Mes: enero 2022

Chelsea pride themselves in being global entertainers more than anything else.

And more than anything else, the Premier League champions would like the tag of European champions, in keeping with their multi-national self-image. Especially the European Cup title that has eluded them.

In the last four years, Chelsea have entered one Champions League final and two semi-finals, and have returned empty handed.

This year could be the last opportunity for the core members of the team that made this possible.

Chelsea’s European ambitions have restricted the club, in that the UEFA insists on «financial fair play».

The club is not short of money, by any stretch of imagination, but this has meant that Chelsea boss Roman Abramovich has had to trim his budget.

This has meant the departure of a big-name signing such as Joe Cole. Another player, Tomas Kalas, who came in from Sigma Olomuc for a reported 5.2 mn, will be loaned out.

In the upcoming season, the team will also not have the services of Miroslav Stoch, who will be sold to Fenerbahce for an undisclosed amount. Michael Ballack will leave for Bayer Leverkusen, Joe Cole for Liverpool, and Danny Philiskik for Oxford United, all as free agents.

Players out on loan will include Rhys Taylor to Crewe, Ryan Bertrand to Nottingham Forest, and Ben Gordon to Kilmarnock.

Carlo Ancelotti has been the club’s most successful coach. Chelsea became only the seventh team in history to win the ‘double’, comprising the Premier League and FA Cup titles, under Ancelotti’s watch, last season.

They failed to achieve this under Jose Mourinho, arguably Chelsea’s most successful coach ever.

In fact, Chelsea were so dominant in 2009/10 that they became the first team to top 100 goals, in an English season after Tottenham Hotspurs achievement of 111 goals in 1962-63.

Ancelotti owes his legendary patience to his rural upbringing. The ex-Milan midfielder won the Champions League twice each as a player and as a coach for the Italian side.

A potential weakness for Chelsea in the upcoming season could be in defence. Jose Mourinho the coach of the 2005 Premier League winning side built the team on a defensive platform.

John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Wayne Bridge were the defensive wall rival teams had to contend with before they could dream of beating Chelsea, five years ago.

Terry and Carvalho who remain are clearly aging, although Ashley Cole from Arsenal and Brazilian are great new options for Chelsea. Alex is not only solid in defence, but can also hunt with the hounds, and is a particular asset in free kick situations.

This is a team of big personalities, in John Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech and Didier Drogba. On the flip side, this could mean a potential clash between, say, Didier Drogba and the team’s bad boy, Nicolas Anelka.

John Terry, in particular, is the club’s most successful captain ever. With Liverpool’s Yossi Benayoun replacing Joe Cole this season, they have one more potential captain.

England Frank Lampard was the driving force of the side in the last season, and his 30 club and international goals is an act that he could find hard to replicate, this time around.

Michael Essien, whom injury kept from doing World Cup duty for Ghana is the club’s most popular player, while the star of the future is 19 year old French teenager, Gael Kakuta.

Chelsea remain the team to beat this season.

With the start of the new Barclays Premier Season only forty-nine days away, supporters across the globe have already begun marking the days off their calendars. Ever since the completion of last season on May 24th, several of the proverbial ‘bigs’ team have made additions to their squads. So the looming question is; Who will lift the Premier League Trophy next season? Of course, Chelsea are the favorites having won last year, but they will have to overcome several difficult opponents if they hope to retain their trophy.

One of the teams who will push them close is Manchester United. In Louis Van Gaal’s first season in charge, the Red Devils finished fourth and gave Chelsea a scare both times they played. That being said, a lot of pundits still believe that United will not have the quality to push for the title. So far this summer, they have signed young Memphis Depay from PSV Eindhoven for an estimated £25 million. Having played under Van Gaal in the 2014 World Cup, Depay will fit into his new team with ease. Another team that will compete with Chelsea is Arsenal. The Gunners finished in third place last season and retained the famous FA Cup.

However, the season ended up being a disappointed one due to the team being unable to close out matches. So far the team from London have not confirmed any signings. In previous years this has been the unraveling of the team. Rather than sign top quality players, they would resort to only buying when there is value in the market. The number one position on Arsenal’s wish list is that of a striker. With Olivier Giroud scoring only 19 goals last season, Arsenal supporters have been crying out for a new striker since the opening day of the transfer market. All in all, unless Arsenal sign a world class striker to support Giroud, they won’t come close to winning the league. The third and final team that will challenge Chelsea is Manchester City. They had a dreadful season last year, in which they finished second and won no major honors. Among the disappointing results, there was also several reports of players falling out with manager; Manuel Pellegrini. This lead to the Chilean only barely holding onto his job. However, a team as rich as City will have no trouble selling the bad eggs and replacing them with phenomenal players. So to the dismay of millions, it seems as though Chelsea are the favorites. Manchester United, Arsenal, and Manchester City will fight, but do not be surprised if you see Chelsea’s captain John Terry lifting the trophy yet again.

Didier Drogba’s goal for Chelsea against Arsenal on Sunday was his sixth of the ongoing Premier League season, and the strike helped the Ivorian draw level with teammate Florent Malouda and United’s Dimitar Berbatov as joint top-scorer in the competition.

Drogba got the first hat-trick of the Premiership season on its opening day playing at home against West Brom. Chelsea won that match 6-0. Thereafter, the Ivorian has had three goals in six matches, in all of which he started for the Stamford Bridge squad.

Interestingly, all of Drogba’s goals have come in home matches, one each against Stoke City, Blackpool and Arsenal, games that Ancelotti’s squad won 2-0, 4-0 and 2-0, respectively.

Like Drogba, Malouda opened his scoring account in Chelsea’s season opener against Albion, in which he found the back of the rival net twice.

But unlike Drogba, Malouda has not restricted his scoring to home matches. His third goal came in Chelsea’s 6-0 away win against Wigan, his fourth came in the home match against Stoke City, his fifth and sixth in the home game with Blackpool on September 19.

Also, unlike Drogba, Malouda has not been in the starting eleven in every match. In fact, in the West Ham match on September 11, the Frenchman came on as a late second half substitute in the 84th minute.

Berbatov has been Manchester United’s saviour this season, with Wayne Rooney’s truancy giving the Bulgarian an opportunity to prove that the Old Trafford squad are not a one-man outfit, centred around Rooney.

Berbatov began his scoring, with a strike in United’s opener at Old Trafford against Newcastle on August 15. He did not add to his tally, in the next game with Fulham, played away at Craven Cottage. The Bulgarian striker’s second goal of the season came in his team’s 3-0 win at home against West Ham, on August 28.

Berbatov’s next goal came in the away game against Everton, that ended in a 3-3 draw, followed by a hat-trick against Liverpool. His third goal came in injury time, ensuring that United banked full points from that match.

Berbatov’s exclusion from the starting eleven in the away match against Sunderland has raised more than a few eyebrows. But following Sir Alex’s refusal to talk to the media after the Liverpool match where the media went to town over the United manager’s comment on Torres, nobody is able to discuss the rationale of Fergie’s team selection, with the big man.

Sunderland’s Darren Bent and Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez have both scored five goals each this season, and are hot on the heels of the top three, in contention for the Golden Boot.

The formal name of the club is Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, or Tottenham Hotspur FC. They are also referred to as the Spurs, or the Lilywhites. Founded in 1882 as Hotspur FC, the squad train at their home venue, at White Hart Lane, with its capacity of about 36,000. ENIC International Ltd. owns the squad whose chairman is Daniel Levy. Spurs are managed by Harry Redknapp, popularly known as just ‘Arry. The club enjoyed their best period in top flight English football between the 60’s and the 80’s, and became the first in the 20th century to win both the League and FA Cup, but they are yet to win the Premier League.

They finished fourth in the Premier League standings, last season, their best ever performance in the Premiership. In the three matches played so far in the ongoing season, Spurs have recorded a draw against Manchester City, and a win against Stoke city, both creditable efforts. However, they let themselves down, somewhat, losing 1-0 to relegation favourites Wigan.

Early Season Preview:

The last season saw Tottenham hit a high their fans had been predicting they would, for a long time. Although a top four finish seemed always on the cards, it still caused surprise when Spurs actually got there. The club went into a period of decline under the stewardship of Juande Ramos. So credit should justifiably go to Harry Redknapp for getting the squad back on the rails. The squad that played in the third match of the season against Wigan Athletic comprised: Cudicini, Kaboul, Bale, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, King, Lennon, Huddlestone, Crouch, Palacios, Defoe, Bassong, Kranjcar, Alnwick, Keane, Giovani, Jenas, and Pavlyuchenko.

In Jermaine Defoe, Spurs have a prolific scorer of goals, the most important ingredient in winning matches. Tottenham have never been short of big name players but have been outclassed where it matters most — in scoring goals. And Defoe is capable of changing that perception, as he proved last season. Last season was the first for winger Danny Rose and he made an immediate impact, with a early goal against Arsenal in the only match he played. This season, Rose should be in the news for Spurs more often than not.

Redknapp has been a little slow working the transfer market. A possible reason for that could be his preoccupation with James Milner’s impending departure for Manchester City. But that hasn’t stopped ‘Arry from acquiring Internacional’s Sandro for £6 mn. There is also talk about a late bid for Real Madrid’s Rafael van der Vaart, apart from a shock move for Arsenal striker Adebayor.

Things should become clearer in the coming days about the final composition of the squad, as the transfer window has shut, finally. In spite of their great 2009-10 season and the undoubted calibre of their squad, they could be trumped by the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool, in their bid for a top four spot. Redknapp may also be hoping he has beaten the transfer window deadline with his late offers, as those players could have a bearing on how far Spurs can go the season.