‘The Champions League is my objective,’ Michael Ballack had said with customary Teutonic arrogance after joining Chelsea courtesy of a Bosman transfer from Bayern Munich last summer. An eventful year later and the Germany national team captain finds himself marginalised by Jose Mourinho, his name notable by its absence from the 25 man Blues squad [...]
Continue reading …When the statisticians at UEFA finally declared that Chelsea had amassed sufficient ‘coefficient points’ to merit a place among the Champions League’s top eight seeds I’d rubbed my hands together in glee … for less than obvious reasons. The fact that the Blues performances in Europe over the past five years, coupled with the FA’s [...]
Continue reading …‘Stand up for the Special One … stand up for the Special One,’ the chant had reverberated enthusiastically around sun-drenched Stamford Bridge as José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix, to give the Blues illustrious coach his full name, applauded an adoring crowd as his Chelsea team took to the field for the opening day fixture [...]
Continue reading …As far as pre-season friendlies go, it doesn’t get more traditional than what is now known as the Football Association Community Shield. This annual match contested between the champions of the FA Premier League and the FA Cup winners has, in recent years, been devalued in part by virtue of the fact that the game [...]
Continue reading …Last week during the Spurs cup tie I imagine you and I were doing much the same thing: sitting on the edge of your seat, watching the game, easing the tension with the occasional wine gum and passing the listless first half with questions of global importance such as ‘why are they called wine gums?’ [...]
Continue reading …
