Carlo Ancelotti laid bare the tension which has gripped Chelsea when he insisted that the new assistant first-team coach, Michael Emenalo, would not, in fact, be allowed to coach the first team.
At the same time, Ancelotti pointedly said that now was "not the right moment" to say whether he was happy with Ray Wilkins being replaced by Emenalo, who was chosen by club owner Roman Abramovich.
Clearly feeling undermined by what happened to his former assistant last week, Ancelotti was not of a mind to discuss the extraordinary circumstances of Emenalo's appointment.
"I am not here to explain how I feel at this moment because it is not the right moment,'' he said. ''I'm professional. I will continue to work. I want to stay focused on my team.
Emenalo played
college Soccer in the United States at Boston University from
1986 to 1989. From there, he played for Molenbeek
in Belgium, Eintracht Trier
in Germany and Notts County F.C in England before coming back
to the US. Emenalo was part of the original allocated players
for Major League
Soccer and spent two seasons (1996-97) with the San Jose Clash.
After that, he played with Lleida
in Spain and Maccabi Tel Aviv
in Israel.
Emenalo won 14
caps for Nigeria
and played in the 1994 FIFA World
Cup, missing the first game through injury but then played against
Argentina and Greece before Nigeria were knocked out by Italy.
He joined Chelsea when former
manager Avram Grant
was in charge in 2007. After the departure of Ray Wilkins, Emenalo was
promoted from his position as chief scout to assistant first team coach on 18
November 2010.[1] On 8 July 2011, Chelsea appointed Emenalo Technical
Director.[2] His responsibilities include heading the scouting and
academy programs.
Michael Emenalo previously worked in both the scouting and coaching departments before being promoted to his current role in July 2011.
He has been an important part of the first team management structure since his arrival in October 2007, and now supports the work of the first team manager, leading the club's international and domestic scouting network, and assists in driving the technical programmes of our Academy and international youth network.
He previously worked as both head of opposition scouting and assistant first team coach under Carlo Ancelotti, arriving at Chelsea when former manager Avram Grant called upon a trusted ex-player from his Maccabi Tel Aviv days.
The pair worked together between 1998 and 2000, the tail end of a playing career for the former Nigerian international, who made his debut in 1985.
A defender, he moved to the United States in 1986 where he graduated from Boston University three years later with a degree in international relations with political sciences, having also played college soccer.
His football career continued in Belgium and Germany before a short spell in England at Notts County in the mid 1990s, where he won the Anglo-Italian Cup at Wembley.
Michael then returned to the States where he played in the first ever MLS game for San Jose Clash.
After one season, it was back to Europe and a year in the Spanish second division with Llieda, managed by future Sevilla and Spurs coach Juande Ramos. Then came the move to Israel.
Michael won 14 caps for Nigeria in total and played in the 1994 World Cup in the USA, missing the first game through injury but then playing against Argentina and Greece before he was knocked out by a Roberto Baggio-inspired Italy.
After hanging up his boots, Michael spent time coaching in America.
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