Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti believes his team can win the Premier League title after a comfortable 3-0 win at rivals Arsenal, but he warned his players to guard against complacency.
The Blues restored their five-point lead at the top of the league with victory at Emirates Stadium on Sunday as Didier Drogba scored twice and Thomas Vermaelen put into his own net.
With Chelsea’s next game against big-spending Manchester City at Eastlands, Ancelotti is adamant his players must maintain their focus if they are to remain on top.
“It is important for me that Chelsea continue to play as we did (against Arsenal) with determination and concentration,” Ancelotti said.
“We started the season believing we can win the title. We know very well our possibilities. We can win every game but also if we don’t have determination and concentration, we can lose every game.
“We have to maintain a good behaviour in our work. We started the season believing we could win it. When I signed a contract with Chelsea, I believed we could win something.
“We have this quality of strength and when we have to use this, we can. I think this team has a lot of technical, mental and physical quality.
“We didn’t want to use physical quality, we wanted to use intelligence to defend in our half and there we won the game.”
Ancelotti praised the Drogba’s work-rate and also found time to salute the contribution of his strike partner Nicolas Anelka.
“Drogba scored two goals and for me he did a good job,” said Ancelotti. “In the second half he returned sometimes in defence in our half together with his other team-mates.
“Anelka in every game finds very good positions on the pitch. Sometimes he is a striker closer to the edge, sometimes he stays back a little bit to help the midfield keep possession. For this, he is a very important player for the team.”
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