Self-Belief Key To Getting Chelsea's Season Back On Track

It has been a difficult month for Chelsea and their coach Carlo Ancelotti. Beaten three times in their last four outings, and now with rumours circulating that the Italian may not be in his job for much longer, the pressure is well and truly on a team that had looked clear favourites to win the league.

 

Things started to go wrong on that Sunday afternoon at Anfield, and once Fernando Torres had shown John Terry just why he's considered one of the best finishers in the world, everything just seemed to unravel. A sketchy win at home to West London neighbours Fulham followed, before their disastrous run-out against Steve Bruce's Sunderland in what Ancelotti described as "a poor performance" and a game they "deserved to lose". This weekend, by the time the final whistle went at St Andrew's, Chelsea looked like they were as confused as they were deflated and the club's poor form will no doubt be examined in a future Andy Gray podcast.

 

It's not that Chelsea deserved to lose that match - they had more than sixty per cent of the possession and managed twenty-five shots at goal to Birmingham's one - they just came up against a fine goalkeeping display and their own demons in front of goal.

 

Scoring goals is something which has come naturally to Chelsea in recent years and it is not a habit which dissipates over night. However, as any striker will tell you, it’s about confidence as much as technique or time spent on the training ground. Ancelotti simply needs to get his players to believe in themselves again, and once that first ball hits the back of the net, they'll be banging them in again until May and they are still most people's football tips to take the title.

 

Sadly for Chelsea, this dry patch couldn't come at a worse time. With senior players Terry, Lampard and the crafty Benayoun missing, the responsibility falls on some of their more junior players, and their next six Premier League opponents being Newcastle, Everton, Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Bolton, they need get back to goal-scoring ways sooner rather than later.

 

They must still be considered title contenders of course, but with Manchester United traditionally finishing strongly, this could be the spell which costs them the title, and then Ancelotti's credentials will really be under the spotlight, especially given their strong start to the season.