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Chelsea unstoppable at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea began the Premiership season with a thumping 4-0 win over FA Cup holders Portsmouth at the Bridge, with new boy Deco scoring an early contender for goal of the season. This after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had written them off pre-season by saying they were too old and couldn’t get any better. His reverse mind games seemed to have had an effect on the Chelsea players, just the not the effect he was looking for.

But what is the secret to Chelsea’s incredible home form? During the Special One’s tenure at the Bridge, Chelsea didn’t lose a single home league game. They were unbeatable at home, the team that just refused to accept defeat.

However it’s not the just the fact that Chelsea play well at home, have a great team with world class players throughout, or rely on the fanatical home support of their London crowd. No, Chelsea make the whole process of visiting the Bridge as difficult as possible for the away side. The away dressing room for example is a fraction of the size of the home dressing room, and devoid of any of the same mod-cons such as Aircon and fancy equipment. Even the display board the teams use to workout tactics is situated around a bend in the away dressing room, so the players can’t see it from their benches.

It’s made difficult so that the away team at Stamford Bridge is put on edge from the start. They’re not given time to settle, and then when they get on the pitch it’s difficult to perform.

I wonder how many other teams start the mind games with the opposition in the dressing room?

Mutu’s coke habit cost him £13.68 million

Adian Mutu, the Romanian striker who snorted more than he scored, has been ordered by FIFA to pay former club Chelsea £13.68 million in compensation. Mutu was sacked by Chelsea in 2004 after testing positive for cocaine, and receiving a seven-month ban from football.

Mutu had cost Chelsea £15 million just 12 months earlier, so the sum he has been ordered to pay makes up for the remaining years of his Chelsea contract. Chelsea of course didn’t recoup a penny from the player, who joined Juventus in 2005, and then onto Fiorentina.

Chelsea are said to be delighted with the ruling from FIFA. Chelsea FC said on their website:

This is a very significant decision for football.

Not only did the Dispute Resolution Chamber make us a very significant monetary award, it also recognised the damaging effect incidents involving drugs has on football and the responsibility we all have in this area.

Mutu is expected to appeal the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Lampard signs five year deal with Chelsea

The Frank Lampard saga of whether he’ll stay with Chelsea or move to Inter Milan and reunite with Jose Mourinho has come to an end with the announcement that the England international has signed a new five-year deal with Chelsea.

Lampard’s new contract will keep him at Chelsea until 2014. Lampard’s refusal to sign a new deal during the summer led to speculation that he would leave the club, but he was merely holding out for a longer contract. Now the player has what he wanted it would seem.

Lampard signed for Chelsea in 2001 from his boyhood club West Ham in an £11 million deal. That seems like good business for Chelsea now after the success he has helped them to. Lampard, now 30, will be at Chelsea until he is 35 and expects to end his career at the club.

I see it as my final big contract and I will play out my days at Chelsea. I want to finish my career at Chelsea.

It is something I’ve said many times and, after signing this contract, I am very happy and positive I will finish as a player here.

I’ve had seven great seasons here and now I can have many more.

It’s been a difficult summer for many reasons and that was one of them. A lot of things were said that were untrue, some things were said that were slightly true… and that was frustrating.

Drogba to miss start of Premier League

Chelsea’s top marksman Didier Drogba is to miss the start of the Premier League season, according to reports by Chelsea manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari. The player has been trying to recover from a knee injury all summer, but will not be ready in time for the Blues’ first fixture against FA Cup holders Portsmouth.

Scolari said in an interview:

Didier will not play in our first game and will probably miss the second against Wigan.

If there are no more problems he should be ready for the game after that, Tottenham on 31 August.

The nature of Drogba’s injury does make it very difficult to accurately say when he will be available for selection.

When you have a knee injury, you just never know.

I have been getting a progress report from the doctor every day.

He’s getting better and is working with a fitness coach back at the training ground.

I hope he will be ready to start training next week but he will not play until he is in good condition.

Chelsea didn’t miss Drogba on Sunday when they thrashed AC Milan 5-0 in a friendly, with French striker Nicolas Anelka scoring 4 goals.

Fergie begins mind games with Big Phil

The season is some weeks off yet but Sir Alex Ferguson is already underway with the mind games. Speaking in an interview the canny Scott has already written off Chelsea’s title challenge for next season, insisting that Scolari’s team are too old to improve.

Instead Ferguson believes that Liverpool and Arsenal are more of a challenge. This is clearly Sir Alex chancing his arm with Big Phil early on, seeing if he can poke a reaction from the Brazilian.

Fergy stated:

Chelsea are an experienced side and I don’t see outstanding progress coming from a team in their 30s.

I wouldn’t write off Liverpool or Arsenal. It has been understated what Arsenal achieved last season.

They suffered injuries at a bad time, Arsenal - in February they lost most of their midfield.

Who is to say that it would not have been closer if Arsene Wenger had kept his players fit?

Ferguson’s intentions are obvious, even to newcomers to the game, as he obviously will be very wary of Chelsea and will consider them his main challengers. Especially after the blues have spent £24 million on two Portuguese players, Deco and Bosingwa.

Fergie however went onto say that Chelsea will find it hard to improve, even with the experienced Scolari at the helm.

I’m not concerned about Chelsea, I just don’t know how far that team has got to go.

They have lots of experience and big-game temperament and in a sense Scolari is fortunate, joining a big club with a team of internationals.

Petr Cech commits to Chelsea

Petr Cech, hailed by many as the best goalkeeper in the World, has signed a new deal with Premiership outfit Chelsea keeping him at the Bridge until 2013. It was rumoured earlier in the season that he may leave the London club and move abroad in a proposed £32 million deal.

Cech said about his new deal at the Bridge:

It is an honour to be at a club like Chelsea and I am happy to have renewed my contract.

Chelsea has grown in my heart, not just because of my team-mates and all the people that work for the club but also because of their fantastic fans.

Cech had just two years left on his current contract, but has now extended that by another three years.

In his 166 appearances for Chelsea, he has kept 90 clean sheets, making him the envy of every club in the World.

Luiz Felipe Scolari (Big Phil) stated about his new (re)signing:

I am delighted that Petr has signed a new contract.

In my view he is the best goalkeeper in the world, so I am very pleased that he will remain with me at Chelsea.

Steve Sidwell to sign for Aston Villa

With Gareth Barry on the verge of joining Liverpool, Villa look likely to sign Chelsea’s Steve Sidwell as a ready made replacement in a deal worth £5 million to the London club.

That’s a rare profit from Chelsea, who usually lose money on transfers as they’re often forced to pay out such huge sums due to their wealth. Sidwell joined Chelsea on a free from Reading last Summer, but was unable to break into their side.

Sidwell is a former England under-21 international, and began his career at Arsenal before signing for Reading in 2003. He left the Royals rather acrimoniously in 2007 after refusing to sign a new contract and walking out on a free transfer. As predicted by Football pundits however, it turned out to be a bad move by Sidwell as he failed to break into the Chelsea side, and has pretty much sat out the last year of his career in the reserves.

Sidwell was instrumental in propelling Reading into the Premiership when he played for them, and Aston Villa will be hoping he finds his feet quickly this season.

Who will win the Premiership this season?

With last season’s title race going down to the final day between United and Chelsea, this season promises to be just as close. Will it once again be a two horse race though, or will Arsenal and Liverpool finally be able to sustain a challenge?

Manchester United will no doubt start again as favourites, even though they’ve yet to add any big guns to their squad this summer. If they can hold on to Ronaldo, with Real Madrid getting ever closer to luring him away, they’ll surely be the pace setters again this season.

Chelsea now have themselves a genuine successor to the special one in ‘Big Phil’, so would be expecting to run United close, if not win the title themselves. They’ve already bought Deco from Barcelona, and Big Phil stated today that Drogba and Lampard would be staying next season. You expect Chelsea to get their cheque book out again too; they usually spend at least £50 million each summer.

Arsenal meanwhile are struggling to hold onto their stars, with Adebayor looking like departing to Italy or Spain. Their start last season was extremely impressive, but they fell away badly as their Champions League challenge also faltered.

Perennial under achievers in the league, Liverpool, will be hoping that this year, as they do every year, will be their year. Fernando Torres capped off a great season with a winning goal in the European Championships, meaning he’ll be looking for success again this season.

It’s difficult to see beyond the top four though, as their stranglehold on the Champions League places gets stronger every year.

Lampard set for Inter Milan?

Jose Mourinho’s new club, Inter Milan, have opened negotiations with Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard. It’s believed that Inter have faxed Chelsea with their intent to sign Lampard.

Lampard has now entered the final year of his Chelsea contract, so would be available for a knock down fee. The player is firmly in the driving seat now. He would be free to speak to clubs and sign a pre-contract agreement from January and leave Chelsea on a free transfer next summer if they don’t sell him or renew his contract now.

Inter have apparently offered just £6.5 million for the player, once rated at over £30 million.

With Deco signing just last week, Chelsea could afford the loss of Lampard, but his move to Italy would unquestionably weaken their team.

Their new manager, big Phil Scolari is due to address the English press Tuesday morning, where he will undoubtedly be questioned about Lampard’s future.

Didier Drogba is another player tipped to leave Chelsea this summer, with Mourinho himself having already expressed an interest in signing him:

I cannot forget Deco, Lampard and Drogba. These are players who I could never say no to.

I would love to work with them again in the future but I don’t know which of these three will leave their clubs, but we will see.

Drogba however is likely to start a bidding war should Chelsea decide he can leave the London club.

Chelsea offer astronomical money for Kaka

According to Adriano Galliani, the vice president of Italian giants AC Milan, Cheslea have made an astronomical offer for their Brazilian ace Kaka. Chelsea, backed by Roman Abramovich’s billions, have been chasing Kaka for some time now, plus their new coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, used to coach the Brazil team so has first hand knowledge of Kaka.

Adriano Galliani said to the Italian press:

We received an astronomical offer from Chelsea for Kaka.

Milan, who failed this season to reach the Champions League, could do with raising some capital to settle their debts. The lack of Champions League action next season would also make any move to Premiership tempting for Milan’s big stars.

With Adriano Galliani stating:

All we would need to do in order to wipe out our debts is sell Kaka and Pirlo.

Maybe there is hope of Kaka playing in the Premiership after all?

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