Carlo Ancelotti Could Pair Big Two

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Carlo Ancelotti has denied it would be a gamble to pair Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba in Chelsea’s must-win game against Tottenham.

Blues boss Ancelotti has spent this week attempting to devise a way of getting both of his star strikers into his starting line-up, despite their failure to forge an understanding since Torres’ £50million transfer from Liverpool.

The duo have started just three of 14 possible matches together and Ancelotti appeared to abandon their partnership earlier this month when he reverted from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 formation, a move which has coincided with Chelsea rediscovering their best form and has been backed by more than one player.

With the champions needing to beat Spurs to keep alive their slim hopes of retaining the title – something which could also save Ancelotti’s job – any significant changes to personnel and tactics would appear to represent an unnecessary risk.

But Ancelotti was adamant it was worth trying to get Torres working with Drogba after watching the Spain star finally end his long goal drought against West Ham on Saturday.

“When you have very good players, you’ve have to try to put them together,” he said.

“Maybe they can sacrifice something of their ability, of their skills, but they can play together.

“If you are able to do this, I think it is good for the team, to get good results.

“Obviously, it’s too early to take a decision about this because we have another training session on Friday.

“But I think it will not be a surprise if they can start on Saturday together.”

Asked how it had gone in training between the two of them, Ancelotti joked: “Ah, disaster! If they didn’t train well, obviously I’m not here to mention this!

“Seriously, they trained well. They tried to have a good combination together.”

Insisting their teamwork had improved, Ancelotti confirmed he would revert to a 4-4-2 if he opted to play both on Saturday.

“The best solution would be to play 4-4-2 if they play together,” he said.

“I think that we don’t have a problem to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.

“The result doesn’t depend on the shape that you use.

“The result depends on the motivation that the players have, on the spirit that the players use on the pitch during the game.”

Ancelotti’s players might not agree and he revealed he would take into account any objections they had but warned the final decision lay with him.

“I’m not a dictator,” he said.

“If they want to have an opinion, they can speak, obviously.”

He added: “Maybe sometimes I ask the players if they are comfortable to play 4-3-3 or 4-4-2.”

Ancelotti reported a clean bill of health for Saturday’s game, despite there having been real concerns over the fitness of midfielders Michael Essien and Ramires.

Neither was able to train with the first team for the first half of the week but their manager said: “Now they are ready, they are fit.”

Chelsea’s hopes of overhauling Manchester United’s six-point lead in the title race appeared to suffer a setback this week after Sir Alex Ferguson’s men won the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Schalke 2-0.

That gives United an opportunity to rest players for next week’s second leg ahead of their Old Trafford clash with Ancelotti’s men.

But the Chelsea boss welcomed their likely progress to the Wembley final and insisted he would prefer to face them when they are at full strength.

He said of Tuesday’s game: “I was happy because I think the result was right.

“Manchester played a fantastic game. They deserved to win.”

He added: “I would like to play against the best team, Man United, and we are able to win and we deserve to win.

“I hope that Manchester will reach the final and they will play against us with the best team.”

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Carlo Ancelotti Could Pair Big Two