Veni vidi vici: Carlo Ancelotti emulated Jose Mourinho in winning the Premier League title in his first season in EnglandChelsea won the Barclays Premier League with an eight-goal spectacular on Sunday and warned Manchester United this was just the start of their quest to dominate English football.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti and captain John Terry vowed to bring more silverware to
Stamford Bridge, starting with the FA Cup on Saturday.
‘After the first year, I hope to stay here a long time and win a lot of titles,’ said Ancelotti, after watching his team beat Wigan 8-0 and become the first Premier League team to score 100 goals in a season. ‘We have the opportunity to win the Double and I hope my players can after these celebrations.’
After lifting the trophy, Terry said: ‘I’ve been hurting inside for three years seeing Manchester United lift it. I can promise you, every one of us has sat there and watched it. It’s their turn to watch today. We need to do what United have done and maintain it for a few years.’
Chelsea finished the season with 103 goals after a second-half hat-trick from Didier Drogba, who threw a tantrum before the break because he was denied the chance to take a penalty.
Drogba had started the day vying with United’s Wayne Rooney to be the Premier League’s top scorer. He won the race, finishing with 29, but that did not stop him arguing with Frank Lampard about who should take the first-half spot-kick.
‘That’s what makes Didier Drogba the way he is,’ said Lampard. ‘He’s hungry. It was 1-0 and I’ve been taking the penalties all season. But there was no problem in the end. We’re a team and it was nothing.’
Top of the pile: Didier Drogba (second left) won the golden boot with 29 Premier League goalsDrogba said: ‘I understand but I was disappointed. I wanted to score but I had to get over the frustration and come back. We played so well I knew I’d have some chances to score. I wasn’t happy at first but I know I was making a big mistake. He was right.’
At the start of the season, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson claimed Chelsea were too old to improve but Ancelotti insists there are many years of glory left in his team.
The Italian said: ‘I think this club will have a future because these players are not so old and we have a very good squad, for next year and the years after. This team doesn’t need to change a lot of things. Every player has done a fantastic job this season.
‘We closed the season very well with a fantastic performance. The most important thing was to win but we have found the right way to win, playing good football and maintaining good fair play on the pitch, and giving joy to the fans.
Champagne moment: Carlo Ancelotti leads the celebrations as Chelsea win their fourth league - and third Premier League - crown‘Our aim was to play good football and we have been able to do this a lot of times this season.
‘I have found a fantastic team here, who worked very well every day, maintaining a good atmosphere as a team. I am happy to have done this in my first season but it was easy for me to do my best. We won this title because we played as a team and worked as a team. Not only the players, everyone at the club.’
It was a far cry from Jose Mourinho, who claimed after winning his second title at Chelsea in 2006 that he had the hardest job in the world because when he won, people simply pointed to the money spent by owner Roman Abramovich.
‘Mourinho did some fantastic work and won two titles consecutively,’ said Ancelotti. ‘This is my first and I hope to do the same as Mourinho.
‘It is not so different from winning the title in Italy. We had fantastic opponents and United stayed with us right to the end.
Turbulent season: John Terry ended the campaign on a high, telling Manchester United it's their time to be envious‘I said it would go to the last game and so we have to be proud and happy that we won against such a fantastic team like United. They were a very good opponent.’
The Chelsea boss thought the key moment was the 2-1 win at Old Trafford last month.
He said: ‘That improved our confidence and sent United a little bit down.’
Nicolas Anelka scored twice and Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou and Ashley Cole were on target as Chelsea finished in a most emphatic manner.
Applying the gloss: Ashley Cole's fine strike capped Chelsea's 8-0 routLampard, who won his third title at Chelsea, said: ‘The first two we won relatively easily. They were very special because they were the first ones, but with the difficulties we’ve had this year, this one is very special.
‘This is right up there, because of the way we’ve done it and finished the season in such style. It’s been fantastic. We deserved to come out on top in the end. We’ve had little ups and downs along the way.’
source :dailymail
