Premier League - Countdown: Chelsea

Eurosport - Wed, 12 Aug 16:11:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! continues its countdown to the Premier League season with a look at Chelsea.

FOOTBALL 2009 Community Shield Chelsea Terry - 0

Manager: Carlo Ancelotti

Last 10 Seasons: (1999/2000 to 2008/2009): 5/6/6/4/2/1/1/2/2/3

POSSIBLE STARTING XI:

Petr Cech

Branislav Ivanovic - John Terry - Ricardo Carvalho - Ashley Cole

Michael Essien - John Obi Mikel - Frank Lampard - Yuri Zhirkov

Didier Drogba - Nicolas Anelka

BACK-UPS FROM: Henrique Hilario, Ross Turnbull, Jose Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Alex, Sam Hutchinson, Michael Mancienne, Juliano Belletti, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Florent Malouda, Deco, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge, Andriy Shevchenko, Claudio Pizarro

TRANSFERS:

In - Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow, undisclosed) - Daniel Sturridge (Manchester City, undisclosed) - Ross Turnbull (Middlesbrough, free)

Out - Franco Di Santo (Blackburn, loan), Morten Nielsen (AZ Alkmaar, free), Lee Sawyer (Southend, loan), Jimmy Smith (Leyton Orient, free), Tom Taiwo (Carlisle, loan), Ben Sahar (Espanyol, undisclosed), Slobodan Rajkovic (Twente, loan), Mirolsav Stoch (Twente, loan), Ryan Bertrand (Reading, loan), Frank Nouble (West Ham, undisclosed), Sergio Tejera (Mallorca, undisclosed), Scott Sinclair (Wigan, loan), Patrick van Aanholt (Coventry, loan)

POSITIVES: New manager Carlo Ancelotti proved he is able to handle big-name players at Milan, and the Community Shield shows he already seems to have the Chelsea dressing-room onside. Core players Didier Drogba and John Terry have been persuaded to stay put, while the addition of Yuri Zhirkov should provide added verve down the left.

NEGATIVES: Question marks remain over the efficacy of Ancelotti's preferred narrow diamond midfield, which makes great demands of the full-backs. The constant chopping and changing of managers show Roman Abramovich is not a patient man, and chief executive Peter Kenyon is not prepared to stand up to him. Chelsea must start well or the pressure will be on Ancelotti.

VERDICT: Arguably the only side from the 'Big Four' to strengthen this summer, Chelsea look certain to have a say in the title race, but they may just lack enough attacking sparkle to prise the Premier League trophy out of Manchester United's hands. 2nd.

Mario Hajiloizis / Eurosport

Comment 26 - 45 of 45

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  1. Chelsea are the strongest team in the epl.

    From chelseaboy, on Fri 14 Aug 3:19PM
  2. ment to add that malouda will probably play before­ Zhirkov, especially at start of season till zhirkov­ settles

    From yip, on Wed 12 Aug 5:36PM
  3. look to have the best squad and probably the best­ starting 11 this season and they are sarting with a­ manager that is acomplished in club management. I­ disagree with the starting 11 here. I think Essien­ might play the sitting role after seeing how he played­ sat out wider. then Deco or Ballack would move to the­ right until Cole is back. I also dont think Bosingwa­ will leave so he will start which evens up the side­ with a.cole on left. These are the changes I feel­ should happen anyway.

    Id like to see maybe a right­ sided midfielder come in or maybe a young player to­ eventually replace lampard and as always I want Aguero­ but Im happy with the squad as is!

    Looking at chances­ of 1st in league and runs in all other cups, especially­ CL.

    From yip, on Wed 12 Aug 5:32PM
  4. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ABC...Anybody But Chelski

    From Richard K, on Wed 12 Aug 5:25PM
  5. use this formation for me .petra ceach, bosiNGWA, a.­ cole. terry, carvhlo, micheal essien, ballack, lampard,­ malouda,drogha and kalou.reserve.hilorio, invonic.­ alex, mikel, yuri and anelka.

    From chinagoromsilas, on Wed 12 Aug 4:56PM
  6. Nice to see the optimisum but remember this time last­ year it was all scollari this scollari that, 4trophy­ season blah blah blah, Any real fan shouldn't be­ expecting much this season since CA has just taken over­ the management job and will need time to work his magic­ unlike what they did to Grant, Scollari and Renieri, It­ took SAF 6years at United to win the league and look­ what he has won since he has become the most sucessful­ manager in the world ever, Congrats 4 winning the­ shield but don't be expecting much more otherwise­ this time next year you could be singing the praises of­ yet another manager.

    From I am top gear stig, on Wed 12 Aug 4:39PM
  7. I think Chelsea will do much better. The only thing­ Scolari's regime lacked was intensity - the players­ lacked puff to play the big games. Once Hiddink came­ and upped the intensity, things came into place.

    All a­ Chelsea manager has to do is make friends with­ Abramovich, Terry, Cech, Lampard and Drogba, and make­ training sessions high-intensity. He will then have­ enough quality to deliver minimum two trophies a­ season. According to the Chelsea website, Ancelotti has­ done all that, and it was evident in the Community­ Shield too. So I'm sure Chelsea are set for the­ Premiership, Champions League or both.

    From The Undertaker (RIP), on Wed 12 Aug 4:30PM
  8. chelsea wins premiership this year
    !

    From ikercasillas119, on Wed 12 Aug 3:27PM
  9. handyandyisalways!!! a "Hanky panky always"­ I'm one and u're two..@#$%

    From jterry_lampard, on Wed 12 Aug 2:33PM
  10. don't mind what prankster hated say about CFC...­ they just want our attention... what all they talking­ is rubbish... not bad prediction from this article...­ but all of this depend to how '4-4-2 diamond'­ working... if that success CFC deserve more from that­ position... BLUE IS THE COLOUR...

    From D Pensioner, on Wed 12 Aug 2:27PM
  11. chelsea would have have a shed load more trophies if­ the management was settled ,lets see what lotti can do­ to steady the ship if he does it .i can see loads of­ silverware going to the bridge !chelsea without a doubt­ have the best playing staff in the league ! if not­ europe ,

    From handyandyisalways, on Wed 12 Aug 2:18PM
  12. 28,
    ranieri-sacked cos jose was better.
    mourinho-­ sacked cos afta 2 gr8 1st seasons he lost­ it.
    grant-sacked becos he reached 2 finals, and got no­ trophies (and he got to last day of prem league with no­ title)
    scolari-sacked becos afta a good start he lost­ our season
    hiddink-was not sacked or did not leave for­ any other reason than for russia.
    ancelotti-will be gr8­ success, down with united.
    come on the blues,

    From matthewstirk, on Wed 12 Aug 2:18PM
  13. 33 jterry-lampard , that is not a single word whereas­ @#$% is!! and you are one

    From handyandyisalways, on Wed 12 Aug 2:14PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    One Single Word!!! Chelsea the looser forever.

    From jterry_lampard, on Wed 12 Aug 1:51PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Chelsea have too many weak links:-
    Cech - was good all­ the time, now its every 5th game, but can moan at­ refs
    Terry - Really wants to be at City, injury prone,­ but can moan at refs
    Mikel - Cant takle, cant score,­ cant pass, cant ran, cant dribble, but can moan at­ refs
    Lampard - Too fat and no-one likes him, but can­ moan at refs
    Boll0ck - Too old, can no longer pass,­ cant shoot, but can moan at refs
    Drogba - Too sleepy as­ he appears to lay down a lot, but can moan at refs

    From Knob, on Wed 12 Aug 1:25PM
  16. Play Sturridge best Chelsea signing this summer with­ all respect to Zhirkov Sturrige is way better deserves­ place in the first team

    From Alexander, on Wed 12 Aug 1:16PM
  17. 28 u don't know what football is... #@#*&%$...­ just wait and see...

    From want_one87, on Wed 12 Aug 1:09PM
  18. 28 @#$% - it should be Carlo Ancelloti - European Cup -­ (Remains)

    From Joseph O. PH NG, on Wed 12 Aug 12:50PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Claudio Ranieri - No European Trophy (Sacked)
    Jose­ Mourinho - No European Trophy (Sacked)
    Avram Grant - No­ European Trophy (Sacked)
    Luis Felipe Scolari - No­ European Trophy (Sacked)
    Guus Hiddink - No European­ Trophy (Left)
    Carlo Ancelotti - No European Trophy­ (Will Be Sacked)

    From Knob, on Wed 12 Aug 12:24PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Sorry oh. All Chelsea fans posting comments here.­ It's always good to sound positive cus it gives U­ the faint hope that all will be well. Go down memory­ lane, since the inception of the EPL, and tell me Man­ Utd's worst finish. Like they always say, only a­ fool (no offense please) would write off Man United.­ Glory Glory the Red Devils

    From okparajerry, on Wed 12 Aug 12:19PM
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