There is a new heavyweight force in European football, they are
being bankrolled seemingly by the Russian economy, they mean business,
and their name is Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club have always been a
decent club in the second strata of English clubs. In London alone
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have invariably been ahead of the Chelsea
Blues, even West Ham have often put Chelsea in the shade. But no longer,
for in the season 2004-2005, Chelsea won the English Premier League
title for the first time in fifty years, their only previous winning
season.
But they haven't stopped there, in the new season
2005-2006 they are already well clear in the title race leaving all
their rivals gasping, and now they have set their sights on the pinnacle
of all the club trophys, the European Champions League. Chelsea have
never won the Champions League, indeed no London club ever has. And it
is clear that their charismatic manager Jose Mourinho is intent on
winning the Champions League again, he did so with his previous club
Porto, of Portugal.
So what of the traditional English giants?
Manchester United, often described as the world's richest football club,
have fallen into the hands of the Glazer family of Tampa Bay fame, but
they reportedly needed to borrow half a billion pounds to buy United, a
debt the club now shoulders. Spending on new players has so far been
thin on the ground and United's brusque Glaswegian manager, Sir Alex
Ferguson, has admitted that United, for so long England's most
successful club, cannot compete with Chelsea when it comes to buying
players. The hordes of United fans are not amused, the natives are
growing restless.
Arsenal, London's biggest and most successful
club, lost their skipper and driving force Patrick Vieira last summer,
he moved to Juventus in Italy for £12 million pounds and with their star
striker Thierry Henry suffering fitness problems, they picked up some
uncharacteristic defeats at unfashionable clubs like West Bromwich
Albion and Middlesbrough. This is their last season at their famous old
Highbury Stadium before they move to their new purpose built Emirates
stadium almost next door. The increased capacity of 60,000 will
undoubtedly give their French manager Arsene Wenger more money to spend
next year, but of course they have to pay for that new ground too. Far
from challenging Chelsea again, it would seem that Arsenal are more
likely to fall further behind.
That leaves Liverpool and
Newcastle. News comes through just today that the American Kraft Company
and family are interested in investing in Liverpool F.C., perhaps even
buying the club outright just like Manchester United fifty miles up the
road, but that is some way down the line. And they too are seeking to
build a brand new stadium on Stanley Park and of course that all costs
big money. Despite last year's freakish win in the Champion's League,
Liverpool's league form this season has again been patchy, and that
included a 4-1 walloping by Chelsea on their own Anfield pitch. The idea
that Liverpool might challenge Chelsea for the title remains a
far-fetched one. Newcastle, England's second best supported club are
gradually improving, and they have signed England's centre forward
Michael Owen, but they still remain unconvincing at the top level. They
haven't won the title since Noah was seen building his ark, or so it
seems, and they aren't going to do so this season either.
So
though it is very popular for foreign investors to snap up the leading
English (and Scottish) football clubs, it appears that only Roman
Abramovich at Chelsea has the financial muscle to buy the best players
around. He is the only one to put unlimited funds on the table. Top
class players now command a transfer fee of £40 million each and whereas
Manchester United might afford one of them a season, Chelsea's purse
seems bottomless. They have already spent £220+ million and are still in
the market to buy again when the transfer window re-opens in January.
They
have already achieved success by winning at home, now the European
Champion's League is the Holy Grail for them, a trophy they are now the
outright favourites to win with the odds layers. And astonishingly they
have achieved their success to date with an array of strikers who
haven't really cut the mustard. Mutu the Romanian, was promptly sacked
for drug taking, Crespo the Argentinian, was sent out to Milan on loan
last season, and though he is back now he is hardly setting the world
afire,or even playing that often, Gudjohnson an Icelander, plays more
often than not, the muscular Drogba from the Ivory Coast, seems to have
finally claimed the number nine shirt as his own, yet many blues
followers still remain unconvinced about him, so it would seem likely
that Chelsea may yet be looking for another proven goal scorer come
January, especially after a recent rare defeat at Manchester United.
It
would take a brave man to back against Chelsea in any competition at
the moment. But if you'd like to, you can still have a free $30 dollar
bet at Betfair.com by entering the code 6CHE3VPWJ when prompted. But one
thing is for sure; no one would be surprised if this time next year the
Premier League trophy AND the Champions League trophy were both on
display in the Chelsea boardroom. It seems that only the Italian giants
Milan and Juventus, and the Spanish top two, Real Madrid, and most
especially Barcelona with their Brazilian superstar, surely soon to be
the world player of the year, Ronaldinho, might stop the London blues.
It really does seem as if we have entered a new era in European and
world football, or if you prefer the ridiculous name that no one ever
uses, Soccer. Chelsea fans have never had it so good while everyone else
is left gasping in their wake, for it is a fact that Chelsea Football
Club have raised the bar for everyone else to follow. Time will tell if
anyone can.
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