Didier Drogba's flying header gave Roman Abramovich something to celebrate on his 41st birthday - but boring Chelsea fell way short of seven-up Arsenal as London's entertainers.
Drogba's flying header sealed a comfortable Champions League win over Schalke last night - just a week after he claimed the club was "broken" and he was certain to leave.
But the Blues display was so humdrum the biggest cheer was reserved for when Liverpool's defeat in Istanbul was flashed up on the big screen.
Drogba's brilliant nearpost header and French winger Florent Malouda's early present from blundering German keeper Manuel Neuer, kept Chelsea on course to qualify for the last 16.
But they fell short of fulfilling new manager Avram Grant's pledge to produce "entertaining winning football" - in that order - and they were light years behind Arsenal's seven-goal demolition of Slavia Prague 24 hours earlier.
Grant has now overseen five wins in six matches, but he promised owner Abramovich there was more entertainment to come and said: "I don't want to look at the sky and say that's the limit, but tonight we played good, positive football and we can play even better. I respect Arsenal, and Arsene Wenger is a good friend of mine, but we are not going to use other teams as an example for the way we want to play. I'm not saying our style of play was no good in the past, but we are trying to change and we are on the way to achieving the way I want this team to play. It may not happen overnight, but tonight's result was a present for the owner because he has done so much for the club, so much for the fans and he is such a positive guy."
24 October 2007
Arsene Wenger has told goalkeeper Jens Lehmann he is not trying to humiliate him but says he has to fight for his Arsenal future.
The German is becoming increasingly frustrated with his lack of first-team action at the club and the fact he was left on the bench against Slavia Prague in the Champions League on Tuesday night will not help matters.
Lehmann is back fit but Wenger is refusing to drop Manuel Almunia who has done nothing wrong as the Gunners have got off to an electric start to the season.
"There is no purpose to humiliate anybody. I have said many times that I respect him a lot," Wenger revealed.
"That is how he experiences things, but that is not my purpose at all. We have had chats about that already. I do not know how and why this has come out. I have not read what he has said and do not give too much importance to that. We are in a job where competition exists. It is always possible to change the team, and that is down to me. Certainly there is a good possibility the team will be changed for Sunday."
24 October 2007
Didier Drogba admitted today that he fears Arsenal will stop Chelsea achieving their dream of winning back the Premier League title.
The Ivory Coast striker watched in awe last night as the Gunners put seven goals past Slavia Prague in the Champions League.
Chelsea will take on Schalke 04 in Group B this evening and Drogba admits that Avram Grant's men have a lot to do to catch up Arsenal.
He said: 'When you look at this season in terms of the Premier League it doesn't look so good at the moment, because Arsenal are head and shoulders above us all and totally in charge of their football. I don't care about the weak start to the season we have made at Chelsea because there is an awfully long time left to compete for the title and, though we might be in a delicate position, I totally believe that we can end the season as Champions. The threat from Arsenal to all the other sides who think they might have the title in their sights is that they were already a team which played great football but we can all see that they are both more mature and more effective now than they were before. Even though I expect Chelsea to be capable of winning the league, I have to elevate Arsenal to the top group of favourites for the title because of the way they are performing right now.'
The striker was speaking for the first time since he gave an interview in France in which he said he wanted to leave Stamford Bridge because of Jose Mourinho's departure.
However, Chelsea's most influential player of the last 12 months has now made it clear that he wants to get back to normality.
'We are Chelsea, we have a reputation and some achievements to defend,' he added.
'We've set standards for ourselves and there is no way we can let them be eroded or belittled – not for any reason. We need to show our pride now and there is no way that we can spend all season losing key games and blaming it on the Jose Mourinho effect. He's gone, we are still strong and it's time to begin showing it. It's going to take a little bit of time to turn the team's attitude around and you can never ignore the impact of having missed so many key players because of injury.'
23 October 2007
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes his table-topping side are yet to reach their peak.
The Gunners face Slavia Prague in the Champions League on Tuesday night, looking to extend their winning streak to twelve games.
The North London side have already beaten Sevilla and Steaua Bucharest in Europe this season and a win against Slavia would bring them within touching distance of a place in the last sixteen.
Domestically, Arsenal are also flying high, having dropped just two points in their opening nine fixtures in the Premier League this season, a run that sees them top of the tree, two points clear of Champions Manchester United with a game in hand.
But despite their exemplary record so far in the 2007-08 season, Wenger believes there is still room for improvement.
'We can be more efficient,' he said at Monday's press conference. 'We can improve our movement and I feel our conversion rate can be better with the chances we create. We will not always have five or six chances in the big games for one goal. In the big games you need 'one chance, one goal' or 'two chances, one goal'. Also we can be more compact with our lines so we can improve in many aspects. I feel that this team is at 80 per cent of its potential. For us to improve now, it is down to our mentality, humility and attitude. At the start of the season I thought we needed to win to give confidence and belief to the team because we did not have a lot. It was important to have a good start. Now the test is how we put in consistent performances and how well we deal with big games. We have two big teams [coming up] now. I am confident we will do very well, but these are the tests. However we have already played Blackburn and Man City who are doing well, so we have not only had easy games.'
23 October 2007
Former Liverpool midfielder Vladimir Smicer reckons Slavia Prague must score early on against Arsenal if they are to have a chance in the Champions League tie at the Emirates Stadium.
The 34-year-old Czech international, who memorably netted in the 2005 final for Liverpool, is part of Slavia's squad that face the unenviable task of trying to stop the rampant Gunners in North London.
Highly-fancied Seville were humbled 3-0 when they played Arsene Wenger's side and Smicer realises his side faces an uphill task if they are to get anything from the game, but pinpoints Arsenal's lack of years as a potential weakness.
"It will be difficult for Slavia to make it out of the group but if we score first at Arsenal maybe we can make them nervous," said Smicer.
"They have young players and maybe that is their weakness as they lack experience."
22 October 2007
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that Robin van Persie's knee injury is not as bad as first anticipated, however the Dutchman will still be out for six weeks.
Van Persie was a casualty of the international break, coming back from duty with Holland with a knee injury.
However the results of a scan on the problem have revealed that the damage is minor, and is not as bad as many at The Emirates, including Wenger, had feared.
If the injury was to the cruciate ligament, van Persie, who has been on flying form for The Gunners, would have been out for the majority of the season.
As it stands, the damage is only to medial ligaments, which means the striker can expect a 4-6 week lay-off.
'His injury is a medial knee ligament,' said Wenger at Monday's press conference.
'At one stage we were scared it was a cruciate but we had good news and the scan was positive. But it is still a long injury.'
Otherwise Wenger was pleased to announce no fresh problems ahead of the Champions League game against Slavia Prague at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday nigh.
"We have no new injuries,' said the Frenchman. 'Philippe Senderos (back) is still out. Robin van Persie is out for four to six weeks but we knew that.'
08 October 2007
Ajax have reached an agreement with Chelsea over the transfer of coach Henk ten Cate to the Premier League club.
The Amsterdam club made the announcement today after it was revealed Ten Cate held talks with the Blues last week.
A statement on the club's official website, www.ajax.nl, said: "Following talks with Chelsea, Ajax have agreed the direct transfer of Henk ten Cate to Chelsea."
Ten Cate will now have to negotiate a contract with the London club.
The Ajax statement continued: "Last week, Ten Cate informed the club he wanted us to negotiate with Chelsea after he had been approached personally. Ajax discussed it internally and it is now down to Henk ten Cate to discuss his own contract with Chelsea."
Ajax fans will not be sorry to see the back of Ten Cate should he complete his move to Stamford Bridge, where it is expected he will work on Avram Grant's coaching staff.
Ten Cate's men lie second in the Dutch league but it is in European competition where they have struggled this season, crashing out of two competitions.
They lost to Slavia Prague in Champions League qualifying before going down to Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Cup first round.
Fan frustration boiled over during yesterday's 2-2 draw at Sparta Rotterdam when fans aimed abuse at Ten Cate, club chairman John Jaakke and defender Jurgen Colin.
Regular chants of "Henkie, get lost and take Jaakke and Colin with you" rang around the away end as Ajax struggled to gain a point.
Ten Cate, who previously worked under compatriot Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona, responded by defending his record in charge, which has yielded two trophies - last season's KNVB Beker and the Dutch Super Cup.
He said: "What must I say about that? Under my leadership we have played 41 games, gained 92 points and scored over a hundred goals."
Ten Cate was non-committal when asked whether the Sparta clash would be his last in charge with a two-week break for international fixtures now looming.
He added: "I can't say if I was sitting on the Ajax bench for the last time. That's not up to me. It's now something between Ajax and Chelsea. I don't know more than that the clubs are speaking. And if they don't come to an agreement I will gladly be coach of Ajax until the end of the season. And if they reach a deal I will go to Chelsea."
Reports in Holland have suggested Ajax would approach Marco van Basten should Ten Cate leave and ask him to combine club duties with his existing job as Holland coach.
But the Dutch FA (KNVB) have ruled out a dual role for the former Ajax and AC Milan striker.
KNVB director Henk Kesler told De Telegraaf newspaper: "(It's) absolutely not something we want to speak about. We won't allow the coach and his assistant John van't Schip to bet on two horses. Holland deserve their full attention in the run-up to Euro 2008."
03 October 2007
Sevilla coach Juande Ramos refused to get too carried away after seeing his side end a run of four straight defeats with a 4-2 Champions League success over Slavia Prague.
Goals from Fredi Kanoute, Luis Fabiano, Julien Escude and Arouna Kone gave Sevilla a much-needed boost, but Ramos was cautious about his side's future in the competition.
He told UEFA.com: "Qualification isn't clear. There are four teams in the group and Slavia and Steaua will fight. It's true Steaua will have more difficulties to progress because they have only one point, but our match against Steaua won't be easy because mathematically they could still progress to the next round. I'm very happy with the three points, which are very important for our progress. The result was different from our recent ones but we played exactly the same tactics. The only difference was that we found the way to score."
01 October 2007
Jesus Navas believes that Sevilla must beat Slavia Prague on Tuesday night if they are have any chance of qualifying for the next phase of the Champions League.
The 21-year-old hopes that the Andalucian outfit can put their run of bad results behind them and bounce back against the Czech side in the Sanchez Pizjuan.
After losing to Arsenal in the first game in Group H, Sevilla must now pick up three points at home if they have any aspirations of finishing in the top two.
"It is a key game in our bid to qualify," Navas explained.
"This is a very important game, which is very different to league matches. Whenever you lose you have to put a stop to that run quickly and return to the way that we played before in order to win."
Sevilla have been beaten by FC Barcelona, Espanyol and Real Zaragoza since losing to Arsenal two weeks ago, but Navas believes that the team can bounce back.
"We have worked on our mistakes," he said. "But I think that we have created enough chances to win those games with ease, but they were not put away. We just have to continue working along the same lines. When you lose you just want to keep working and wait for the next game to come along in order to change what went wrong before and this is a great chance to do that."
01 October 2007
Arsenal's Belarus international midfielder Aleksandr Hleb is likely to miss the Champions League Group H match at Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday after suffering a leg injury against West Ham United.
Hleb was injured in a collision with West Ham's Mark Noble on Saturday and the extent of the bruising shocked Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger.
"If it was an accident, it is a very bad accident, because if you see his leg it is unbelievable," he told the club's Web site (www.arsenal.com).
"It is red and bruised from the knee down to the toes. We are quite optimistic because, for me, Noble is usually a fair player. I don't know if it was an accident or not, but he caught him very well."
But Wenger doubted whether Hleb would be fit to face the Romanians.
"I don't think Hleb will play on Tuesday because he cannot walk properly at the moment," said Wenger, whose team stayed top of the Premier League with their win at Upton Park.
Arsenal opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win over Sevilla two weeks ago, while Steaua lost 2-1 at Slavia Prague.
