Posts Tagged ‘Stamford Bridge’

Champions League preview

Portsmouth opt for experience by appointing Grant as manager

• Grant’s first game will be against Manchester United
• Chief executive says he was the ‘logical choice’

Portsmouth have confirmed that Avram Grant will be the club’s new manager, as predicted in the Guardian today. The former Chelsea manager has been granted a work permit and his first match in charge will be the club’s home game against Manchester United on Saturday.

“Avram is a very experienced and respected manager who has managed at the highest level. The board believes he is the man to help steer the club out of the relegation zone,” said Portsmouth’s chief executive, Peter Storrie.

“He knows the club, the players and the set-up at Fratton Park, so it was the logical move to make him the next manager, once the board had decided to relieve Paul Hart of the role. He will take charge of training on Friday alongside first-team coaches Paul Groves and Ian Woan.”

Grant will still, technically, be the Portsmouth director of football for Saturday’s game. However, the club will then apply to the Football Association to change his permit status to manager. Grant spent the 2006-07 season as Portsmouth’s technical director before he joined Chelsea as director of football.

Following José Mourinho’s departure from Stamford Bridge, he guided Chelsea to the 2008 Champions League final but was sacked after the defeat by Manchester United. He rejoined Portsmouth in October.

Porto 0-1 Chelsea

Nicolas Anelka seems to reserve his best for closely contested Champions League ties. This was the third time Chelsea had won by the only goal in Group D and on each occasion the France striker has been the scorer.

It was the same story against Porto at Stamford Bridge in the opening game. His predatory instincts here ensured Chelsea will advance as group winners and, moreover, it meant that they will travel to Arsenal on Sunday for the Premier League derby with momentum strong and confidence high.

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Few teams emerge victorious at Porto’s stadium but Carlo Ancelotti’s men heeded his call to show “personality and courage”. Having been second best for spells of the first half, Chelsea raised themselves to produce a performance that hinted at the grinding intensity of old. Ancelotti noted that “the team did not play fantastic, just good” but there is a certain satisfaction to spiriting away victory in such fashion.

The solidity of the Chelsea defence, particularly in the second half, gave cause for optimism. This was a seventh clean sheet in eight matches. “It is very important to keep the momentum up,” said Ancelotti, who will have Frank Lampard back for Arsenal; the midfielder trained fully in Cobham today, having had massage therapy in Serbia for his thigh muscle complaint. “The players are in good condition and good form,” Ancelotti said, “and although we know that Sunday will be difficult, we know that we are in a very good moment to play Arsenal.”

This was a test of Chelsea’s strength in depth. With an eye on the game at Emirates Stadium, Ancelotti had rested Alex, Michael Essien and the Coles, Ashley and Joe. Essien did come on as a substitute but he failed to get the booking that would have seen him suspended for the meaningless final group tie against Apoel and wiped the disciplinary slate clean for the knockout phase.

Ancelotti also welcomed back Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba from injury. Both players proved their fitness, Drogba growing in strength and menace as the 90 minutes wore on. This would appear to be ominous for Arsenal, whom he loves to torment.

Porto, as ever, were intuitive and technically accomplished. They might consistently sell their best players – the striker Lisandro López departed for Lyon over the summer – but they always seem to have talent coming through. They, too, had already qualified for the last 16, for the sixth time in seven seasons, and, despite a raft of empty seats and an atmosphere that was flat for spells, they were determined to exact revenge for their defeat in west London.

They advertised their intent in the 20th minute. The impressive Fernando Belluschi’s shot ought to have been straightforward for Petr Cech but the Chelsea goalkeeper succeeded only in parrying the ball to the onrushing Falcao. The Czech, however, redeemed himself with a brave block at the striker’s feet. Shortly afterwards Belluschi was denied only by the crossbar. Having checked inside, he curled a right-footed effort which evaded the clutches of Cech and deserved better.

Chelsea, who worked tirelessly to keep their defensive shape, merely flickered as an attacking threat in the first half. Anelka looked sharp but Chelsea’s only efforts in the opening 45 minutes were from a distance. Ancelotti’s tactics can appear stifling in European away ties. There are clear shades of the Italian catenaccio philosophy, in which defensive security is prized. Mikel John Obi’s role in front of the defence was designed to keep the back door bolted while Anelka would drop deep to make the system 4-3-2-1 when his team did not have the ball.

Chelsea raised the tempo in the second half; gradually they tightened their grip. The somewhat erratic Deco, who received a generous ovation on his return to his former club together with Ricardo Carvalho, fired wide from the edge of the area. There was a territorial shift in Chelsea’s favour after half-time. Anelka’s performance merited a goal and his sixth of the season, and first in eight appearances, crowned slick Chelsea penetration.

Zhirkov supplied Florent Malouda and his driven centre found Anelka’s forehead at point-blank range. The Porto goalkeeper Beto had no chance. Cristián Rodríguez and the substitute Hulk had half-chances for Porto but they came to nothing. There was a comfort and assurance about Chelsea as they closed out the victory.

Chelsea bid €65m for Ribéry, say Bayern

• ‘We never received an offer over €100m’ says Hoeness
• France winger could still be a target in January

Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness has revealed his club received a bid of €65m (£58.5m) plus José Bosingwa from Chelsea for Franck Ribéry in the summer.

Chelsea were one of several clubs interested in the French winger, and their bid was not the most financially lucrative, but Hoeness told Bild newspaper that it was the “best bid”. However, it still fell short of the Bavarian club’s €100m (£90m) valuation of the 26-year-old, which is why they turned the Stamford Bridge club down.

“We never received an offer over €100m,” he said. “The best bid game from Chelsea: €65m plus the player Bosingwa. We also received other offers of €76m and €80m.”

However, Hoeness denies ever being truly tempted into selling Ribéry, who he claims had not demanded a move either. “He never came to us and said he wanted to leave at any price,” said Hoeness. “He always said to us that he would like to move to Real Madrid, but that if we wanted to keep him, then it was not a problem. [Selling him] was never a real consideration. However, we want to create the conditions which give Franck the feeling that he can achieve something here in Munich. If he cannot see this potential, then he will leave.”

Bayern are currently struggling to provide the France international with these conditions and they could be dumped out of the Champions League on Wednesday night should Juventus defeat Bordeaux, regardless of how Bayern fare against Maccabi Haifa.

This would inevitably make Ribéry’s name one of the most frequently mentioned when the transfer market reopens in January, even though Hoeness reserves himself the final say on the issue. “If FC Bayern says no, then Franck stays,” he said.

Hiddink set to return to Chelsea after Russia’s World Cup failure

• Carlo Ancelotti says he is happy to work with Dutchman
• Roberto Mancini favourite to be Russia’s new coach

Guus Hiddink plans to return to Chelsea as technical director following his failure to guide Russia to the World Cup. Hiddink said yesterday that an announcement on his future could come as early as next month. He has a contract as Russia’s head coach until the end of June 2010 but sources say the Dutchman will almost certainly quit and take a job at Chelsea.

The 63-year-old had a successful spell as Chelsea’s temporary manager last season, stepping in after the departure of Luiz Felipe Scolari and winning the FA Cup. He remains on extremely good terms with the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich, who finances Hiddink’s $8m (£4.85m) annual salary as Russia’s coach and also underwrites the country’s national football academy and other projects.

Chelsea have made no secret that they would welcome back Hiddink with open arms. It is understood that no talks have taken place but that the club would be delighted if he were to take up a position. They emphasised when he left last summer that he “will always be welcome back at Chelsea as a friend and in any other football capacity”.

It is understood his role at Stamford Bridge would be to offer support to Carlo Ancelotti and would not threaten the manager. He would, though, be able to step in as a trouble-shooter should Chelsea, who are top of the Premier League and have qualified from the group stage of the Champions League, unexpectedly begin to falter.

A source close to Hiddink said: “He would go back and would be in position [to assist] if something is going not that well.” He added: “The Chelsea players like him. He’s already been at the club. There is a proverb in Russian that you can step twice into the same water. It is something he is capable of.”

Ancelotti said yesterday that he would be happy to work with Hiddink. “Guus Hiddink is my friend,” he said before today’s game at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers. “If he has free time, he can come to Chelsea and we can train together. It’s not a problem.” Jokingly, he added: “Maybe I could take a little holiday.”

It is unclear how a role for Hiddink as technical director would impact on Frank Arnesen’s recently adopted duties as sporting director, given that the Dane deals with player recruitment, youth development and Chelsea’s extensive scouting department. Arnesen’s position at the club was recently strengthened by Peter Kenyon’s departure as chief executive, with Ron Gourlay stepping up from within the club to replace him.

Hiddink’s plans should be clarified shortly. “I think my future will be decided relatively quickly,” he told Russia’s Sovietsky Sport newspaper yesterday. He expects a formal decision to be made in the next month or in January and is unlikely to accept an offer from any other Premier League club.

The Dutchman said that the Russian football federation approached him last month, before a defeat by Germany in Moscow in a World Cup qualifier, over a possible new contract. But he looks set to leave after the World Cup play-off defeat by Slovenia – with powerful forces inside Russia’s football federation now said to be openly plotting against him.

Yesterday Russian state-run newspapers squarely blamed Hiddink for Russia’s failure to overcome Slovenia. Russia went into Wednesday’s second leg with a 2-1 advantage after last Saturday’s match in Moscow but lost 1-0 to be eliminated on the away goal and had two players, including Chelsea’s Yuri Zhirkov, sent off.

“You have to be honest. Russian football has taken a step backwards,” Hiddink said. “To play in the World Cup is always prestigious for a country. I know a lot of Russians were planning to go to South Africa. But we have to carry on working – as before the future of the Russian team is linked to the majority of players in today’s squad.”

Hiddink took over as Russia’s coach in 2006. He guided the national side through a tricky qualifying group including England and Croatia and took the team to a historic semi-final place in the 2008 European Championship. At the height of his success Hiddink was more popular in Russia than Vladimir Putin, no mean feat.

But on this occasion the fortune he previously enjoyed in World Cup finals with Holland, Australia and South Korea eluded him. Even before Wednesday’s away defeat some observers suggested that Hiddink had tired and grown fed up with the Russia job – pointing out he spent only 30 days in Russia this year.

Hiddink’s likely departure from Russia comes against the backdrop of a murky, long-running power struggle inside the Russian football federation. Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s sports minister, is stepping down as the association’s chairman. His successor is Sergei Fursenko, the former manager of Zenit St Petersburg, which is backed by the Russian state energy giant Gazprom.

Mutko was a close ally of Abramovich. Fursenko, by contrast, belongs to a different faction from St Petersburg with influential allies inside the Russian government. Fursenko will want to install his people in key positions, and will also seek to replace Hiddink with his own choice of manager, observers believe.

The front-runner to succeed Hiddink is rumoured to be Roberto Mancini, the former Internazionale coach. Mancini was in Russia two weeks ago watching several league matches. The 44-year-old former Italy international has not had a coaching job since he left Inter in May 2008.