Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted his side under-achieved at Wigan, where their 100% record came to an unexpected end.
Goals from Titus Bramble, Hugo Rodallega (penalty) and Paul Scharner stunned Chelsea, who have been overtaken by Manchester United at the top of the table. Didier Drogba cancelled out Bramble's opener but goalkeeper Petr Cech's red card, for tripping Rodallega which led to the spot-kick in the 53rd minute changed the face of the game at the DW Stadium.
Ancelotti said: "We did not play a good game - it was a bad performance. I do not know why we did not play well. But these things can happen after a lot of victories. We have to accept this loss and fix things for our next match."
He added: "Wigan played better than us. They were well organised and played good football. I was surprised. This was the right result.
"We played well in the first 10 minutes but when we lost the first goal it became more complicated.
"We started the second half better, then there was the penalty. I do not want to comment on it. I know Cech was unhappy but that is normal in that situation."
Scharner scored Wigan's third goal in stoppage-time form close range when Chelsea were down to nine men, with Ashley Cole going off with a knee injury.
Midfielder John Obi Mikel had earlier suffered an ankle problem and did not appear for the second half.
Ancelotti added: "It was impossible at the end of the match with nine against 11 when Ashley was injured. We are disappointed at what happened in this game. I did not rate this performance but in football you have to look forward.
"We might not be top of the table now but there will be a lot of competition and change until the end of the season."
Comment 1 - 14 of 14
never been a big fan of mikel,essien can do what he does and better,chelsea should never if possible be without joe cole in the midfield,a chelsea midfield that has cole,
lampard,essien,ballack,is quite formidable deco has lot of prove,but one defeat should nnot act as the end of the world...so cheer our song through the sun and rain cos chelsea is our name...lets win this league and stick to everyone big time...
i guess carlo should be talking to his boys never to underate any team,there was no good combination in dt mid-field,for as much as i love lampard,he was no where to be found in that game,we need someone who has this dribbling skills.pls they should watchout 4 the next match
I hate to say this but we sucked
i think we lost because of the midfield lampard was not in the game at all. maybe its the combination,next week coach be careful please
Lampard does have to get into games more, not sure if thats a problem of the formation or the player's adjustment.
One bad result isn't the end of the world...didn't see Man U scrambling to change up their formation and they lost with 11 men on the field.
Chill.
LOOK WHATS GONNA HAPPEN 2 LIVERPOOL NEXT WEEK CHELSEA WILL WIN BIG..
Never been a fan of the diamond, tactically easy to defend. just marking out our pacy fullbacks will stop us, then it leaves too much space for the wingers to get support. 442 would be more suited around our team
good comment from no5 it was a gutless display at wigan maybe to many egos did not fancy it you have to look at wigans formation because its the same liverpool use week in week out and your right about lampard his free kicks are abismal why the hell do we persist with mikel he will never patrol the makelele role claude could have carried on for a few more years there was talk that ivanovic has played that role in russia so maybe he could be an option in the near future ...also the worrying thought is hilarious is in goal next week
Simple - Best teanm won
Heart break. Ancelloti is a brilliant coach and I am a die-hard Chelsea supporter, but I have to be honest here. The line up was completely wrong - 1st, in as much as Essien is a very srong and agile player, he hasn't got the quickest pace in the premiership.Why then was he played outside his accustomed position-centrally in front of the back four or just to the right? 2nd, as a high-profile coach, Carlo should be able to play players based on current form and overall contribution - why then was Anelka selected ahead of Kalou and why was Malouda withdrawn instead of Lampard in making way for Hilario? Malouda's game was beginning to pick up while Lampard was just strolling up and down fluffing ALL OUR DEAD-BALL OPPORTUNITIES. Chelsea is hardly ever a threat with dead balls for one simple reason- Frank Lampard would always struggle to hit them and Ballack is ready to fight physically for them, not because the progress of the team is sacrosanct to him, but because his EGO tells him it's time to rear its head. Ancelloti should look into these things so we don't have 3-and sometimes 4- players standing over a dead ball and just 3- or probably less- players looking to score from the kick!
I think u gotta change the formation and improve Lampard's role.....
He is one of the best players in the world but he cant show it off much this season....There is definitely sumthin wrong.......
Appalling disgraceful performance should of wrapped this one up and to think after that performance chelsea are facing liverpool next week yet another three points dropped and Man utd on there way again because they are bound to win this loss will hang heavy over chelsea all season it happens every year they just cannot get these points back they will be lucky to finish in the top 5 this year after that performance yesterday and thats coming from a life long chelsea supporter born and bred it hurts me to admit it but it was dire I cannot write what I really think but you get my drift?
what abt the line up carlo huh?!?!?!?!?!
what about the line up huh?????:(
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account