bridge with just 17 minutes to go, they were more than wobbling, facing up to the prospect that, the next time they kicked a ball in the league, they could have dropped to third.

That all changed as Drogba signed off for his African adventure by equalising before Chris Smalling's desperately unfortunate own goal turned the match around.

But Anceotti's post-match claims that it had represented the decisive turning point in the whole season, the moment where his players regained their diminishing faith in themselves, now looks utterly justified.

It was as if the handbrake had been taken off. Since then, even without Drogba's talismanic, mesmerising presence, Chelsea have scored goals for fun.

Five against Watford, seven at the expense of hapless Sunderland, another seven in total from the games with Preston, Birmingham and Burnley, who were the only side to even score one in reply.

More important for Ancelotti and his players has been the football they have played.

Throughout that December blip, they were defending nervously and lacking fluidity, too easily stymied by lesser teams who simply channeled them through the middle where a weight of defensive numbers were difficult to break down.

Ancelotti's reaction was to change his system, ditching the diamond that worked with Drogba as the spearhead and switching to an arrow-head 4-3-2-1 formation, with Nicolas Anelka as the pinnacle.

Suddenly, Florent Malouda and Joe Cole found space to go wide, stretching opponents, while Michael Ballack's decision to wake from his own personal slumbers, adding muscularity and intelligence to the midfield mix orchestrated, as ever, by Frank Lampard, also aided Ancelotti.

If January was supposed to be the true test of Chelsea's resolve and determination, of their willingness to give everything for the chance of the title, then they passed it with flying colours.

Even the news from Angola that Essien's absence would stretch into March was taken in the Chelsea stride - after all, while the Ghanaian powerhouse is irreplaceable, Ancelotti's players have got used to being without him over the past few seasons.

What has definitely helped has been the manager himself.

At this stage last season, Luis Felipe Scolari's reign was descending into its final crisis, the bickering and backstabbing evolving from the Brazilian's failure to understand the mentality of the players under his command.

By stark contrast, Ancelotti remained calm when one or two, at various levels of the club, were starting to lose their heads, reminding his players that the basic principles which had made them look the team to beat in November remained unchanged.

His experience at AC Milan helped. Ancelotti accepted that all sides had at least one dodgy patch in a season and the key was how they dealt with it, and how quickly they could get out of it.

Ancelotti's belief that one game, one result, would alter the complexion of the season in a positive way saw him seize on the Fulham game to plant that seed into his players.

A month on, Chelsea head into what could prove the real decisive spell of the campaign in far better heart and knowing they have the opportunity to push hard on the accelerator.

Next week's games against Arsenal and at Everton are already crunch ties, with the chance to finally knock the Gunners out of contention and to make a statement of intent on Merseyside.

Ancelotti will want that gap to be maintained, if not extended, before his players face the huge distraction of the looming date with Jose Mourinho, aware that the Portuguese's mind games may have an effect on his men.

But Drogba's return surely means there will be no slacking at the KC Stadium, with Ancelotti looking for a healthy win that would effectively increase the lead to four and a half points when goal difference is taken into account.

Do the job right on Humberside and Chelsea will be closing in on their main goal. They know it too.

Will Chelsea win the league? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below...

Fancy winning £3,000 for FREE this month? Play Mirror Football Streak for your chance to win cash prizes! Start predicting now!