Marcel Desailly has offered a scathing assessment of Chelsea's chances of regaining the Premier League title this season before Saturday's trip to Manchester United, with the club's former centre-half claiming "five players have to leave the club" in the summer.
The former France star spent six years at Stamford Bridge, joining them after winning the 1998 World Cup. He made 222 league appearances, before leaving in 2004, a year before José Mourinho secured the club's first league title in 50 years. He pinpointed United's consistency in midfield as potentially crucial as Sir Alex Ferguson's side pursue a fourth consecutive league championship success, with Chelsea still suffering from the loss of Michael Essien's dynamism in the centre.
"It looks like the [Chelsea] midfield have not really delivered protection to the defence," Desailly said. "The defensive block have had some problems this year. That is why they are not four, five or six points ahead because they have lost many points on free-kicks and just generally losing their concentration. Previously the midfield was absolutely amazing.
"Even if they weren't winning the Premier League, it was holding the team. The midfield was really playing well. Now Joe Cole is not expressing himself as he wanted, [Michael] Ballack has disappeared the last two months, [Jon Obi] Mikel is playing his best but the team misses Essien. So this is why the defence is suffering."
With those failings in mind, Desailly predicted a summer of change in south-west London. "First they need to get rid of four or five guys who are not Chelsea players," he told the Premier League's website. "I think five players have to leave the club. After that it depends on the finances. People are talking about [the Bayern Munich winger Franck] Ribéry but Ribéry is a problem because they have [Florent] Malouda on the left. I'm not sure if they will spend again.
"When you look at the two teams, United have a small advantage on the consistency they are showing in the midfield. Absolutely amazing. Players like [Darren] Fletcher, Nani coming back at a high level and [Antonio] Valencia have made a contribution. Let's not even talk about [Ryan] Giggs. Right the way back to [Edwin] van der Sar, it's a real team, a group. That's why I believe that Manchester United today have more energy than Chelsea."
The former France star spent six years at Stamford Bridge, joining them after winning the 1998 World Cup. He made 222 league appearances, before leaving in 2004, a year before José Mourinho secured the club's first league title in 50 years. He pinpointed United's consistency in midfield as potentially crucial as Sir Alex Ferguson's side pursue a fourth consecutive league championship success, with Chelsea still suffering from the loss of Michael Essien's dynamism in the centre.
"It looks like the [Chelsea] midfield have not really delivered protection to the defence," Desailly said. "The defensive block have had some problems this year. That is why they are not four, five or six points ahead because they have lost many points on free-kicks and just generally losing their concentration. Previously the midfield was absolutely amazing.
"Even if they weren't winning the Premier League, it was holding the team. The midfield was really playing well. Now Joe Cole is not expressing himself as he wanted, [Michael] Ballack has disappeared the last two months, [Jon Obi] Mikel is playing his best but the team misses Essien. So this is why the defence is suffering."
With those failings in mind, Desailly predicted a summer of change in south-west London. "First they need to get rid of four or five guys who are not Chelsea players," he told the Premier League's website. "I think five players have to leave the club. After that it depends on the finances. People are talking about [the Bayern Munich winger Franck] Ribéry but Ribéry is a problem because they have [Florent] Malouda on the left. I'm not sure if they will spend again.
"When you look at the two teams, United have a small advantage on the consistency they are showing in the midfield. Absolutely amazing. Players like [Darren] Fletcher, Nani coming back at a high level and [Antonio] Valencia have made a contribution. Let's not even talk about [Ryan] Giggs. Right the way back to [Edwin] van der Sar, it's a real team, a group. That's why I believe that Manchester United today have more energy than Chelsea."
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