HAZARD INJURED

Chelsea’s Eden Hazard picked up an injury during their Champions League quarterfinal match against PSG. It still remains unknown when the Belgium player will be back in action for his club but according to the first-team coach Steve Holland, he could return sooner rather than later.

“Every player is fit at this stage, with the exception of Eden, who should be sooner rather than later. It is still a little bit too early to say for sure. Having a clear week this week is a big advantage.” Continue reading →

TACTICS QUESTIONED

Football pundit Glenn Hoddle feels that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho got his tactics wrong in the Champions League quarter-final match against PSG. Chelsea suffered a 3-1 defeat in the first leg against the French outfit and it has put them on the brink of exit from the competition. Mourinho surprised everyone by naming Andre Schurrle ahead of Fernando Torres as the striker. The Portuguese manager was without Samuel Eto’o, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury, but many expected him to start either with Torres or Demba Ba.

The plan did not make much sense because Schurrle was struggling to get into the match. He was drifting all over the place, which did not help Chelsea to keep the ball. After letting in a goal just three minutes into the first half, Chelsea managed to get back into the match through a penalty from Eden Hazard. However, bad defending from the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta and David Luiz made Chelsea concede two second-half goals, which has put their place in the semifinals in major doubt. Even though they have the second leg yet to come and with an away goal, pundits feel that Chelsea are almost out of the competition.

Hoddle says that Mourinho should have started with Torres rather than Schurrle.

“I don’t think Schurrle playing up front worked. Obviously Mourinho took him off, but I think that was one where he took a risk and it didn’t work. It backfired on him and they had no focus really in the second half. But you’ve got to give credit to Paris Saint-Germain. They probably weren’t happy with the way they were playing after they went 1-0 up and they had a good reaction,” said Hoddle. The second leg will be at Stamford Bridge next week, but PSG want to remain as underdogs.

Chelsea are title favourites

They currently sit atop the Premier League table, nine points clear of the ‘favourites’ for the title and most recently completed a 4-0 demolition of one of their prime London rivals in Tottenham Hotspur; Chelsea and Jose Mourinho can simply no longer deny they are the favourites for the Premier League title this year. With just nine games left of their season, Chelsea can begin to implement the one game at a time philosophy and use the star power in their ranks to widen the four point gulf that currently sets them apart from second-placed Liverpool.

Sure, Man City have been the bookies’ favourites all season long until last weekend, having only just drifted out to an average 15/8 in the market. The Citizens also have three games in hand to recover the nine point gap they are currently facing and should they achieve maximum points they will almost certainly move back into pole position for the title. Continue reading →

IVANOVIC PROVES HIMSELF

Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has established himself as one of the important members of the squad in the last few years. His position has improved even more after the arrival of Jose Mourinho. Despite being a versatile player and capable of playing as a centre back, Ivanovic has been used in the right back position throughout this campaign. Apart from a month when he was out with injury, he has virtually played in every match for Chelsea. This great run of form has seen him be linked with a couple of clubs over the last few weeks.

Paris St Germain are thought to be one of the suitors for his services, but the 29-year-old Serb has rejected any truth in the transfer rumours. He says that he is extremely happy at Chelsea and wants to stay with the London outfit for as long as he can. The impressive form of Ivanovic this campaign has made Caesar Azpilicueta play at left back, which has eventually seen Ashley Cole drop to the bench. Ahead of the international friendly for Serbia with the Republic of Ireland, Ivanovic stated his desire to remain a Chelsea player in the near future.

Ivanovic has also revealed that the club can certainly win the league title ahead of Aleksandar Kolarov’s – his international teammate – Manchester City team.

“I can say this is the happiest I have been at Chelsea because, at the moment, the team is doing well and things are going right for us. We have improved as a team since the beginning of the season, it looks like we are a very strong team but we have the potential to make and build an amazing team. We are here together to help our national team and that is what we are focused on. We don’t talk a lot about the league,” said Ivanovic.

City are Still Favourites: Hazard

Chelsea star Eden Hazard is sticking to Jose Mourinho’s ‘underdog’ script, despite the Blues now being seven points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table and favourites with Paddy Power to win the Premier League.

Chelsea’s early exit from the FA Cup meant that they were able to pull further clear this weekend whilst their rivals enjoyed a rest (in the case of Liverpool) or endured a humiliating cup defeat (in Manchester City’s case). Continue reading →