“Fact Or Fiction” is a series that will be run every Friday. In this series, an assertion will be made regarding an impacting topic in the Premier League. EPL Talk writers Matt Hackenmiller and Earl Reed each offer their views on whether the statement is “Fact or Fiction.”

Fact or Fiction: It is time for Chelsea to leave Fernando Torres on the bench permanently.

MH: Fact. I know that owner Roman Abramovich wants Torres to start because he is a big name and to prove the transfer fee was worth it. But over the last two seasons, Torres has not been in form. He has looked lost at times on the pitch and has lacked the confidence to be a top-notch striker. Chelsea have plenty of other options at forward – Nicolas Anelka, Daniel Sturridge, Saloman Kalou and the soon to be healthy Didier Drogba – that look to be more viable starters than Torres at the moment. I think it would be a wise move by Andre Villas-Boas to make Torres work hard to prove to the team that he is ready to move back into the first team. Maybe then “El Nino” will show he is worth the fifty million.

ER: Fiction. Undoubtedly Fernando Torres has been embroiled in one of the worst slumps of his career. As he appeared to emerge from the abyss at Liverpool (scoring 8 goals between October and January for the Reds), Roman Abramovich came a knockin’ and draped a £50 million albatross around his neck. Fast forward to now: Torres has scored one goal since his move to London, and at times he has looked horrible. But lately his play has improved; he set up both goals in Tuesday’s victory over Bayer Leverkusen, and was unfortunate not to have one himself. As long as Torres continues to show solid effort on the pitch and in training, I’d let him work this out just as Manchester United did with Wayne Rooney – by playing. My belief is that Villas-Boas brought in Juan Mata and Raul Meireles specifically to supplement Torres, and showing the Spaniard that you have confidence in his abilities will settle his psyche. You get the feeling that if they can will the floodgates open with Torres (especially if it were to happen against the reigning champions), the talk might turn to a three-team race for the title.

What do you think, is it fact or fiction that Chelsea should leave Fernando Torres on the bench?

Jermaine Beckford equalised late on for Everton

The increasing pressure on Carlo Ancelotti has reached new heights after Chelsea dropped two more points against a stubborn Everton side. It was the fourth Premier League game without a win for the reigning champions, and just their fifth point from a possible 18 in recent weeks,  but with Ancelotti’s side stuttering, could the Italian find himself out of a job in the not so distant future?

If Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has any sense, then the answer is no. While Ancelotti is having a tough time of things at the moment, his previous success should have plenty of weight and it would be ludicrous for Chelsea to sack him.

But football is a sport where bizarre decisions are made on a frequent basis, and we shouldn’t be surprised if Ancelotti finds himself on the way out of Stamford Bridge. The departure of Ray Wilkins has revealed some real internal problems at Chelsea and Ancelotti appears to have been disturbed by these issues.

 This is having an impact on Chelsea’s performances, and with the Premier League ultra competitive this year, they really can’t afford to keep dropping points. Anybody from five teams could theoretically challenge for the title this season, and the successful side will be one that is most consistent, so Chelsea need to solve their problems.

If Ancelotti can’t do this in the next couple of the weeks, he will be gone, because as we have seen in the past, Abramovich isn’t afraid to make bold decisions. After spending vast sums of money to lure Luiz Felipe Scolari to Stamford Bridge, the Russian was quick to send him packing when results tailed off, and Ancelotti isn’t immune from similar treatment.

Things don’t get any easier for Ancelotti when you look at Chelsea’s fixtures in the next few weeks. Next weekend’s trip to Tottenham is followed by games against Manchester United and Arsenal. If there isn’t a drastic improvement in results in those three games then in my opinion Chelsea will be looking for a new manager in the New Year.

That might sound drastic, but given the demands for success, Ancelotti can’t afford to fall off the pace in the title race. Last season he set the standard high, and unfortunately he might now be suffering because of last terms achievements.

Sunderland’s shock win at Stamford Bridge has sent shockwaves rippling through English football. How could a side that are a usually so brutally clinical be out-played and out-classed in their own backyard?

In many ways it would be unfair to be overly critical of Chelsea’s display because it would take the shine of a Sunderland performance which was arguably their best ever in the Premier League. Steve Bruce’s side were nothing but superb, not only in their effort and application but their ruthlessness too.

But as good as Sunderland were, Chelsea were equally poor. Carlo Ancelotti will put the blame at injuries to the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Alex, as well as the suspension of influential midfielder Michael Essien.

In years gone by though a Chelsea squad would have easily been able to cope with an injury crisis, and you have to question the clubs decision to constantly let players go without replacing them? Yes they are trying to cut costs, but is it worth seeing the team suffer?

The Chelsea squad is drastically ageing, and in the next few years they will need to invest heavily in their playing squad if they are to remain competitive with the likes of Manchester City, because if they don’t Roman Abramovich’s dream of a Chelsea empire will rapidly slip away.

When the Russian arrived in West London there was an intense period of investment in to the playing squad, but this slowly decreased and over the last few seasons the incomings transfers at Stamford Bridge have been few and far between.

Deco, Michael Ballack, Joe Cole and Ricardo Carvalho were the big name departures from Stamford Bridge in the summer, and no matter how strong the squad that won the double was last season was, no side can lose that sort of talent and expect to be as strong.

The Chelsea bench on Sunday demonstrated Ancelotti’s problem with only Salomon Kalou boasting any real experience in the Premier League. While the Italian must be praised for bringing through young players and giving them a chance, it is highly unlikely that this will bring the success that Abramovich demands.

Personally I still think Chelsea will win the league this season, because their first team is so strong, but if they continue to have bad luck with injuries there may be plenty more shock results to come. Chelsea were once the team with best squad in the league, this simply isn’t the case anymore.

Despite their excellent start to their campaign the pressure is on Chelsea ahead of their Champions League opener tonight. Carlo Ancelotti’s men travel to MSK Zilina and the general consensus amongst the footballing world is that they need to succeed to in Europe this season.

While last year saw Chelsea return to the domestic heights of the Jose Mourinho days, their capitulation against Mourinho’s Inter Milan would have no doubt infuriated owner Roman Abramovich in his quest to complete a clean sweep of trophies.

The Champions League is the only trophy to elude Abramovich during his time in West London and you can bet that urge for success in Europe is bigger than ever for the Russian, whether the urge will be satisfied is another question.

The problem that Ancelotti now faces is that it is really last chance saloon for this squad. I know we criticise Chelsea’s ageing squad year in and year out but now you really do feel that this is the last year when this squad could achieve any success in Europe.

But what worries is me is that I can see Abramovich putting the blame on Ancelotti for any failure, rather than seeing the common sense argument that the squad needs some investment in some younger players.

You can’t help but feel that Premier League success won’t be enough for Ancelotti this season. He himself admits a challenge for all four trophies is what he wants, saying:  “The normal step is to want to do better in the Champions League. We went out too early and want to do better this season.

“Our aim is to improve, to do better and stay involved in all the competitions until the end of the season, to give continuity to the victory of last season. I’m not under pressure but I will put myself under pressure.”

From that statement you do get the sense of added importance in Europe for Chelsea this season. My personal feeling is that if Ancelotti doesn’t deliver the Champions League trophy at the end of this campaign then Abramovich will wield his ill-timed axe once again.

With less than 3 months to go until England’s first group game against the U.S.A on June 12th in the World Cup and one particular pair of positions are causing more problems than anyone envisaged. At full strength, the English full-backs picked themselves with Ashley Cole easily making a case for being the best left back in world football and Glen Johnson’s continual growth as a player. Now with Cole recovering from a broken ankle and Johnson returning gradually from injury, question marks have been raised.

This has indeed opened the door to one or two players that may have considered the chance to get to the World Cup firmly shut. The additional withdrawl of Wayne Bridge from international duty has left Fabio Capello with a quandary. Can he risk hoping Cole recovers in time or simply go with the two main replacements for the position Stephen Warnock and Leighton Baines.

Baines certainly seemed to get a leg up with his starting place in the friendly against Egypt, with Warnock left on the bench. The addition of Gareth Barry as a player who could play there could see that Capello may only take Baines and a half fit Cole, hoping he can recover his fitness toward the tail end of the season. It isn’t unfeasible to see such a situation but that could leave England weak if Barry were to suffer injury or suspension.

Taking Baines and Warnock, for me makes more sense. Warnock, has been impressing ever since he left Liverpool for regular football. His inclusion as an England squad player is long overdue in my opinion. He’s tough but fair, a great ball winner, can ping passes and is flexible in his ability to play not only as a full back, but a left winger and a defensive midfielder.

Baines whilst not as flexible, is certainly no slouch, his bombing runs down Everton’s left flank over the last couple of seasons stands testament to that and he’s a smashing dead ball player. For me, if Capello was looking for a player to fit easier in to the role that Ashley Cole fills for England, Baines is more that type of player Capello likes. Unless Cole stages a miracle recovery, I’d be taking Baines and Warnock. Poor old Nicky Shorey must be thinking what if…..

The opposite flank has seen the worries subside with Johnson’s return but he’s struggled with those annoying niggling injuries recently and with Liverpool having a mixed season in the best possible sense, we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that he doesn’t break down again. Though for all his lovely play going forward, he is still prone to defensive lapses and seemingly switches off still.

That’s not to say the positive doesn’t outweighs the negative, but it’s still a concern. At 25, he really needs to be ironing these errors out of his game but he still can cause more problems than he creates opportunities for the opposition. Fully fit, he’s got the number 2 shirt. My main concern is with the back up for Johnson and the problems an injury could cause.

I’m sorry, but I’ve never rated Wes Brown at all. Yes, I know he plays for Manchester United, Yes I know he’s got 23 caps for England but I just don’t rate him. No pace, consistently caught in possession and dreadful with the ball at his feet, I would be terrified if Brown was our reserve right back. I know he can fill in at centre half, but I don’t rate him there either and he has to be the most average player to have achieved the level of success he has.

Yet, I see salvation on the horizon but I’ll get to that shortly. Micah Richards, who burst on to the scene so memorably for Manchester City as a teenager has had his issues. As with most bright young things, a dip in form is inevitable and for Richards, it unfortunately coincided with Manchester City’s new found wealth. To his credit, he’s dug in and fought his way back in to the Manchester City first team. I have to say I was very impressed with him when he came on the scene, he has masses of potential and is still young.

Ironically, it was his transfer that began the fall out between Mourinho and Abramovich when the chairman refused to meet City’s £20 million valuation. The rest is history but I think this World Cup may be too soon for Richards and I would turn to one of English football’s most consistent and criminally underated players of the last 20 years. Gary Neville.

Now, for me, Neville has never been given the credit he deserves at all for his country. The 10 year relationship that he built with his best friend Beckham playing in front of him for club and country was astounding at it’s best. Both players instinctively knew were the other would be and that type of telepathic understanding of each others game is so rare in the modern game. Recently returning to fitness and at 35 years old, it would certainly be his last hurrah but Cafu played for Brazil until he was 36, so why not. Neville was easily one of the 3 best right-backs in the world alongside Salgado and Cafu.

So maybe a couple of surprises and two differing situations leads me to the following choices then:

If Ashley Cole amazes everyone, and I hope he does I’d take Cole, Baines, Johnson and Neville. If not my four fullbacks would be Baines, Warnock, Johnson and Neville. What do you think? Who would you choose as Fabio’s four full backs?

Stan Kroenke has purchased even more shares in Arsenal today taking his holding to 29.9% of the club. With only another 0.09% required to reach the threshold to make an offer for the rest of the clubs shares, Kroenke has purchased 627 shares this week for the princely sum of £5.3 million. The oddest part of the share purchasing is that 100 of the shares were purchased from Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood.

Hill-Wood seems to have had a change of opinion about Kroenke, after originally stating that the club didn’t need his money or his sort back in 2007 when he purchased his first shareholding in the club. Now the club seem to be relying on him to protect themselves from a takeover from Red and White Holdings, the share vehicle of Alisher Usmanov and ran by former Arsenal vice chairman David Dein.

Now for me, there is no doubt that Stan Kroenke is man who knows his sport. He owns 40% of the St. Louis Rams, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Rapids and Colorado Avalanche. Perhaps annoyed that he doesn’t own a MLB franchise, Kroenke set his sights on Arsenal and has quietly and effectively gone about his business with a minimum of fuss over the last 30 months. Now I know why they call him “Silent Stan”, as his refusal to answer questions about his intentions at the recent Arsenal AGM saw.

British football still has a somewhat rose tinted view of foreign ownership and with the comedy roadshow at Portsmouth shows, with such investment comes a high degree of risk. Yet, British football is littered with teams destroyed by English and Scottish owners who had no idea how to run a football club. Xenophobia is still alive and well in the Premiership, but it is something we English based fans have to get used to and since Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea, most fans would welcome any Billionaire to splash the cash at their club.

When you see the damage people like Geoffrey Richmond, Robert Maxwell, Ken Richardson, Darren Brown and Anton Johnson did to clubs, the chance to bring in proven sporting expertise from outside of the UK becomes an obvious option for me. I’m sure the fans of those clubs almost destroyed by such mismanagement would gladly pay for people to fly over and buy their beloved clubs.

Arsene Wenger must be getting a bit fed up about the constant questions about the share dealings going on, two press conferences this week seem to have missed the fact that his side have climbed nicely in to 3rd, tucked in nicely behind Manchester United and Chelsea and qualified to the next round of the Champions League. All questions focused on the money changing hands in the financial markets and quiet correctly, Wenger calmly and politely avoided answering the questions with a stock answer.

“I do not know what Kroenke will do,all I know is the rules, that if he gets to 30%, he has to make a bid for the club. At the moment, he flirts with the 30, but is not there. I do not know what his intentions are, I have not spoken to him about it.”

With his side bucking all the preseason predictions of falling out of the top four, playing some lovely football and with a Billionaire shoring up his stake in the Gunners, Arsenal could be on the cusp of a wonderful new era. In to the next round of the League Cup and European football once again assured after Christmas, Wenger has continued to keep his head when everyone outside of Arsenal thinks the dream is over. Shame I’m a Spurs fan but that’s life.

When Guus Hiddink stepped into the breach after a heartfelt plea from Roman Abrahamovich, the only definite thing we knew was that Hiddink would only be there until the end of the season. Hiddink has stuck to his line of response throughout his time at Stamford Bridge, politely but firmly dealing with the increasingly banal questions fired at him over his future plans.

So once the tabloids and television journalists finally got the message after 2 months, speculation moved towards Hiddinks inevitable successor. Of the names mentioned, the one with the most column inches seems to be Carlo Ancelotti of A.C. Milan. A former hero of the rossoneri, Ancelotti took the reins at the San Siro in 2001 and had the daunting task of rebuilding a floundering  Milan.

Yet over the weekend, Ancelotti has been dismissing any link with Chelsea and the managers vacancy, by staking his future is still with Milan. “It is not a problem which concerns me, I don’t have to give my availability and the time has not yet come for me to be replaced at Milan.” Yet as is always the case with football, especially in Europe, 24 hours is a long time. Milan’s shy and retiring owner, the little known Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi then came out and blamed Ancelotti for A.C. not winning the scudetto by his poor tactical choices throughout the season.

I think Mr Berlusconi is probably not the best person to be criticising other people choices right now, but the lack of support from his club for Ancelotti since the outburst is deafening. With all indications that Abramovich is about to signal a return to the spending power of his first 3 seasons in charge of Chelsea, it was probably the indication for Ancelotti that he should wait for Berlusconi to sack him, rather than walk out for the Chelsea job.

Regardless of what Ancelotti has achieved in his 7 seasons at Milan, the 8 trophies he’s collected and the fact he survived the refereeing scandal that tarnished Italian football in 2006, only one person has the power at Milan and unfortunately it seems he doesn’t seem to care for Carlo’s achievements one little bit. Perhaps the statements from Ancelotti were simply a case of fishing for a response to see exactly where he stood in the scheme of things at Milan. By offering the bait of stating his intent to stay to see exactly where he stood, Berlusconi bit and has probably made up the mind of Ancelotti to join Chelsea. It’s a plan of lubricious deceit if it plays out correctly and Ancelotti now must know his future lays away from Italy now.

If Ancelotti has now found out just how much he’s appreciated in the corridors of power at Milan, his position was always under pressure once Marco Van Basten left Ajax. Berlusconi will have noted that and perhaps that was the signal for Ancelotti to check if the seat was still free for him in SW6. With Abramovich promising plenty of money to spend, certainly more than he ever had at Milan, it’s probably going to be the easiest thing in the world for him to wait for the sack and hop straight on the next flight to London.

Chelsea announced a £65.7m loss for last year, a staggering sum, particularly as it marks an improvement over the loose-pursed past.  Though the tangible sum is less, the impact will be felt more, after Roman Abramovich as billionaire Roman Abramovich potentially lost the bulk of his fortune. 

Abramovich’s woes have already affected Chelsea.  The Russian owner gutted the scouting department, and considered forcing players to pay for their own lunches.  His own contribution, the £23.1 million paid to Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant not to manage the club, undoubtedly escaped censure.

The summer will see changes, especially if Chelsea do not qualify for the Champions League.  The primary target will be the substantial wage bill, £148.5m – Manchester United’s is just over £100m.  The payroll accounts for over 70% of Chelsea’s turnover.

Chariman Peter Kenyon admitted there would be sales in the summer.  

“Any squad structuring in the summer will be funded prominently by sales,” Kenyon told the Telegraph.  “We have set ourselves ambitious targets, to require zero cash funding from the owner at the beginning of the financial year 2009-10. 

The question then is not whether Chelsea sell, but who they will sell.  The first group, whatever the transfer fees, will be the malcontents.

Didier Drogba comes immediately to mind.  Making nearly £100,000 per week, he has scored three goals in 18 appearances this season.  He’s not the 2006-07 dynamo, nor is he even the occasionally effective player from last year.  His performance alone warrants an exit.  Add his abrasive personality and he’s a net negative waiting to be excised.

Florent Malouda is another candidate for dismissal.  He’s been the mystery man, so awesome before he came and so terrible since he arrived.  Only the illustrious Shevchenko saves Malouda from being the biggest transfer disaster of the past few seasons.  He can’t make the squad regularly and does not deserve to do so.  Chelsea should sell him before everyone sees him as irredeemable.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech could be on his way out as well.  He’s been off the pace this season.  He really has not been right since his horrifying head injury.  Cech was one of the players who reportedly submarined Scolari.  He has played poorly.  He is expensive.  You can get a goalkeeper for cheaper.

If Chelsea are looking for straight ego excision, they may try to offload Anelka, Deco and Michael Ballack as well.

Chelsea may want rid of these players, but they won’t get very much money for them.  If they are looking for instant book-balancing, or a substantial restructuring kitty, a marketable asset, one they’d like to keep, may be required.

Barring sentiment, John Terry should be the prominent candidate here.  He’s not leaving England, so his market value is limited, but Manchester City seem to want him and £40m figures are floating through the rumor mill.  Purely as a player, he’s replaceable.  If Chelsea can get even £20m for him while removing his salary from the books, they should do so.  Peter Kenyon says Chelsea won’t sell Terry.  Who knows if Peter Kenyon will be there?

Michael Essien may fit here as well.  Chelsea won’t want to sell Essien.  Assuming he recovers from his injury, he’s their best midfielder.  He’s versatile.  He can hold with the backline or move forward and make plays.  He would feature in any team in the world’s starting XI.  At just 26 years old, every big side in Europe could use him.  If Chelsea want substantial restructuring money, that may be their only option.

Chelsea have a hodgepodge squad, constructed with conflicting visions.  What they really need is a long-term manager who can work with a reasonable budget to refashion a coherent squad, possibly David Moyes.  Does a liquidity-crazed Roman Abramovich have the patience?

I must have been the only Chelsea fan in the world who wasn’t surprised by today’s news. Realistically with the FA Cup the only legit chance of Chelsea winning any trophy this season, the move had to be made now. Had Scolari been in charge Saturday when Chelsea went to Watford, Chelsea would be out of the FA Cup. You can call that last statement a bit harsh, but with the recent form Chelsea have shown, it would have been Barnsley all over again.

Back last sumer when the announcement was made, I was the only one I knew who did not like the hiring at all and went as far as to say on my CSRN show that he should have never been hired to begin with. Call it a gut feeling, but with the performances Chelsea have had this season, it was going to happen. Now it’s time to start putting the blame on who really needs it.

1) John Terry. The man who has been bailed out by Claude Makelele and Ricardo Carvalho more times than one should have to count needs to be top on this list. Back when Jose was manager, he was already trying to angle his way into management by having language written into his contract saying that he would be allowed to get into management at Chelsea once he retired as a player.

Being Chelsea captain, he has the biggest influence on the players and his leadership of late on the pitch has been downright pathetic. His public campaigning for the England National Team captaincy despite the relative silence from the other candidates (Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, even Frank Lampard) downright stupid and shows the selfish nature of his own being. If it’s not all about him, he’s plotting a way to make it all about him.

When Avram Grant was in charge, the papers ran roughshod over their feelings it was John Terry managing the club, not the man who got Chelsea into their first Champions League final. Hell he even got a personal phone call from Roman to be personally told that Scolari was sacked, almost as if John Terry has been asking about it already. Though to be fair to Terry, Frank Lampard got that same phone call.

About the time Chelsea lost their first game at Stamford Bridge in over 4 years, John Terry mentally shut down, and took the rest of the club with him. His health has been questionable the last couple of seasons, his body unable to withstand the way he plays. If anything, the captaincy needs to be stripped and given to someone who is going to put the needs of the team above his own.

2) Roman Abramovich. I question his commitment to keeping this club stable. Four managers in five and a half years, only one getting more than  season doesn’t exactly give the club you own any hope at being stable. Taking orders from players with regards to how your club is to be run makes you look weak.

He’s an ego that has to be the biggest one in the room. Forcing Andrei Shevchenko onto Jose Mourinho could be pointed to as the moment the relationship between those two went south, and the opening it took for him to start listening to players demands over what was right for the club. Once Mourinho was gone, Roman’s ego dictated to the managers that followed they had to use Jose’s team, not a team of their own.

Had Roman let Jose manage the club and not meddle in his affairs, this blog is not being written. Had Roman understood that it’s his job to not cave into players demands, this blog is not being written. And above all, had Roman run this club like a proper footballing club, this blog is not being written. Notice the owners of Manchester United, Aston Villa and Arsenal, they leave their managers alone and let them do what they do best.

3) Peter Kenyon. Why the hell is he on vacation right now? In fact I think the entire time he’s been at Chelsea it’s been one long vacation for him. As long as he stays so far up Roman’s backside, he will probably get a free pass but his personnel decisions should see him sacked. He was nothing more than a bit player at Manchester United in the grand scheme of things. Now that he’s got run of the mill on decisions Sir Alex Ferguson made, he’s proving to be nothing more than a laughing stock. He couldn’t make the same decisions that Sir Alex Ferguson routinely made and it makes you wonder if he wasn’t already out the door at Old Trafford after not getting Ronaldinho? If anyone’s head at Chelsea needs to roll the most, his should have already been gone.

4) The Fans. Sure they were happy when Ranieri was sacked, but that was because they had Jose Mourinho come in. Once Mourinho left, they were never going to give Avram Grant a chance. They got star struck once Scolari was hired but turned on him quicker than they did with Avram once results didn’t go their way. Now the fans have gotten their way again, let’s see if they will start calling for the players to actually do their job on the pitch.

Chelsea have work to do if they want to dig themselves out of this mess. Hiring a long term manager is a start, and right now that isn’t Giofranco Zola/Steve Clarke. What Chelsea need is an experienced name that is going to take no crap off the players and tell Roman that he wants full control. If full control over player decisions doesn’t come, don’t expect a big name at Stamford Bridge. If somehow a big manager comes in under the conditions Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luis Felipe Scolari left, expect more money to be added onto the 60 million already paid out to former managers.

Fans also need to be more realistic in their expectations. Pre Roman, getting into the Champions League and a deep cup run was the highest of expectation, now they have to be in the running in all competitions entered, winning at least one or two. That’s not going to happen with the lack of stability Chelsea currently have.

Where were you when the news of Scolari’s sacking broke this afternoon? I saw it on facebook, followed by a text message from a friend who works at ESPN. I can honestly say that the decision by Roman Abramovich and the Chelsea board has stunned me, after only 7 months in charge at Stamford Bridge. Did I see it coming? Not all, I commented last month that Chelsea weren’t playing well in my opinion and had little chance of catching Manchester United and Liverpool in the race for the Premiership but to remove Scolari so soon caught most people I know by surprise, even the Chelsea fans I know were shocked over the events. I don’t think anyone expected Aston Villa to be surging past them as we entered February but thats the state of the top 4 in the Premeriship come Sunday evening. I know the fans were booing the Chelsea team, for about the third home game in row but lets be fair, Chelsea should be destroying teams like Hull City and Stoke City, no offensive Tigers and Potters fans, but for you both to have almost stolen wins at Stamford Bridge is unthinkable in modern Premiership history.

Only gaining 3 wins in the last nine Premiership matches is surprising, but to only score 9 goals in that period too tells you a lot about what Chelsea’s problem is. This is an old team, with very little quality in depth if any of the first 11 get injured. Of course the first team is, on paper, one to rival most sides in Europe but I shudder to think what the current Barcelona side would do to them on present form.  A team with no real wingers, only two top quality strikers one of whom clearly doesn’t want to be there, 8 central midfielders and no young players banging on the door of the first team squad. Scolari seems to have to have had his hands tied with no new players coming into the side since Deco’s arrival in the summer until Ricardo Queresma joined on transfer deadline day. Quite what he makes of things right now, heaven only knows.

The loss of Michael Essien became a major burden, his effervescent performances have been the driving force for Chelsea over the last 3 seasons and the midfield failed to sizzle without his power and strength to take games by the scruff of the neck. To chase games, Scolari consistently turned to Belletti, a wing back who occasionally filled in at Defensive Midfield. Chelsea have the most expensive youth and scouting network in the world but it hasn’t delivered any players of any note coming in, unlike Manchester United and Liverpool. John Obi Mikel has shown he is no Essien, or even a half fit Claude Makelele. Teams had worked out how to stop Chelsea by pushing on to Bosingwa and Ashley Cole and packing the midfield, narrowing the playing field even more than normal. Once Manchester United had gone to Stamford Bridge and stopped Bosingwa and Cole pushing forward, the rest of the Premiership realised that if you could do that, Chelsea had no Plan B under Scolari.

Chelsea, lacking players comfortable on the wings, were suffocating themselves with an overloaded midfield and running consistently in to dead ends. Steve Clarke has never looked more important to Chelsea’s recent history as he does today, if anything the reason Chelsea did so well last season after Mourinho left was Clarke’s presence on the training ground in the majority of Avram Grants time as manager. Clarke’s hunger to move onward saw Chelsea lose a major asset that they probably didn’t appreciate in the boardroom as much as the players did on the training ground and in the dug out.Over recent weeks, his importance to the Chelsea cause shouldn’t underestimated.

So where now for Chelsea, who can come in a give this team a lift. The team needs a major overhaul, this is an aging side that needs extensive surgery in most areas of the team if they want to compete at the top end of the European football table. I would rule out Guus Hiddink immediately as I can not see Abramovic testing his popularity in Russia by stealing the national team manager, He may be joint favourite with the bookmakers but the Russian connection would rule him out for me. Sven Goran Eriksson is another one I can’t see coming back to England from Mexico, though he would have the experience to deal with the ego’s of the dressing room after his time at Lazio when they were throwing money around like confetti at the turn of the century.

The two big contenders for me are Frank Rijkaard and Roberto Mancini, both recently employed at two of the biggest clubs in Europe at Barcelona and Internazionale respectively. Neither has a contract to break, can start immediately and can cope with the massive burden of expectations from thousands of fans. Mancini took over at Europe’s most consistently underachieving side with Inter and Rijkaard took over the worst Barcelona side in living memory in the Summer of 2003. Both are used to big players and their ego’s and entourages, big demands from fans and chairmen and consistently challenging the biggest sides in Euope for the top prizes. Both delivered in the following seasons but both saw their reigns snatched away from them, Mancini was cruelly treated for Inters failure in Champions League whilst Rijkaard lost the dressing room war between the Ronaldinho and Eto’o camps. That shouldn’t detract from either mans suitability with the job but I’d wager a couple of pounds on a cheeky flirt with Jose Mourinho in this season of comebacks and returns!! Ultimately though, the key to Chelsea’s problems lie with the Chairmans willingness to sanction a wholesale clear out in the Summer. They need hungry young players to add to the likes of Ashley and Joe Cole, Bosingwa, Lampard and Anelka, get some width to the side and get them playing football with a bit more canniness to it, to have more than a plan A. For Chelsea to succeed again, Roman Abramovic has to fall back in love with the Chelsea blue.