Carlo Ancelotti spoke yesterday about his intention to “build a dream” in West London; although it is Roman Abramovich whose fantasy is coming closest to reality.

The Russian has idealised AC Milan since he bought Chelsea six years ago, developing close friendships with Silvio Berlusconi, Adriano Galliani, Andriy Shevchenko and Ancelotti as he sought to deepen his understanding of European football.

It is to be hoped Ancelotti makes more of an impact at Stamford Bridge than Shevchenko, the striker, who will also return to the club this summer with considerably less fanfare.

Milan represent everything that Abramovich wants to see in a football club - success, glamour, maturity, a touch of class.

Ancelotti is a manager in every sense

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Other than the first, these are the qualities that are most conspicuous by their absence at Chelsea, as Ancelotti will discover when he begins work next month.

If Milan are the wise old uncle drinking a Tuscan red at European football's top table, then Chelsea are the stroppy teenager throwing cutlery around after being denied a glass of grappa.

In outlining his managerial philosophy yesterday, Ancelotti was essentially describing the close-knit family ethos that dominates at Milan, which is hardly surprising given he has spent the past eight years working there as manager after an earlier five-year spell as a player.

The Italian will be pleased to discover a strong unity in the Chelsea dressing room, but elsewhere such solidarity is non-existent. The club remains riven with cliques, all pushing conflicting agendas, and adjusting to such a climate will be one of Ancelotti's biggest challenges.

Much of this instability is down to Abramovich, who has surrounded himself with a huge variety of informal advisers who move in and out of favour like peripheral figures in a gang of teenage girls.

Berlusconi also likes a lackey, but the Milan president seems to trust Galliani, the vice-president, to run the club on a day-to-day basis without interference, a level of responsibility that has not been given to Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, at least not recently.

The result is that Milan is a haven of tranquillity, as evidenced by the seamless promotion of Leonardo from Ancelotti's backroom staff, whereas Chelsea frequently find themselves racked by internecine conflict.

Even the dirty work is carried out with dignity and Ancelotti felt able to enjoy one final dinner with the club's executives on Sunday night after having essentially been sacked.

Ancelotti is shrewd enough to have spotted this fundamental difference between the clubs, but hopes to use his gift for diplomacy to solve problems before they arise.

“It's not easy to speak about my philosophy, even in Italian, so it's more difficult to speak in English, but I try,” he said. “I like to be close with the players, close with the company. I like to speak with the people. I believe in teamwork. It's the most important thing to create a group that work together to build a dream.

“The players and the company have to have a strong organisation, very strong discipline, to have the right motivation. I hope to do this together because this is the right way to arrive to success.”

Ancelotti's tactical approach is more pragmatic, most usually dictated by the players he has available to him. His experience of accepting players bought by the owner should stand him in good stead. The Milan side that won the Champions League two years ago, with Kaká given free rein ahead of a classy four-man midfield, played some wonderful football, as Manchester United and Liverpool know to their cost, but other incarnations have been more dour.

Such pragmatism should also serve him well, because all Chelsea managers are just a few bad results away from the sack, and he may occasionally need to win at all costs.

A fifth-placed finish, which Ancelotti survived at Milan in 2007-08, would not be tolerated in London. Ancelotti should find the Chelsea squad to his liking because it is full of quality central midfield players, the basis of Milan's side in the past few years.

If anything, Ancelotti prefers a slower, more measured style of build-up play than is the norm in England, which goes some way to explaining his interest in Andrea Pirlo, whose exquisite passing is his strength.

The most notable aspect of Ancelotti's management is his flexibility, however, which will be a welcome change to Chelsea fans after Luiz Felipe Scolari's rigid adherence to a single system. Ancelotti said: “I change it depending on the characteristic of the players. In Juventus there was [Zinédine] Zidane, he was an offensive midfielder and I built the team for Zidane.

“First you have to know the characteristics of the players and after you can put a system for the players.”

Ancelotti has spent much of the past few months studying videos of Chelsea's matches, although he will not meet his players until they return for pre-season training on July 6. His first big decision will be what to do with Didier Drogba, a fiery personality who has not seen eye-to-eye with all of his managers, but who remains Chelsea's most important player.

Only by selling Drogba can Ancelotti hope to alter Chelsea's direct style to the more open passing game Abramovich favours, although, given the value he places on physical strength, he may decide to keep him.

Ancelotti said. “There will be the same pressure because Chelsea and Milan are great teams in Europe and they want to win all the competitions.”

Whatever his precise plans, Ancelotti cannot spend too long dreaming.

Best of the web

“If he can’t win much with Ronaldinho and Kaká in the past couple of years, not to mention Gattuso, Pirlo, Pato, Nesta etc . . . what’s he going to win with us? Crazy appointment.”

bbc.co.uk/606

“One league title in ten seasons at Juventus and Milan doesn’t show a good track record. Ferguson, Mourinho, Sacchi, Capello — managers that keep winning — this is what has come to be expected at Chelsea and Ancelotti’s CV reads far below that level.”

timesonline.co.uk

“Get in. At least Ancelotti can say Chelsea properly. Scolari couldn’t even get that right. ‘Chelsee-ah.’ God, that used to wind me up."

chelseafc.com

“My missus thinks Ancelloti’s a handsome chap and that bodes well for the future. He won’t have much competition from Wenger, Benítez or Ferguson, they should come with a safety warning. Seriously, though, I’ve heard him speaking in English and it’s not too bad, he will learn quickly. Man on! Goal-side! . . . it’s not complicated really; I mean, let’s be honest, we’re not researching the big bang theory . . . it’s football and it’s a simple game, he’ll be OK. Here’s to next season’s merry-go-round”

bbc.co.uk/606

“Abramovich’s desperate lust for the Champions League is diminishing our chances of winning it. All managers in his reign have been sacked due to failure (or potential failure, in Scolari’s case) in Europe. Just because Ancelotti has won it twice does not mean he will guarantee it for Chelsea. He couldn’t qualify for it last season.”

bbc.co.uk/606

“Ancelotti has always been his boss’s mouthpiece. Great for Abramovich, bad for Chelsea Football Club in the long term.”

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