Carlo Ancelotti Brushes Off Roberto Mancini's Claims That Chelsea Will Walk To Premier League Title

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti will renew his long running friendly rivalry with fellow Italian Roberto Mancini tomorrow as his Chelsea side travel to Eastlands to face big spending Manchester City.

Mancini emerged triumphant when the two teams met last season at Stamford Bridge thanks to a Carlos Tevez double, which inspired City to a 4-2 victory, arguably the Citizens' best performance of the season.

However, Ancelotti’s men bounced back from that defeat to claim their first championship after a three year barren spell.

Chelsea have continued that form into this season and are currently setting the pace at the top of the Premier League table, such impressive early form that Mancini has already claimed that they are certain to be champions once again this season.

Whether Mancini’s admission is just the latest episode in the various managerial mind games that are common place in today’s game is unclear, but Ancelotti doesn’t believe his old team-mate is up to the latest round of kidology.

“I think it is not a mind game, I know him very well, for this reason he knows us very well, he knows our ability, and I think that's what he thinks. It is not dangerous for us,” Ancelotti said to the club’s official website.

The pair have a long running friendship which dates back to their days representing the Italian national side together in the 80s and early 90s, whilst they were rivals when in charge of the two Milan clubs as recently as three years ago.

“We were team mates in the past in the national team, I met him two months ago in Manchester and the relationship is very good”, Ancelotti said of his respect for his Manchester City counterpart.

“He is very competitive and he has experience, he has ability to read the game”.

Ancelotti, formerly of AC Milan is quick to remind Mancini that he narrowly edges the head to head meetings, and stresses that he is keen to extend that margin tomorrow afternoon.

“Sometimes he won, sometimes I won. 8-7 and three draws, I want to improve my lead.”

Despite Ancelotti’s narrow advantage in the head to head contests between the pair, Mancini will look back fondly at his sides victory over the champions last season, but Ancelotti claims that his side possess even more confidence now than they did at that point last year.

“[Last year] was the past, it was a difficult moment for us when we lost at home but now is a different story. We have more confidence compared to last year, we are in a good moment and we can do better compared to the last match at Manchester," he said.

In fact, City did the double over Ancelotti’s men last season, with former manager Mark Hughes in charge for the 2-1 win at Eastlands.

In both fixtures Carlos Tevez proved to be a pivotal figure in Chelsea’s downfall and Ancelotti admits that he is an admirer of the former Manchester United and West Ham front man.

“He is the most dangerous player of Manchester City, he has quality” said Ancelotti.

“He has power and very good mentality. I appreciate his kind of play and we have to pay attention.”

Charles Kabore: Olympique De Marseille Can Beat Chelsea In The Champions League

Chelsea can be beaten by Olympique de Marseille in the Champions League, Charles Kabore has declared in La Provence.

The holding midfielder insists that les Phoceens are not considering the prospect of losing heavily at Stamford Bridge next midweek, despite acknowledging the fact that Carlo Ancelotti has a powerful side at his disposal.

“We can’t say whether we will lose 5-0 or 2-0. We may win,” the 22-year-old Burkina Faso international declared. “Chelsea have good forwards and great defenders. It has been three or four years that they have played together; they know each other by heart.

“No team is unbeatable. All teams make mistakes. Chelsea are not unbeatable. I believe.”

Kabore is expected to be rested by Didier Deschamps during Saturday evening’s encounter against Sochaux in Ligue 1 as les Phoceens attempt to continue rejuvenating their season, which started in extremely dubious circumstances as they lost both of their opening Championnat encounters.

The former Libourne-Saint-Seurin man is expected back in the starting XI when OM travel to London on Tuesday.

Tevez Reveals Chelsea Talks

Manchester City star Carlos Tevez admits he came close to signing for Chelsea when he left Manchester United.

Tevez locks horns against Chelsea, aiming to boost City's title hopes with a win over the reigning champions.

The Argentine ace admits he could have been playing for Chelsea instead of Manchester City after holding talks with Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti prior to his switch to Eastlands.

"When Man United didn't want me, I had a conversation with Ancelotti but there was never any concrete offer," revealed Tevez.

"I only ever talk about proper, written offers - and that was the case with City."

Meanwhile, Tevez insists he stands by his criticism of City boss Roberto Mancini's training methods.

Tevez was unhappy with Mancini last season when claimed the Italian's double training sessions left the players drained.

"I think I was right to say that," noted Tevez. "This season, because the games are coming so thick and fast, there isn't time for double training so I am relieved it's not an issue. But I still stand by what I said.

"Roberto and I had a good chat at the end of last season and everything was left really nice. It was simply two guys sitting down in a room and chatting honestly and openly and sorting things out."

Tevez also revealed he was shocked to be handed the captain's armband by Mancini this season in place of Kolo Toure.

"It did surprise me. For one thing, my English isn't fantastic and communicating in the dressing room isn't always easy.

"But it's certainly having a positive effect on my game. Before maybe I would disappear from games for 10 or 15 minutes, but now I can't afford to do that.

"I've got to concentrate 100% all the time."

Carlo Ancelotti Keen To Manage Ghana - Domenico Ricci

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has a desire to turn his hand to African football, and would like to coach the Ghana national team, claims his friend Domenico Ricci.

Ancelotti has proven a hit in Italy and England, and in future wants to grapple with the illusions and reality of African football as he widens his reach.

For his part, Ancelotti has maintained his immediate future rides on Chelsea as he continues to attract riches at Stamford Bridge following their impressive start to the season.

"I can say that Ancelotti's thoughts have shifted from the Ivory Coast to Ghana," Ricci, an African football expert and agent, told Premium Calcio.

"There are various people involved too. A famous Milan player who is a midfielder and still playing will be his assistant."

Last week reports in England claimed Chelsea were ready to offer Ancelotti a contract extension.

Cech: Clean Sheets Are Crucial

Petr Cech believes defensive miserliness has been as much a reason for our excellent league start as the attacking play at the other end.

It is the forward-thinking players that have grabbed the headlines, helping themselves to 21 league goals in five games, but Cech and his defence have yielded only Scott Parker's consolation strike at West Ham in that period, and the goalkeeper is keen to point out it is at the back where the best sides lay their foundations.

'Sometimes getting clean sheets and not conceding can be more crucial than scoring the goals. When you don't concede basically you only need to score one goal,' said the 6ft 4in stopper.

'We can say that because you can only build a team from defending well, it helps obviously when you need to start well. When you start scoring a lot of goals it is a big bonus.'

It has been said that today's opponents Manchester City will pose our first real test of the Barclays Premier League campaign, but Cech is keen to point out the benefit hindsight offers.

'It was a tricky start because last season at the beginning we went to play Wigan away and lost, it is not an easy game,' he said. 'Although we won 6-0 there, if you see the first 40 minutes it was a tough game.

'We scored at the perfect time and then two at the start of the second half and it finished 6-0 but for 40 minutes that game was really tough and we had to play well to make things happen and win the game. It is never easy to win a game in the Premier League wherever you go.'

That said then, he knows City will provide a stern examination as they aim to show their own title credentials. Cech believes the Eastlands club has everything in place to challenge, but may still need to gel as a unit.

'Money can't buy the success, you need a good team to win something, you need the spirit and the atmosphere in the dressing room and the club generally to be successful. You can put the best players together but it never means you will have a good team,' he explained.

'You have to have the players to build that spirit and atmosphere. If everyone is thinking about their ego then you can have a great manager, a great squad, great facilities but never a great team.'

Despite their vast outlay over the summer, it remains one of their cheaper acquisitions, goalkeeper Joe Hart (a £600,000 signing from Shrewsbury Town) who has Cech's attention after replacing Shay Given as City's preferred choice.

'I think it has been difficult for him at the start, he can see how highly rated, and rightly, Shay Given is, then suddenly got in front of him and had to show to everybody he deserved to play,' said the 28-year-old. 'He started with a fantastic game against Tottenham and has been playing well, started for the national team, and he came into the spotlight.

'Now people will watch him in a different way, he is not one of the candidates to be England's number one, now he is the number one and he has more pressure on. So far he has been doing really well.'

This afternoon's affair pits the league's two tightest defences against each other. Cech will be hoping that it is he who has the quieter afternoon.

Old Friends, New Rivals

Carlo Ancelotti has been discussing his relationship with his friend and Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini.

The pair played together for Italy in the 1980s and '90s, and were rivals in Milan for four years as they managed the city's two footballing giants. Now they face off again in England, with high expectations on both.

Ancelotti has enjoyed a near perfect start to the season while for Mancini, there are problems with both form and fitness. The former Leicester City player has already publicly conceded the championship to Chelsea.

Asked whether this was just kidology, Ancelotti remarked: 'I think it is not a mind game, I know him very well, for this reason he knows us very well, he knows our ability, and I think that's what he thinks. It is not dangerous for us.

'To be under pressure is normal, above all when you have a team you have to build the mentality of the team, it is not an easy job, he is doing his best and I hope the club appreciate his job,' said the Chelsea man of his counterpart.

'We were team mates in the past in the national team, I met him two months ago in Manchester and the relationship is very good.

'He is very competitive and he has experience, he has ability to read the game.'

Despite City's double over us last season (Mark Hughes was manager for one of those games), Ancelotti still has the upper hand against Mancini.

'Sometimes he won, sometimes I won. 8-7 and three draws, I want to improve my lead,' he smiled.

'[Last year] was the past, it was a difficult moment for us when we lost at home but now is a different story. We have more confidence compared to last year, we are in a good moment and we can do better compared to the last match at Manchester.'

That was a 2-1 defeat in December, when new captain Carlos Tevez's free-kick earned City all three points, and the Argentine scored two more at Stamford Bridge in February.

'He is the most dangerous player of Manchester City, he has quality' said Ancelotti. 'He has power and very good mentality. I appreciate his kind of play and we have to pay attention.'

It is in defence where City have problems, with only three recognized defenders fit, though Joleon Lescott and Jerome Boateng may figure.

Lescott has been troubled by a groin injury that has kept him out of City's last three games, while Boateng has not featured at all since his summer move from Hamburg after aggravating a knee injury when he was accidentally struck by an in-flight meal trolley.

Pablo Zabaleta is earmarked for the right-back role, Mancini only has youngster Dedryck Boyata, plus midfielders Gareth Barry and James Milner available to fill the role if neither Lescott nor Boateng are deemed to be fit enough.

'I do not know what I am going to do just yet. I will speak with Joleon and Jerome, but if they are not available I am not sure. Maybe Boyata, but I am not sure,' Mancini conceded.

Emmanuel Adebayor should be fit to make the bench after a recent spell out with a dead leg, but former Blue Shaun Wright-Phillips joins Aleksandar Kolarov and Mario Balotelli on the sidelines with a knee injury.

'I am disappointed we have all these injuries at the moment," added Mancini. 'I only have 11 players who are 100% fit.'

Ancelotti: Countering The Counter

Carlo Ancelotti is calling on his players to learn lessons from the two defeats against Manchester City last season before going into today's match at Eastlands.

Happily the six points lost in those fixtures were not enough to prevent Chelsea crossing the finishing line first in the race for the title last campaign, but with City expected to be among the challengers this season there is no guarantee similar-slip ups wouldn't be more costly this time around.

The game at Stamford Bridge in February especially, when despite going a goal down Roberto Mancini's side came back to run out 4-2 winners, was one that highlighted City strengths.

'It was not a good moment for us, we played well the first half but second half we lost balance and conceded goals from the counter-attack,' Ancelotti recalls.

'For this new game we have to remember this is one of the reasons we lost and we have to pay attention to counter attacks, because we want to play attacking football.'

Carlos Tevez who scored twice in that game remains but the pace of Craig Bellamy, who also netted two goals, is no longer available to Mancini and there are likely to be other changes in their team from seven months ago, included in midfield where they have added Yaya Toure from Barcelona.

'I think compared to last season they are trying to put more strength and more power into midfield where they are using three midfielders and they have good skills.

'In England you have to be able use quality and you have to be able to use strength and power. You play against some teams who have a lot of power so you have to have in your team both power and quality.

'They can use maybe [James] Milner as a left winger, he is a runner, and I think for this reason they want to put more strength and power in midfield and use Tevez in front with the support of Milner and David Silva.'

Looking at his own side, Ancelotti believes his players are now up to full speed, including the World Cup participants who suffered both summer disappointment and a truncated pre-season.

'You can see from the condition of Ashley Cole, Anelka, Malouda in games that they now are 100 per cent fit,' he points out.

'I am watching the same John Terry as last year - a player focused, concentrating on the training ground, good leadership, good performance on the pitch. This is not a surprise.

'We are not looking for revenge for last season in this game. The motivation is that we want to maintain our lead at the top of the table. This game is an important step for us because it is away and it is at Man City. It will be difficult but our aim is this.'