Chelsea pinpoints Manchester City as its closest rival
Chelsea has openly admitted to the threat posed by the rejuvenated Robert Mancini’s Manchester City to their title defence. Manchester City put the heat on Chelsea earlier in the season but it is yet to be seen that whether they can sustain the pressure
throughout the season. With big guns fumbling, its Mancini’s newly built side which has taken the responsibility to challenge his fellow Italian’s champion team.
Chelsea produced an impressive performance last week when they trounced over their traditional rivals, Arsenal at Stamford. Gunners lacked the required ammunition as they were defeated with the margin of 2 goals. With this win, Blues have extended the gap
between them and Arsene Wenger’s side to 7 points whereas they are 4 points above Eastlanders. Essien, who was instrumental for Chelsea in their London derby, believes that City could be their nemeses this season. He said: “We have to keep playing like we
did against Arsenal and keep getting points. We led for much of the last season but last season is gone. We have a new season now and it will be decided at the end. Manchester City are our closest challengers right now. You can see they made good signings
and they will be up for it.”
However, it seems doubtful that City has the persistence to pose threat throughout the 38 games as they lack players with top level experience. On the other hand, Chelsea has been crowned champion three times in recent era and its players such as Drogba,
Lampard, Terry and Essien have all the credentials to retain the championship. Essien, who has returned to international football after recovering from his 11-month long injury, praised his club for helping him overcome the most difficult period of his career.
Despite being sidelined for 11 months, the Ghanaian international was still offered a new contract by the Blues. Commenting on it, Essien stated: “I've had two serious injuries and these are the kind that can end your career. I'm lucky enough to be back on
the pitch and have put everything behind me. Most players who have been out for so long with an injury don't get a new contract. This shows the club has great confidence in me.” Essien also missed the 2010 FIFA World Cup but he now is hopeful that he will
put aside his recent disappointments to steer Chelsea to titles.
Meanwhile, Manchester City’s credentials had been further attested when its English players received praise from England’s manager. Fabio Capello has praised City’s English players and termed them pivotal for the future success of the national team. The
Italian believes that City’s English numbers can play the same role for national team which Juventus’ contingent did for Italy in 2006 World Cup. Capello is hoping to select five City players for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro. These players
may include Joe Hart, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adam Johnson while James Milner is ruled out for selection due to his suspension. Comparing City with 2006's Juventus side, Capello said: “It's important that so many of the players
are at City because they train every day together, they play together regularly in the matches. The national teams that won the titles, the World Cup, the Euros, they had something like this.” The same can be said of Spain, whose 2010 World Cup squad mostly
comprised of Barcelona players.
Capello would be going into the upcoming qualifier with many of his star players injured. The players who will miss the upcoming fixture include Michael Dawson, Kieran Gibbs, Frank Lampard, Jermain Defoe, Bobby Zamora and Theo Walcott. Rooney is most likely
to be partnered with Sunderland’s in-form Darren Bent. Commenting on Bent, Capello said: “Bent is back; he scored his first goal [in the qualifier against Switzerland]. You know that Bent in front of goal is really, really dangerous. He played 20 minutes against
Switzerland and scored an important goal.”
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