Premier League - Anelka: Never write off United

Eurosport - Tue, 23 Sep 21:59:00 2008

EXCLUSIVE! In his first blog for Eurosport-Yahoo!, Chelsea and France striker Nicolas Anelka says that the 1-1 draw with Manchester United proved that you can never write Sir Alex Ferguson's men off.

2008-2009 Chelsea-Manchester United Cristiano Ronaldo Nicolas Anelka - 0

"Many of you will have seen a really good match between Chelsea and Manchester United on Sunday.

My team, Chelsea, went behind early in the game but we played really well in the second half and deserved to get a point - or even win it.

We started quite well this season, although obviously we would have liked to beat United and Tottenham.

United didn't start the campaign so well, but I cannot believe that some people were trying to write them off this early in the season!

Even if they had lost at Stamford Bridge you can never discount them because, for many years, they have started the championship in difficult circumstances.

But they always seem to come back very strong to finish in the top positions. And I think this season will be no different.

They're a great team and, like all great teams, Manchester United are always going to be there or thereabouts, performing in the big matches and making their presence felt in the title shake-up.

United proved their strength against us, by playing very well in a crucial match after an indifferent start to the campaign.

But despite struggling to stay with them at first, we were the more dangerous team in the second half and, on our own turf, we pushed really hard.

And, even though we had to come from behind, we had chances to win the match in the end.

What we did at Stamford Bridge showed our courage and togetherness as a team. We fought for everything, but I think we were a bit tired and we really missed Deco, who was injured in the warm-up.

Of course we have many great players, but Deco has been brilliant since he arrived here and he is very important to our style of play.

Personally, I missed a few good opportunities to score, and I could have done better.

But it is not secret that I play better alongside another striker, particularly with Didier Drogba in a 4-4-2.

Hopefully I'll have some more chances do so!"

Nicolas Anelka / Eurosport

Comment 49 - 68 of 68

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  1. for the first time in his life ANELKA made a good point. ANELKA U TRUST MAN U TO WIN AGAIN AND AGAIN RITE

    From kweku, on Tue 30 Sep 4:11PM

  2. utuk764,,,,so why you say so much rubbish about your team ,,yes they had a slow start so they had one home match and 3away pompey liverpool and chelsea , you tell me how many other teams have had a start like that, ??? if your a real fan you would be not be thinking like that , they will still win the prem and it take a good team to beat them in the champions league , so come on utuk support your team you sound like a chelsea fan , believe me manu will be a hard team to beat this season , utuk764 say it come on you super reds of man u , ,

    From Chris, on Wed 24 Sep 12:54AM

  3. comment 71. If you need to leave a post, write it so it can be read and understood!

    From LOUISE D, on Tue 23 Sep 10:14PM

  4. im a bonafide united fan since i was bout 6 but damn united.write dem off cuz der playin d most absolute rubbish ive cn i years.always fading away which is very uncharacteristic.d way ive cn united play dis season its not encouragin.u cant always hav a bad start n expect to always catch up.lets hope dat we get a uefa cup place dis season cuz it seems as if we are restin on our laurels which is very deceptive reasoning.i dnt think we are winning nefin dis season cuz of d absolute rubbish we've bin playin

    From utuk764, on Tue 23 Sep 9:37PM

  5. Anelka is a flob in blue colour.we lost 3 points cos of his unseriousness.thank to mikel/kalou combination.....Akomolafe yinka[nigeria]

    From akomolafe a, on Tue 23 Sep 9:26PM

  6. VIVA RONALDO VIVA RONALDO, YOU ROCK SON.
    MAU UTD WILL WIN THE PL AND HOPEFULLY THE CL

    From junkomaster2007, on Tue 23 Sep 8:53PM

  7. zeryhrdxyxys

    From Anthony, on Tue 23 Sep 8:49PM

  8. yo you all right

    From Anthony, on Tue 23 Sep 8:48PM

  9. anelka wa444444444444444

    From kalvinbroomhall@..., on Tue 23 Sep 8:29PM

  10. i think the pace should be judged after 10 games Man utd have the same points as last season only the played Reading, Portsmouth, City and Tottenham
    not newcastle, Portsmouth, LIVERPOOL and CHELSEA.
    COME ON UNITED !!!!!!!!

    From Josh, on Tue 23 Sep 7:03PM

  11. Cheers Anelka, we really need your opinion, money grabbing glory hunter. I hate chelsea, right bunch of cheats who are stuck up their own $%&* pipe.

    From rfarrlley, on Tue 23 Sep 6:59PM

  12. Chelsea fan 4ever

    From deepkala19@..., on Tue 23 Sep 6:24PM

  13. C'mon Chelsea are you Daydreaming
    C'mon You blues
    CFC Fan 4 life

    From deepkala19@..., on Tue 23 Sep 6:24PM

  14. chelsea faggots, man utd rule forever

    From LYNDSAY, on Tue 23 Sep 6:05PM

  15. Chelsea can win da prem if dey play der best.............
    Come on Blues

    From deepkala19@..., on Tue 23 Sep 6:04PM

  16. Don't Man Utd start seasons this poorly, every season, though?
    They were worse last season, & look what happened?
    I'm an Arsenal fan & quite frankly, I'm not satisfied with our lead at the top of the table.
    With all heavy matches to play, home & away, we're contemplating dropping points at at least 3 matches, not to mention a possible 6 if Liverpool, Chelsea & Man Utd do well at the Emirates.
    And Chelsea & Man Utd can eat up these gaps in No Time.
    Man Utd & Chelsea are the best they've been for years & they're the strongest in Europe at the moment, arguably.
    But i refuse to believe they're better than Arsenal. =D

    Sometimes it helps to be oblivious to what goes on "below" you =P

    From Quinland, on Tue 23 Sep 6:03PM

  17. Anelka is a selfish player, Chelsea should get rid of him. He had plenty of opportunities to pass to other players in better positions in the Man Utd game at Chelsea, he did not even look up to see and wasted his own opportunity to score. I have to ask the question how does such a rated striker miss a penalty in the Champions league final? He has done little, only to fill the gap of injured players. Get rid of him Chelsea.

    From John A, on Tue 23 Sep 6:01PM

  18. is the league cup on any of the tv stations????

    From liamduff1984, on Tue 23 Sep 5:04PM

  19. won and lost after 4 or 5 games how things have changed

    From ian l, on Tue 23 Sep 4:52PM

  20. i do believe that Chelsea is a very top class football club and to have players like Anelka is always good, what he needs is times and games to improve his style.

    From firemaful, on Tue 23 Sep 4:19PM
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