The acquisition of Fernando Torres from Liverpool has left Chelsea’s manager, Carlo Ancelotti, facing the problem of which of an array of big-name attackers to leave out.
The acquisition of Fernando Torres from Liverpool has left Chelsea’s manager, Carlo Ancelotti, facing the problem of which of an array of big-name attackers to leave out.

Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti faces selection headaches



A surfeit can be as dangerous as a shortage. Chelsea's attack has never been undermanned or underfunded in the Roman Abramovich era, but the struggle between conspicuous consumption and team building is occurring for the third time in the space of eight seasons.

The initial expenditure on, among others, Juan Sebastian Veron, Hernan Crespo, Adrian Mutu, Joe Cole and Damien Duff left Claudio Ranieri with sufficient options to explain his nickname, "the Tinkerman".

In 2006, after Jose Mourinho had masterminded back-to-back title wins, the balance of the Chelsea team was distorted by the signings of Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack. And now, Fernando Torres has been added to an equation that already included Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.

Mathematically, it promises much. This is the alliance of the £50 million (Dh295m) recruit, the £24m signing and the £15m buy; they have 198, 257 and 210 goals in their respective careers for club and country. None of those came in last Sunday's demoralising defeat to Liverpool when the debut of Torres was hijacked by his former colleagues.

His second outing comes in tonight's derby at Fulham. Carlo Ancelotti has indicated he will persevere with his imaginative attempt to crowbar all three into the same side. Anelka's redeployment at the tip of a midfield diamond worked wonderfully at Sunderland, when Salomon Kalou accompanied Drogba in attack, but he was denied space by Liverpool.

Moreover, while three into two can go, given Chelsea's current tactics, five into four cannot. One of the front three, Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda must sit out the start of the game. Thus far, the Frenchman has been sidelined and width sacrificed to accommodate Torres.

Ancelotti's years at AC Milan have given him an almost unrivalled expertise in configuring a side in a 4-3-1-2 formation. Then, however, the man operating in the slipstream of the main strikers was usually Kaka, an instinctively more unselfish player than Anelka, or an out-and-out creator like Rui Costa, rather than a converted forward.

The shared characteristics of his current charges, pace and an enviable ruthlessness, promise either a deadly combination or a conflict of interest. Chelsea's preferred outcome is that the attacking force that mustered a century of goals last season is enhanced by the addition of their regular nemesis.

The danger is that the triumvirate engage in an unofficial battle for supremacy, encroaching upon one another's territory rather than serving as the suppliers for their colleagues.

That all three have displayed a penchant for sulking indicates that Ancelotti's is a tricky task. Luiz Felipe Scolari's management jarred with Drogba, just as Roy Hodgson's highlighted that Torres has a sullen streak while Raymond Domenech and Anelka were a damaging combination for each other as well as France.

Pleasing Abramovich as well as placating his players means Ancelotti must multitask. He is emphasising the advantages of the owner's largesse, however.

"Now we have a strong squad with David Luiz and Torres, we've improved our ability and we have more power," he said. "The squad was good, but now it is even better.

"In attack we can choose whether to play with two up front or with the Christmas tree, it depends on the game that we want to play. When we play with two strikers Nicolas Anelka can be in the number 10 position, in the hole, but with one striker he can play on the right."

Yet his mentality, like those of Drogba and Torres, is that of the lone gunman. Instead, they are being urged to hunt as a pack.

Last week, Liverpool prevented them firing any bullets. They had the ideal system to combat Ancelotti's tactics; Fulham's 4-4-1-1 seems less suited, unless the supposed wingers tuck in to prevent Chelsea outnumbering their hosts in the centre of midfield and the full-backs defend as narrowly as possible to prevent Torres, in particular, finding space in the channels.

And if that does happen, an SOS may be sent to Malouda and Chelsea's expensively-assembled front three may have to be disbanded.

STAGE 4 RESULTS

1 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 4:51:51

2 David Dekker (NED) Team Jumbo-Visma

3 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 

4 Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis

5 Matteo Moschetti (ITA) Trek-Segafredo

General Classification

1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 12:50:21

2 Adam Yates (GBR) Teamn Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:43

3 Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:03

4 Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:43

5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45

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Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Athletic Bilbao 0

Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)

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Penguin Modern Classics

TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

The Bio

Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
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Rating: 4/5

 

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski

 

Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris

 
Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

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Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

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Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

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Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

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● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

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Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

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1. Cecilie Hatteland (NOR) atop Alex - 31.46 seconds

2. Anna Gorbacheva (RUS) atop Curt 13 - 31.82 seconds

3. Georgia Tame (GBR) atop Cash Up - 32.81 seconds

4. Sheikha Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum (UAE) atop Peanuts de Beaufour - 35.85 seconds

5. Miriam Schneider (GER) atop Benur du Romet - 37.53 seconds

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PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES

Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)

Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)

Wednesday

Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)

Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)

Norwich City v Everton (9pm)

Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)

Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)

Thursday

Burnley v Watford (9pm)

Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)

Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)

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What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
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6.30pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
7.05pm: Handicap Dh 185,000 2,000m
7.40pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap Dh 190,000 1,400m
8.50pm: Handicap Dh 175,000 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap Dh 175,000 1,200m
10pm: Handicap Dh 165,000 1,600m

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Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km

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Manchester United 1 (Van de Beek 80') Crystal Palace 3 (Townsend 7', Zaha pen 74' & 85')

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