Thierry
Henry says Chelsea should be careful what they wish for after Jose Mourinho
was sacked by the club on Thursday afternoon.
Mourinho was dismissed with Chelsea 16th in the Premier League and three
points above the relegation zone following a run of nine defeats in 16
games.
Sky sources understand the Blues have a replacement lined up to take charge
ahead of Saturday's game against Sunderland, but former manager Carlo
Ancelotti is not thought to be a contender.
Henry told Sky Sports News HQ that Chelsea need a boss who is going to bring
a sense of fun back to Stamford Bridge, and thinks Ancelotti would have been
an ideal candidate.
"I had Ancelotti as a coach when I was at Juventus, he was a great coach, a
great man," Henry said. "When he's been coach of a team, the players love
him, he's that type of boss.
"I thought it would have been a great fit, knowing what he has done for the
club, the players usually like him. I don't know where they're going to go,
but I thought Ancelotti could have been a great choice.
"You need to be careful, who's available? Who's going to want to come? Are
you going short-term or long-term? Right now, you need someone to bring the
fun back, the desire, the commitment that they were not bringing on the
field.
"You need that happiness to win games, we all know Chelsea have some of the
greatest players in this league but the commitment and desire wasn't there.
You need that type of manager to lift the dressing room."
Sky sources understand Mourinho held a 10-minute meeting with chairman Bruce
Buck and director Eugene Tenebaum at 2pm on Thursday, and was informed that
his second spell as manager was coming to an end despite winning the club's
fourth Premier League title in May.
Henry was surprised to hear the news, but believes the club needed to force
a reaction from a group of players that had lacked desire and commitment at
times this season.
"It was a shock really, although it's a mixed reaction," continued Henry. "I
was kind of expecting it because they needed to change something and spark a
reaction from the players. But also you're sacking the best manager in your
history, and one of the best in the game.
"On the other side, you have to hold the players accountable for what has
happened at Chelsea, and I know things didn't go the way Mourinho wanted
them to go with the doctor, with blaming the referee, but I think the
players took part in all of this.
"But you can't sack all the players, so the thing you can do is sack the
manager. He is the coach and the leader of the dressing room and the club. I
think on one point it's not down to Mourinho [though] if the players are not
performing at home to Bournemouth and in other games.
"At times there was a lack of desire, a lack of commitment. You can't tell
me in six months it's going to change that much, with basically the same
team as last year.
"I have all sorts of questions about the attitude of the players and I think
Mourinho paid the price, along with some of the decisions he took earlier in
the season.
"I kept saying through the season that Chelsea would turn it around, and
they didn't. So I think the club needed to do something, and we saw it with
Garry Monk, they tend to turn to the manager, tell them to go and say,
'let's see if something else can happen.'
"I don't know if he would have turned it around, but sometimes you need to
be careful what you wish for. You don't know what you're going to get. It's
a bit of a sad day if you're a Chelsea fan, the league is losing a great
character. I wish him all the best and hopefully Chelsea can bounce back."
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