Graeme Le Saux believes there is no limit to what Chelsea can achieve this season.
Carlo Ancelotti's men have made the best start to a Premier League campaign, winning their first five games and racking up a goal difference of +20 in the process.
It has led to suggestions that they can repeat Arsenal's invincible season of 2003-04 and although Le Saux did not go that far, the former Chelsea full-back admitted anything is possible.
"They have started the season fantastically and their goal difference is incredible," he told Sky Sports News HD. "They looked like they've got a settled side and a fantastic manager as well - it couldn't have been a better start for them.
"The big test will come at the weekend against Manchester City but I feel quite confident, the way they are playing, on a big pitch as Eastlands is that they can go there, play as well as they have been and keep their form going.
"But I think the biggest issue will be to keep the focus and not feel that, come Christmas, that they have peaked too soon. It's important to have a good start but maintaining that through to Christmas is crucial.
"But with the squad they've got, the sky is really the limit."
Much has been made of the way the current Chelsea side are now cutting loose and really putting sides to the sword.
Under Jose Mourinho they were renowned for getting ahead in games and then closing them out. But 33 goals in their last 13 Premier League games - and only one defeat - is starting to win the cynics over.
And Le Saux, who made 280 appearances in two spells at Stamford Bridge says that is down to Carlo Ancelotti, who has transformed the atmosphere around the club.
"It's a different approach," he said. "Certainly you've got to give Jose Mourinho a huge amount of credit for what he achieved at the club but at the same time he had a style which he played in, and Carlo Ancelotti has really invigorated the team.
"He has given them a lot more freedom to express in forward areas and they've still got a very good backbone as they have had for many years.
"The way he has got players like (Florent) Malouda and Salomon (Kalou) creating so much, plus the players he has added means they are a well-balanced and well-blended team.
"When you have such a good start to the season you have to keep that focus in every game you play. But Carlo Ancelotti has such a relaxed and consistent attitude - I've seen it at the training ground the atmosphere he's created - that it will be a case of business as usual."
Carlo Ancelotti's men have made the best start to a Premier League campaign, winning their first five games and racking up a goal difference of +20 in the process.
It has led to suggestions that they can repeat Arsenal's invincible season of 2003-04 and although Le Saux did not go that far, the former Chelsea full-back admitted anything is possible.
"They have started the season fantastically and their goal difference is incredible," he told Sky Sports News HD. "They looked like they've got a settled side and a fantastic manager as well - it couldn't have been a better start for them.
"The big test will come at the weekend against Manchester City but I feel quite confident, the way they are playing, on a big pitch as Eastlands is that they can go there, play as well as they have been and keep their form going.
"But I think the biggest issue will be to keep the focus and not feel that, come Christmas, that they have peaked too soon. It's important to have a good start but maintaining that through to Christmas is crucial.
"But with the squad they've got, the sky is really the limit."
Much has been made of the way the current Chelsea side are now cutting loose and really putting sides to the sword.
Under Jose Mourinho they were renowned for getting ahead in games and then closing them out. But 33 goals in their last 13 Premier League games - and only one defeat - is starting to win the cynics over.
And Le Saux, who made 280 appearances in two spells at Stamford Bridge says that is down to Carlo Ancelotti, who has transformed the atmosphere around the club.
"It's a different approach," he said. "Certainly you've got to give Jose Mourinho a huge amount of credit for what he achieved at the club but at the same time he had a style which he played in, and Carlo Ancelotti has really invigorated the team.
"He has given them a lot more freedom to express in forward areas and they've still got a very good backbone as they have had for many years.
"The way he has got players like (Florent) Malouda and Salomon (Kalou) creating so much, plus the players he has added means they are a well-balanced and well-blended team.
"When you have such a good start to the season you have to keep that focus in every game you play. But Carlo Ancelotti has such a relaxed and consistent attitude - I've seen it at the training ground the atmosphere he's created - that it will be a case of business as usual."
No comments:
Post a Comment