Blues Must Learn From Stoke City Approach In FA Cup Tie

The modern reputation and prestige of the FA Cup is a source of frequent discussion among football fans, with many wondering if it still retains much relevance in an era where the Premier League and Champions League are the main priority for the big teams.

But Chelsea are quickly becoming aware of the benefits that succeeding in the knock-out tournament can bring.

Last year the world's oldest cup competition was a welcome consolation for the Blues, with its capture seeing Guus Hiddink rescue a season that had been all-but ruined by Luiz Felipe Scolari’s disappointing tenure. This term, however, no-one in and around the club will be happy if that is the only trophy they finish the season holding. Having been top of the league for much of the campaign, a failure to go on and win it would be a massive disappointment for Carlo Ancelotti’s men.

But the club's league and European challenge has floundered in recent weeks, not helped by John Terry’s difficulty in preventing his off-field problems affecting his on-field performances. A 2-1 defeat to Inter Milan in the first league of their Champions League tie gives them work to do in the return leg in under two weeks' time at Stamford Bridge, while Manchester United are rapidly overhauling the Blues in a title race that was once Chelsea's to lose.

But, once again, the FA Cup offers up the chance to save the Blues’ season. This time by giving them a timely reminder of the approach required to win one, or both, of those other more important prizes.

Chelsea will be favourites to beat Stoke City in front of their own fans on Sunday, but in the process they should ensure they learn from their opponents’ approach.

Tony Pulis’s side have been in the spotlight this week, after defender Ryan Shawcross left Aaron Ramsey with a horrific broken leg in last weekend’s 3-1 victory for the Gunners. That terrible incident has led to scrutiny of the Potters' aggressive and perhaps overly physical playing style.

Despite Arsene Wenger’s initial comments that Shawcross’s tackle was “unacceptable”, replays showed the 22-year-old’s tackle was not malicious, merely poorly timed. It was telling that Wenger, while updating his club’s official website on Ramsey's condition and recovery yesterday, declined the opportunity to heap further criticism on the player and club that had inflicted the injury.

With time to reflect, even the Frenchman seems to have accepted it was an unfortunate accident.

Hopefully the fallout from the incident doesn’t affect Pulis’s men when they arrive at Stamford Bridge. If it doesn’t, and they continue to play in the same uncompromising style, Chelsea’s players will get a first-hand demonstration of the effectiveness of their methods.

Shawcross, the player most likely to be adversely affected by the experience, has already insisted he will continue to play in the same way.

"What happened in the Arsenal game will not be a factor when I next play again for Stoke," the defender assurred The Mirror this week.

"Whenever I pull on the Stoke shirt I have got to be 100 per cent committed and I have got to be the same as ever. Hopefully, when I am back from the suspension I can do well again."

Chelsea should learn from Stoke’s approach to the game, and then look to add it to their own gameplan.

After all, despite their clearly inferior talent, Pulis’s team have only lost to Manchester City once this season in four meetings (beating them in a replay to get to Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final), while Chelsea have failed to get anything from two games against the Eastlands club.

Sometimes, especially against the more technically gifted sides, a more direct approach can bring tangible rewards.

Last time the two sides met, at the beginning of September, only a last-gasp Florent Malouda strike deep into injury-time earned the Blues all three points. The Frenchman and his side need to get back to that 'never say die' attitude they seem to have lost.

Terry was lucky not to be castrated, literally, by his wife in light of his extra-marital dalliances, but on the football pitch he seems to be showing many of the signs of emasculation. In recent weeks he has seemed marginally off the pace, perhaps fearful of the reaction of already unsympathetic fans and media, making uncharacteristic errors as a result of being slightly more reticent to put his foot and head in where it hurts or to ‘leave his mark’ on an opposition player.

With Michael Essien out injured, that leaves Chelsea with a noticeable lack of ‘bite’ — and the likes of Everton and Inter Milan have conspired to take advantage in recent times.

A quick refresher course from Stoke on the powers of physical play might do the Blues the world of good. Having for much of the season beaten sides through quality and reputation alone (in their October-November run of 4-0 and 5-0 wins, teams just seemed to give up before the whistle even blew) opponents are now smelling blood and going in for the kill, and the players are struggling to rise to the challenge.

Ancelotti, as much as it might go against his better judgement, needs his players to incorporate an uncompromising style of gameplay. Get challenges in early; make your opponents know they are going to be in a game all day. Stoke will demonstrate how effective that approach can be.

If Rory Delap plays, the midfielder with few other discernible talents might also once again show the benefit of having a long-throw specialist in a team. By now every club should have one — surely it can only take a few hours after training for a player to master the art — because, as unfashionable and 'anti-football' as the technique is, it brings proven rewards.

And with a Premier League title on the line, can Chelsea afford not to utilise every advantage at their disposal?

Alex: Stoke Are Just Like The Dutch

Fit again after injury, Alex has been considering how to effectively combat Stoke City's direct style of play.

The Brazilian centre-half is expected to fill in for Ricardo Carvalho at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, where he is likely to meet the aerial bombardment of Rory Delap's long throw-ins and the physical style of Potters forward Ricardo Fuller, both equally intimidating and effective.

It is an attritional form of football the 27-year-old admits he anticipated seeing more of when he arrived on these shores in the summer of 2007, and has been pleasantly surprised by the passing style most sides adopt, not that he was a stranger to the long-ball game in Holland, where he was a Cup winner with PSV in 2005, as well as a three-time league champion.

'When I came to England I thought only Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United liked to play, all the other teams I thought would be long ball, but after some time I knew only two or three teams play like this and the rest of the teams like to play,' admitted the defender.

'In Holland it is the same as Stoke, and Bolton too, there are many teams who have tall forwards and put the ball in the air and play like this. They don't have the good quality like Stoke have also.'

So how best to deal with the Potters' throw-ins, which cause so much damage with their flat trajectory as well as Delap's staggering range?

'They have someone with a tremendous delivery and if you're a fraction out with marking you'll come a cropper.' That's the opinion of assistant manager Ray Wilkins, and Alex summed it up in a similar way, albeit in a more traditional sense.

'We have to pay attention to the second ball, sometimes it is difficult to win the first ball but you have to win the second,' Alex explained. 'You have to play very concentrated and stay compact.

'Fuller has quality with the ball and he is a strong, strong man, so we have to play strong also and don't leave any space. We received four goals in the last game, which is no good at home.'

Michael Essien & Jose Bosingwa In Race To Be Fit For Chelsea's Champions League Clash With Inter

Jose Bosingwa and Michael Essien are fighting an uphill battle to be fit for the second leg of Chelsea's Champions League first knockout round tie against Inter Milan on March 16.

Essien has not played for Chelsea since he suffered a hamstring injury in European action against Apoel Nicosia in December.

More recently has been recovering from a knee problem sustained in January while on international duty with Ghana at the African Nations Cup.

The 27-year-old had an operation in January but he is currently still recuperating at a sporting injury clinic in France alongside left-back Ashley Cole, who has a fractured ankle.

Chelsea trail 2-1 after the first leg of the last-16 tie at the Giuseppe Meazza, and it looks unlikely Carlo Ancelotti will have a full-strength squad to pick from as he looks to defeat Jose Mourinho.

Bosingwa is back in light training after knee surgery but still short of match practice. However, Russian international Yury Zhirkov, who missed the first leg with a calf problem, should be fit to play at left-back.

Portugal midfielder Deco, another who has struggled with a knee problem, should have a chance to prove his fitness during the FA Cup quarterfinal against Stoke City on Sunday.

Ancelotti will be able to call upon Branislav Ivanovic, who has been praised by team-mate Joe Cole:

"I think Ivanovic for us is fantastic," the midfielder said.

"He is a great player for Chelsea. I think he has been our player of the year to be honest."

Rooney Backs Cole Inclusion

Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney hopes Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole can force his way into England's World Cup squad.

Cole, who has made just 11 Premier League starts this term, has struggled for form and fitness since Carlo Ancelotti took over the reigns at Stamford Bridge last summer.

The 28-year-old was left out of national team boss Fabio Capello's squad which beat Egypt 3-1 in midweek, despite being an England regular figure with 53 caps.

The former West Ham man suffered a miserable year in 2009 in which he spent eight months sidelined through a knee injury, but England's main striker Rooney would welcome Cole's return to the set-up in time for South Africa this summer.

"Joe has had a bad injury but, if he gets fit, I think he has a great chance of getting back into the England squad," Rooney told the Daily Mail.

"He has great skill and he can score and create goals, so he will be a fantastic player for us to have at a World Cup if he gets selected.

"He was a great player in the last World Cup in Germany. He scored a fantastic goal against Sweden and he is someone who has experience at major tournaments, which is something you always need.

"England will benefit if he is there," he added. Cole, who has 10 goals for his country, has not featured for the national side since September 2008 in the 4-1 win over Croatia in Zagreb.

Ray Wilkins Says Joe Cole Contract Can Be Sorted Out

Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole still has a future at Stamford Bridge, says assistant coach Ray Wilkins.

Cole has failed to start regularly since his return from injury and his contract is due to expire this summer.

Talks to extend his deal have stalled prompting rumours of Cole's departure but Wilkins is hopeful that the 28-year-old will stay at the club.

"We sincerely hope he will be here next season," Wilkins said. "I am sure he and the club will sort it out."

Cole and his representatives are thought to have infuriated Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich with their hard-line stance over wages during contract negotiations.

The midfielder, who has scored once since his return from a serious knee injury in September, is understood to be chasing wages in excess of £100,000 a week.

But Wilkins said he had spoken to former West Ham player Cole numerous times and said he was "upbeat" about his future at the club he joined in 2003.

"He loves Chelsea," he added. "He wants to stay at Chelsea and I am sure that the club and his people will sort the situation out.

"We are desperate to keep Joe. I know the club are and we as a management group feel the same.

"He is a very valuable asset to us. It is a contractual situation that he and the club I am sure will sort out at a later stage."

Wilkins dismissed suggestions that contract wrangles were affecting Cole's form, insisting that he was returning from a 10-month lay-off and adding that the player is still in contention for a call-up to England's World Cup squad.

"He was outstanding in the Carling Cup against Queens Park Rangers and then you find, when you have had a long lay off, that your form does drop.

"Joe has just had a dip in form. He has shown in certain games, when he has played, a lot more of that good form.

"He has got to get a little bit more consistency back and then there will not be a problem with him.

"I think he will give England something slightly different. He can play on both sides of the pitch and in different formations so Joe has a very good chance of being selected for England."

Chelsea face Stoke on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and Wilkins says the holders still see the competition as a major target.

"The FA Cup is massive," said Wilkins. "Thinking back to last May and the joy we experienced in the dressing room at Wembley. These guys play this game to win trophies and we want to win the trophy badly."

Chelsea Call On Sports Psychologist To Help Dejected Ashley Cole

Chelsea officials have sent a specialist sports psychologist to France to work with Ashley Cole, who is recuperating from a broken ankle and a split from his wife Cheryl.

The move is believed to have been sanctioned by the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich, after concerns about how the £82,000-a-week defender is coping in a remote sports clinic 800 miles from his Surrey home.

His pop star wife, Cheryl, said she was splitting from Cole 10 days ago. Since then, Cole, 29, has cut an increasingly dejected figure as he has moped around the CERS complex in Capbreton, South West France. He is expected to remain at the centre until Tuesday.

The psychologist was flown out from London on Wednesday night. A spokesman for Chelsea denied that the move was related to player’s marriage split, saying: ‘It is a very normal procedure. We have a duty of care to our players and we regularly send members of our medical team out to help them get fit, especially those undergoing long-term treatment.’

Ray Wilkins Rejects Recent Criticism Of Chelsea Captain John Terry

Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins has defended under-fire stopper John Terry, praising his recent form for club and country.

The 29-year-old was booed by sections of the Wembley crowd in England's midweek 3-1 victory over Egypt, but Wilkins believes he rose to the occasion and put in a good performance.

"That's the way you have to do things when things aren't quite going your way, and John did that on Wednesday," Wilkins told the club's official website.

"His first touch he must have been dreading and then he put it out of play bless him, but after that he was outstanding and turned those people round."

Terry has made a few mistakes in recent games for the Blues, but Wilkins is very happy with what he has seen over the course of the season.

"He's been doing it all season for us, we have no problems whatsoever with John and the atmosphere in the camp has been superb," he said.

"Where John plays, if he makes a mistake more often than not the opposition will get a chance of scoring a goal, and that's been the case. John's openly admitted he's made a couple of errors but that's one of those things, all players make mistakes.

"I've been thrilled with the way he's played, I thought he was excellent against Egypt and we have no qualms whatsoever, he's been in top, top form for us."

Stoke City are the visitors for Chelsea on Sunday, in the quarter-final of the FA Cup, and Wilkins is expecting a tough contest.

"I am sure a lot of us were thinking it might be Manchester City we were playing against on Sunday, but credit to Stoke and we're in for a very tough game," he said.

"They have quality, what Tony Pulis has done has been quite exceptional and they've played with a lot of style at times.

Yes we'll have to defend very bravely when these long throws and set plays come in but that's part and parcel of the game and we'll have to be up for that."

Lampard Backing For Coles

Frank Lampard has backed Chelsea team-mates Ashley Cole and Joe Cole to make it to this summer's World Cup.

Both Coles are in danger of missing the tournament in South Africa - but for differing reasons.

Ashley Cole is battling to recover in time from his broken ankle, while Joe Cole was omitted from the last England squad as he struggles to regain a regular starting spot in Chelsea's first-team.

But Lampard is confident both will be on the plane to South Africa.

On Ashley Cole, Lampard told Sky Sports New: "Our doctors are confident they can get him there.

"Ash didn't know [how long he would be out], he just knows how he felt in the beginning and it is very difficult for us players to know.

"But fingers crossed, if everything goes right he has a very good chance. If there are complications, then who knows, it is not for me to say, you just have to hope that he is fit as he is one, if not the, best full-backs in the world."

With Joe Cole, Lampard is hopeful he will regain the form that made him an integral member of England's 2006 World Cup squad.

"I think you certainly know with the England manager now, if your form deserves to get you in, you will be," he said.

"I don't think the door is shut for Joe or anyone else, and that is how it should be and that is the beauty of the era over the last few years, it is on form and how you are playing.

"So if Joe is playing for Chelsea at the top of his game then I think the England call will come."