Carlo Ancelotti Waves Off Salomon Kalou Celebration Complaints

I've always praised Salomon Kalou for being a model backup on a Chelsea team studded with egos and superstars. The Ivorian could easily be starting for about fifteen other Premier League sides right now, but he had never made any complaints about being a feature on Chelsea's bench or an emergency starter before the 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

However, upon scoring the winning goal from a rather suspiciously offside position in the 89th minute, Kalou refused to celebrate, and instead of remaining on the field after the match he walked straight down the tunnel. His odd behaviour has lead many to speculate that he was sulking at being dropped to the bench following Fernando Torres' reinstatement to the starting XI.

Whether or not that's fair (the sulking or the accusation, either one) is up to you, I guess - Kalou has been excellent for us in our mini-revival and he wouldn't be the first footballer to complain about a lack of playing time if that was indeed the issue. Like I said, I'm surprised by his reaction, but there's one person who apparently could not care less, and that's Carlo Ancelotti:

I don’t know if he was disappointed or not but it doesn’t matter. I am happy because he scored a goal and if he didn’t celebrate because he was disappointed, I am not interested.

It is not a problem. I have to manage very professional players. I understand that sometimes they are not happy to stay on the bench but this is Chelsea, this is a top club and you have competition. A top club has not just 11 players.

We have fantastic players so sometimes it can happen that someone has to stay on the bench.

-Carlo Ancelotti. Source: Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle.

Right then. That, essentially, is Ancelotti telling Kalou to shut up and do his job, which is probably the exact response we want if there was indeed a sulk. Good work, Carlo. That said, it's entirely possible that Kalou wasn't celebrating for another reason. Perhaps he had a crush on Kate Middleton. Perhaps his dog died. Perhaps he felt bad about scoring a critical goal from an offside position. Who knows?