Chelsea ready to dominate European football
There is a new heavyweight force in European football, they are apparently being financed by the Russian economy, they mean business, and their name is Chelsea FC Chelsea Football Club has always been a decent club in the second tier of English clubs. In London alone, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have always been ahead of Chelsea Blues, even West Ham have often left Chelsea in the shadows. But not anymore, because in the 2004-2005 season, Chelsea won the English Premier League title for the first time in fifty years, their only previous winning season.
But they have not stopped there, in the new 2005-2006 season they already have a very clear race for the title, leaving all their rivals speechless, and now they have their sights set on the top of all club trophies, the Champions League. . Chelsea have never won the Champions League, in fact no London club ever has. And it is clear that his charismatic coach, José Mourinho, intends to win the Champions League again, he did it with his previous club, Porto, from Portugal.
So what about the traditional English giants? Manchester United, often described as the richest football club in the world, fell into the hands of the Glazer family of Tampa Bay fame, but they reportedly needed to borrow £500m to buy United, a debt that the club now assumes. Spending on new players has so far been sparse and United’s gruff Glasgow manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that United, for so long England’s most successful club, can’t 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 captain and driving force Patrick Vieira last summer, moved to Juventus in Italy for £12m and with their star striker Thierry Henry suffering from ill health, they picked up some Unusual defeats in an old fashioned. clubs like West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough. This is their last season at their famous old Highbury Stadium before moving into their new purpose-built Emirates Stadium almost next door. The increased capacity to 60,000 will certainly 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 seems Arsenal are more likely to fall further behind.
That leaves Liverpool and Newcastle. Just today word comes that the American Kraft Company and its family are interested in investing in Liverpool FC, perhaps even buying the club outright just like Manchester United fifty miles down the road, but that’s a bit further down the line. And they’re also looking to build a new stadium in Stanley Park, and of course, all of that costs a lot of money. Despite last year’s bizarre Champions League win, Liverpool’s league form this season has again been spotty, and that included a 4-1 thrashing by Chelsea at their home ground at Anfield. The idea that Liverpool could challenge Chelsea for the title is still far-fetched. Newcastle, the second most supported club in England, are gradually improving and have signed England centre-forward Michael Owen, but are still not convincing at the highest level. They haven’t won the title since Noah was seen building his ark, or so it seems, and they won’t either this season.
So while it’s wildly popular for foreign investors to buy top English (and Scottish) football clubs, it seems only Roman Abramovich at Chelsea has the financial power to buy top players. He is the only one to put unlimited funds on the table. The top-tier players now command a transfer fee of £40m each and while Manchester United could afford one of them a season, Chelsea’s purse seems bottomless. They have already spent over £220m and are still in the market to buy again when the transfer window reopens in January.
They have already achieved success by winning at home, now the European Champions League is the Holy Grail for them, a trophy they are now the absolute favorites to win with the odds on. And surprisingly, they’ve achieved their success to date with a variety of strikers who haven’t really cut the mustard. Mutu the Romanian was promptly sacked for drug use, Crespo the Argentinian was loaned out to Milan last season and although he is back now he is hardly setting the world on fire, or even playing as often, Gudjohnson a Icelandic, plays the majority of the game, Ivory Coast’s muscular Drogba appears to have finally claimed the number 9 shirt as his own, however many blues supporters are still unconvinced of him so it seems likely Chelsea still looking for another proven. goalscorer in January, especially after a rare recent defeat at Manchester United.
It would take a brave man to back up against Chelsea in any competition right now. But if you want, you can still have a $30 free bet at Betfair.com by entering the code 6CHE3VPWJ when prompted. But one thing is for sure; No one would be surprised if the Premier League trophy AND the Champions League trophy were on display in Chelsea’s boardroom next year. It seems that only Italian giants Milan and Juventus, and the two best Spaniards, Real Madrid, and most especially Barcelona with their Brazilian superstar, surely soon to be world player of the year, Ronaldinho, could stop the London blues. It really does feel like we have entered a new era in European and world football, or if you prefer the ridiculous name that nobody ever uses, Soccer. Chelsea fans have never had such a great time while everyone else’s jaws dropped in their wake, because it’s a fact that Chelsea Football Club have raised the bar for everyone else to follow. Time will tell if anyone can.