Nicolas Anelka believes Chelsea's impressive start to the new season can be traced back to continuity.
The Blues are the only Premier League team to boast a 100 per cent record following the first four games of the season.
On Wednesday night they thrashed MSK Zilina 4-1 in the Champions League to begin their European campaign on a strong footing.
During the summer transfer window, manager Carlo Ancelotti was quiet in the transfer market after adding just Ramires and Yossi Benayoun to his squad to replace released quartet Deco, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti.
And it is that sense of continuity which Anelka believes is responsible for their early-season form.
He explained: "We didn't change the team very much. That means everybody knows each other, which makes it easier for everybody. So maybe that's why we seem to be doing so well."
Speaking about the strength of the Stamford Bridge squad, the French striker added:"A lot of players will sometimes be on the bench to rest this season and everybody knows that.
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"It's because we have so many games and we know it's going to be a tough season. Everybody accepts it, because we want to win. Chelsea have a lot of big players who can all score, which is good for the club.
"We try to do it on the pitch and show it to everyone who is watching. It's good for the confidence of the team. The side against whom we're going to play knows everybody can score, so maybe they will be scared."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Home advantage is often talked about in football; the twelfth man, the extra motivation provided by the crowd that can, and should, provide teams with the catalyst they need to go out there and take their game to the next level. That is of course presuming that the home crowd are on your side. I’m not suggesting that the home crowd would want their team to lose, but there are instances of crowds who have a negative agenda, whose reason for turning up is as much to demonstrate their frustration as much as it is to watch football. Take the atmosphere at Ewood Park this season, or at The Emirates towards the end of last season, both unhappy places to be, both crowds detrimental to the football being played by the home side. You can’t necessarily blame angry crowds of fans; to pay good money to see your side consistently under perform is exceptionally testing, even for the most patient and optimistic of fans.
However it is important that fans recognise that by booing their players, or by calling for their manager’s head at games, they are only hurting themselves.
It is a problem that affects all clubs. For the bigger sides the weight of expectation can prove a hindering factor and for the smaller clubs the lack of support and niggling abuse they receive from their fans can affect the players. Take Bolton for example; out of the sixteen points they have gained in the league this year only four have come at home. You would imagine that a team struggling in the league would be grateful for a little home support. However when things aren’t going your way as a team sometimes it is easier to play away from the eyes of the expecting crowds. Some players perform better in high-pressure environments, but not all. It’s pretty clear that Bolton’s best performances for the season have come away from home where there is less pressure to get the result, just in the same way that towards the end of the season when your place may be cemented in mid table then your team may in fact churn out some of their best performances of the season. Similarly Blackburn have got some of their best results of the season away from home such as their 2-3 victory at Old Trafford. The same can also be said of Wigan who have only picked up about 35% of their points for the season at home. If you collate that information you realise that on average around 60% of the points belonging to those in the relegation zone come from away games. But it’s not just the struggling teams that are affected.
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At The Emirates at the end of last season you could tell that the Arsenal players wanted to be anywhere but their home ground. There’s nothing like 60,000 disappointed fans to remind you of your failings. One of the problems for Arsenal ever since they moved to The Emirates is what it, as a ground, embodies. When they first opened the stadium there were, commemorated around the stands, pictures of all the trophies that had been won over the years and spaces had been left to insert new pictures. However this season they closed those spaces. Optimism seems to have dipped on the red half of north London and it is reflected in the fans. It’s not just that the lack of noise in the ground, I know this because I am there every week, is almost deafening but playing in front of a quiet or disgruntled home crowd can inspire the opposition. The point of playing at home is that your supporters drown out the opposition fans. As soon as that ceases to the case, as it often does at The Emirates, then it is hardly like you are playing at home at all.
Clearly I’m not saying that the home crowd is always a disadvantage, nor am I saying that these grounds are always like this. However there does seem to be evidence amongst certain teams, especially in the lower half of the table, that playing in front of the home crowd can actually be more of a hindrance than a help.
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Fulham manager Mark Hughes will not be underestimating Sunderland when he takes his side to the Stadium of Light on Saturday.Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is facing an injury crisis up front with Asamoah Gyan, Danny Welbeck and Frazier Campbell all out of the match this weekend, but Hughes knows his opposite number and old Manchester United team-mate will have something up his sleeve.
“Sunderland are down on numbers in terms of who they can play outfield and that will help us but I’m sure Steve has a game plan what he will implement to try and beat us,” Hughes said.
“I’m sure he would prefer to have those quality players available and if we play as well as we have in the last couple of games then it will take a good team to beat us.”
Fulham go into the match on the back of a solid 3-0 home win over Bolton which makes it six wins from their last seven matches in front of their own fans.
The victory took Hughes’ side to 42 points for the season – beyond the traditional benchmark of 40 normally required for Premier league survival – however the Welshman has urged his team not get complacent against Sunderland despite seemingly having avoided relegation.
“We need to go on the road and replicate our form at Craven Cottage. The key is placing demands on our team and not taking your foot off the pedal,” he said.
“There’s no difference to what my team are doing now than what they were doing at the start of the season.”
“It’s important to have continuity and a good quality of work – we’ve got two big games coming up (against Sunderland then home to Liverpool) and we’re going to see the season though to its conclusion and see where it takes us.”
Bobby Zamora is expected to lead the line for Fulham on Saturday after making a cameo appearance from the bench against Bolton due to a slight back problem, and could be partnered by Eidur Gudjohnsen who has started the last two games.
Clint Dempsey will be looking to add to his twelve goals already this season, as well as cement his place as Fulham’s record Premier League goalscorer after bagging his 33rd strike for the West London club against Bolton midweek.
Sol has in fact been joined by a veritable host of celebrities – Camilla Dallerup, Watchdog presenter Julia Bradbury, Live From Studio Five host Kate Walsh, Christopher Biggins, former Atomic Kitten star Liz McLarnon, Channel 4’s A Place In The Sun host Jasmine Harman, former EastEnders actress Lucy Benjamin, cricketer Jimmy Anderson in some revealing black and white shots being released in a bid to get members of the public to clear their wardrobes to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.
The Give Up Clothes for Good campaign is a nationwide clothing and homeware collection scheme, with proceeds going to the fight against childhood cancers. The campaign has been held every other year since 2004 and is supported by discount retailers TK Maxx and HomeSense.
Liverpool fans will slowly be getting over the disappointment of losing the Champions League final and will begin looking ahead to the new season.
Jurgen Klopp has already attempted to improve the midfield by recruiting Fabinho from Monaco, while Naby Keita will finalise his switch from RB Leipzig.
As well as the transfer window, Liverpool fans will be keeping their eye on the World Cup in Russia.
The Merseyside outfit will have a number of representatives, including Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Simon Mignolet, Dejan Lovren and Sadio Mane.
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Liverpool supporters will be keen to see their stars perform well on the global stage, but there will also be keeping everything crossed that none of their favourites suffer injuries.
Despite the star quality of Salah and Mane, their respective nations Egypt and Senegal do not necessarily match up for quality, which is reflected in the betting on the World Cup.
Mignolet has an opportunity to progress far in the competition with a high-profile Belgium squad, but it is Firmino – valued at £72m by Transfermarkt – who most fans think will be the most successful in the tournament.
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The forward will be part of a star-studded Brazil squad that boasts the likes of Neymar and ex-Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho.
Twitter account Anfield Edition asked fans to pick who they think will progress the furthest, and one name stood out.
A little over two months ago, Mo Diame was an outcast at St. James’s Park. In fact, the Senegalese star had made just one Premier League appearance for the club during the first three months of the season.
However, Rafael Benitez gave the experienced midfielder a chance in the first team in December and the former West Ham player has been immovable since.
Diame, who is valued at £4.5million by Transfermarkt, was the subject of much condemnation from Newcastle fans prior to his upturn in form over the Christmas period.
In fact, a number of the Toon faithful wanted the 30-year-old to leave the club, after links with a move to Aston Villa surfaced;
However, Diame’s remarkable turn around in form has been rewarded; the midfielder winning the club’s Player of the Month award for January.
Upon hearing the news of Diame’s award, Newcastle fans took to Twitter to congratulate their player…
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Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood has praised his side’s character after coming back from 2-0 down to beat Southampton 3-2 at White Hart Lane, Telegraph reports.
The Saints scored two early goals courtesy of Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana, but Spurs bounced back with a Christian Eriksen brace before Gylfi Sigurdsson fired an injury time winner.
And Sherwood said that he delivered a measured half-time speech in hopes of inspiring his side, and the players responded in spectacular fashion.
Denmark’s Christian Eriksen, who put the game level for the Lilywhites, said: ““I think we showed we are playing for the manager.
“We got a little speech at half-time and in the second half we were new guys.
“We try to play like the manager wanted, we showed it way more in the second half than the first half.”
When prompted what Sherwood told his players, he replied: “I can’t tell you everything, but it wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t ranting and raving, it was considered. It was measured, what I had to say to them.
“A lot of people said ‘now see his players, see what they want to do now, see if they’re going to turn it in.
“They ain’t turned it in, have they? You have to admit that against Arsenal we deserved to win the game or at least get a point. Then we go away against all odds, against Benfica, and we’re gutted that we haven’t progressed to the next stage. We should have done, but we never.
“Let me tell you, it’s harder to come from 2-0 down at home, than it is to come from 2-0 down away from home. Unless you’ve played the game, you don’t understand that.
“It’s an expectancy. It takes guts, character, spirit, to be able to do that and we showed that today. Brilliant.”
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Southampton’s Mauricio Pochettino however believes his side should have been given a free-kick when Nacer Chadli tackled Dejan Lovren in the build up to Eriksen’s first goal for Tottenham.
“We went up 2-0, were controlling the first half and their first goal came from a clear foul, which should not have stood,” said Pochettino. “There were some refereeing decisions which did not go our way and we deserved more from the game.
“It’s clear we made some mistakes that are difficult to accept and we need to improve individually.”
Finally, after five games of bad results and even worse football, the Seasiders took a big step in the right direction on Tuesday night, only for Dexter Blackstock to take the shine away with a last minute equaliser.
No, it wasn’t the best performance of the season and yes, it was only a draw, but the way in which Blackpool went about the game against Forest finally looked like the Blackpool team we have come to love so much. It is a massive step forwards and a giant leap away from the hopeless displays lately.
Holloway tinkered again, understandably after an abject showing at Turf Moor. Gomes and Sylvestre came into the midfield alongside Osbourne, and Taylor-Fletcher moved to a forward role between Matt Phillips and Ince. Due to there being no other options, the back four and keeper stayed the same, but there now looked to be a balance to the team. A midfield that can pass and create, and a forward line with a mix of pace, power and intelligence. Could this be the game where Holloway finally remembered his passing philosophy? We could only hope so after watching opposition centre halves heading out aimless long balls for the last few weeks.
Again, the pitch looked quite heavy and even seemed to have patches of water on it, but then there is simply not a lot that can be done about the recent weather. Thankfully though, it didn’t affect the game in the slightest and we witnessed a good, fast paced match between two talented attacking sides.
Blackpool started the game brightly with Ludovic Sylvestre showing why he had been rewarded with a start. Moving the ball around nicely and never letting it settle before trying to pick out an incisive pass, which he did more than once. It is play like this that has been missing recently for Blackpool.
A pass that misses out a few men and cuts through the opposition. But with Sylvestre on the pitch, Blackpool had an early chance after a lovely move put Crainey through against the keeper only for the left-back to put it wide, possibly hitting the post. The Seasiders were probably the better side for the opening 20 minutes as the game had a nice ebb and flow to it.
At this point, unfortunately, we have to introduce Mr Ilderton who put in an exceptionally bad refereeing display that managed to upset and anger both sets of fans, players and managers, to the point where every decision that was given was cheered like a goal. He took leniency beyond belief where you actually begun to wonder if he had genuinely forgotten his glasses or his whistle.
Billy Sharp raced through into the Blackpool box only to be bundled over by Osbourne. Perhaps it would have been soft, but it was certainly a decision you see given and was a clumsy challenge by Osbourne. Then, to continue his bizarre approach to refereeing, Mr Ilderton allowed play to go on after a blatant foul on Osbourne in the middle of the park. The resulting move ended in a corner for the visitors and we all know what happens when you get a corner against Blackpool. Some poor marking, and some poorly attempted clearances led to Billy Sharp flicking the ball past a hopeless Matt Gilkes.
Blackpool reacted well and kept knocking on the door, and seemed to have carved open the Forest defence when Sylvestre sent Ince through on goal, only for the winger to be brought down. Mr Hopeless though simply waved his hands and played on when it could and maybe should have put Forest down to 10 men. Some more nice play, but nothing of note happened before the referee found his whistle just in time to blow for the break.
The message at half time must have been more of the same, but take a few more shots, as the Tangerines came out and continued to pass, but this time unleashing wild shots from outside the area.
The match lost it’s spark during the second half and really needed a change. On the hour mark Elliot Grandin made a return in place of Gomes and really changed the game. In spite of the fact Holloway said his attitude in training isn’t right, the Frenchman certainly looked up for the match, injecting some pace into the middle of the pitch and causing problems. And, deservedly, it was him who made a good run to get on the end of a fantastic Matt Phillips cross and head home an equaliser.
With the crowd encouraged and a spring in the players’ step, Blackpool continued to press and Grandin was involved again as the ball was bouncing around the Forest box and fell to Taylor-Fletcher who bumbled a shot which beat the keeper.
It really looked as if Blackpool were going to hold on to all three points until panic struck at the back. The ball was floated over and Blackstock latched onto it. The whole back line stood still with their hand in the air, more in desperation than anything, as the sub slotted home a last minute heartbreaker. The panic was understandable considering the defensive record of late. Add to that Matt Phillips slotting in at right back for the final 20 minutes and it’s no wonder there was a little confusion.
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A final little touch from the referee came as he gave Blackpool a throw-in because the Forest right back took the initial throw from a yard too far up the pitch. It’s nice to see that despite missing almost everything during the game, he was still up to the job, making sure he got the big decisions correct.
As horrible as it is conceding in the last minute, it will be encouraging to most Blackpool fans to have their team back. A good, passing, attacking side who create chances but can’t defend a cross. In all honesty, there is no shame in drawing with this Forest side, who played a great counter attacking game. When you looked through their team there was quality all the way through it and in Cox and Sharp they have one of the best strike partnerships in the division.
So, at last, we saw a good game of football at Bloomfield Road. Played with the ball on the floor. And now we can get back to trying to impose our style of play on the opposition and get back to winning ways. Next step, defending crosses. Then there will be no stopping us.
Southampton announced via their official Twitter account last Thursday that their new kit would be revealed on June 16, but images of the home shirt have already leaked and been shown on sale in Australia, and Saints fans have been quick to react to that and the design ahead of the big club announcement on Saturday.
In what has seemed to be a big mix-up between the south coast outfit and kit manufacturer Under Armour, the red-and-white striped strip has already been sold in Brisbane, as well as in Asia.
The design is certainly very different to the 2017/18 effort, with the narrow stripes replacing the large white column with red sides that made up the one that was worn as Mark Hughes’ men narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship.
Southampton supporters, who have delivered their verdict on the club’s potential double transfer swoop, were quick to have their say on the appearance of the home shirt and the fact that is already on sale in other countries days before its official release via social media, and while one described the kit as an “absolute horror show”, another described the whole situation as “embarrassing”.
Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…
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West Ham United manager David Moyes is keen to add a new midfielder to his squad before the January transfer window slams shut on Wednesday night, and it appears as though Anderlecht midfielder Leander Dendoncker could be his priority signing.
A report by Belgian media outlet Het Nieuwsblad on Monday confirmed that the Irons are set to ramp up their interest in the highly-rated 22-year-old, who can also pay as a centre-back, having been heavily linked with bringing the Belgium international to the Premier League throughout the month.
Despite the arrival of Inter Milan’s Joao Mario on loan until the end of the season last week, a serious injury suffered by Pedro Obiang in the 2-0 FA Cup fourth round defeat to Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium on Saturday has taken Moyes back to square one in terms of his options in the middle of the park.
He will now be looking to ensure that he brings a new central or defensive midfielder to the London Stadium before the 11pm deadline on Wednesday to help in the Irons’ survival bid, but if a deal for Dendoncker can’t be done then the Scottish boss will need to look elsewhere for the extra body he wants.
Here are three Dendoncker alternatives West Ham could target on Deadline Day…
Jonjo Shelvey
The Express claimed at the start of January that West Ham were closing in on a £12m move for the Newcastle United midfielder, who is said to be keen to return to London.
There has been no progress in any deal since then though, with Sky Sports reporting on Friday that the Irons have been told that the 25-year-old is not for sale.
However, journalist @reluctantnicko claimed via his official Twitter account on Tuesday that the east London outfit could yet try and sign Shelvey if they are getting desperate towards the end of the window, although the likely large fee and his big wages could be an issue.
Ki Sung-Yueng
The reliable @ExWHUemployee posted via his official Twitter account on Monday that West Ham were looking to include the South Korea international in any deal that saw Andre Ayew return to former club Swansea City before the window slams shut.
While there has been no further progress on that proposal as of yet, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see some sort of arrangement reached on Wednesday.
That said, the fact the 29-year-old played the full 90 minutes in the win against Arsenal on Tuesday night doesn’t suggest an exit is imminent, and the east London outfit may have lots of work to do to bring the 6ft 2in midfielder to the London Stadium before the deadline.
Ibrahim Amadou
West Ham’s Premier League rivals Crystal Palace have been heavily linked with a move for the Lille captain throughout the January window, but they are yet to reach an agreement with the Ligue 1 outfit, despite Sky Sports reporting that they need to raise £22m in order to avoid a financial fair play sanction from the French Football Federation.
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Amadou is a versatile performer who – like Dendoncker – can play either as a defensive midfielder or as a centre-back, and he looks to have all of the attributes to be a success in the English top flight.
Sky Sports reported on Tuesday that the Irons are ready to hijack the Eagles’ bid to sign the 24-year-old before the deadline, although they will have to pay £17.6m if they want to bring him to the London Stadium.