Benayoun Relishing Chelsea Challenge

Chelsea's Yossi Benayoun is ready for the challenge of breaking into a team which won the Premier League and FA Cup double last season.

After three years with Liverpool, the Israel international finally quit Merseyside when he joined the Blues in a £5million move in July.

A niggling groin injury halted his progress in pre-season but Benayoun is determined to make an impact for Carlo Ancelotti's side as the Blues look to defend their domestic titles.

"There are a lot of good players, big players, for me it is the beginning and I have to work hard and prove I can bring something to this club," said Benayoun.

"The only thing I can promise is I will work hard and do my best, and hopefully it will be good enough.

"I had offers from a few teams but when Chelsea came in for me it was the obvious and only thing to think about, and I am glad it came out in the end."

Benayoun made his last appearance for Liverpool against the Blues on May 2, when Chelsea took a giant step towards the league title with a 2-0 win.

"The last home game I knew it would be my last for Liverpool, I tried to do my best but Chelsea were strong," added Benayoun.

"All the years here in England, five years, Chelsea were always a difficult side to play against with big players and that's why they are always there at the top fighting for trophies. That's why I am glad to be a part of it now."

Benayoun's pedigree is second to none. As a talented youngster in Israel, he was asked to join the Ajax academy at just 15.

He began his senior career two years later with Hapoel Beer-Sheva before moving on to Maccabi Haifa in 1998.

After completing national service he left Maccabi having scored 55 goals in 130 appearances and joined Racing Santander in Spain in 2002.

But his goalscoring exploits soon brought him to the attention of English clubs and West Ham snapped him up for £2.5million three years later.

He helped the Hammers to finish ninth in the Premier League and reach the 2006 FA Cup final under then manager Alan Pardew.

He played one more season at Upton Park before making a £5million move to Anfield in 2007 where he replaced Luis Garcia, who moved back to Spain as part of the transfer deal that saw Fernando Torres join Liverpool.

His time at Liverpool was spent in and out of the side with Rafael Benitez never really appearing to treat him as a regular first-team player.

Last season he started 29 games and scored nine goals including a late one against Atletico Madrid at Anfield that looked to have put Liverpool into the Europa League final before Diego Forlan's last-gasp strike ended that dream.

Captain of the Israel national side, Benayoun has quickly felt at home after making the move back to London.

"It is a great training ground and you can see it is one of the best clubs in the world from the way the people here treat you," added Benayoun.

"It is a good challenge for me and I am ready for it."

Coach Ancelotti admitted that much of Benayoun's appeal lay in his versatility. The midfielder is equally at home on either wing and his trickery will cause plenty of problems for opposing defences.

"Yossi has a lot of quality in midfield and can play in lots of positions. I like his behaviour on the pitch," said Ancelotti.

"He will do a great job."

Is Mikel Arteta The Solution?

Recent weeks have seen us linked with just about every able bodied player on the planet.

One player that the media have missed is probably someone who should be on the forefront of plans this season. I am of course talking about Spanish playmaker Mikel Arteta.

Now the Premier League is often considered devoid of true playmakers, with Fabregas being the first that springs to mind. The other, and second only to Fabregas is Arteta. Everton's player of the year in 2005/06/07/08.

Arteta has been established as Everton's greatest sun. Linked with Chelsea in the past and continuously with Arsenal this summer as Fabregas considers Barcelona's offer, at £10million he offers a bargain that could prove a steal.

A graduate of the Barcelona academy, Arteta has proved himself in the Premier League and with the constant cries of Chelsea lacking a playmaker in the truest form, it is a surprise few mention his name on the site.

Mikel Arteta began his career as a holding player in the Guardiola mould and played with his best friend Xabi Alonso in San Sebastian. A meeting with a brilliant manager by the name of David Moyes sent his career rocketing towards the sky.

Moyes realised that he is best suited further forward and since then Arteta has never looked back. Capable of playing the Ballack role deep in midfield, spraying the ball and linking up the attack, Arteta would fit seamlessly in the 4-3-3 system.

Also more than capable of playing at the so called 'tip of the diamond position' as has been made famous by valued member Lukamolski on the site.

His defensive abilities allow him to play in other positions and formations if necessary. Mikel is an amazing crosser of the ball and has excellent passes and vision in the final third. His spot-kicks, be they free-kicks, corners or penalties are simply astounding.

He may not be among the very top brass of world football, but the man who replaced Gravesen at Everton and was declared the Premier League's best midfielder in 2006/07 by SkySports but he has a lot to offer, and a move to a bigger arena may be great, for him and the club in question.

Having discussed options in the likes of City's Rejects I thought it my civic duty to raise it up a notch.

Ramires Claims Chelsea Bid

Benfica midfielder Ramires has claimed Chelsea have lodged a bid for his signature.

The Brazil international has been linked with a switch away from Benfica this summer, with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea all mooted as potential suitors.

Ramires has made no secret of his eagerness to join Premier League holders Chelsea, who are said to be in talks with Benfica over a £20million deal.

The 23-year-old is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail: "There has been a bid for me from Chelsea.

"To play for the best team in the Premier League and for a club with so much history, it would be my dream.

"I've had a fantastic year at Benfica but this is a dream that I cannot let go."

The Price Is Far From Right!

Sometimes you just have to wonder what goes through some peoples minds!

A couple of times this summer the name of Gregory van der Wiel has been linked with Chelsea.

The Dutch defender, currently on the books of Ajax, had a decent enough World Cup and is rumoured to be on the move.

Bayern Munich were the prime candidates for his signature but rumour suggests that deal is not going to happen now.

His club, Ajax, has financial worries and has told Martin Jol he has to sell before buying, naturally, because of our history, we get linked.

But the price tag now being quoted by some sources is laughable, a huge £20 million!

It’s not going to happen at that price is it?

Nicolas Anelka Sues L'Equipe Over World Cup Rant At Raymond Domenech

The France striker Nicolas Anelka is taking the French newspaper L'Equipe to court for libel after it printed details of his expletive-filled World Cup rant at the then France coach, Raymond Domenech.

Anelka has never denied ranting at Domenech during half-time in the group match against Mexico on 17 June, which France were drawing 0-0 at the time and went on to lose 2-0. But has said the newspaper distorted his words – splashed across the front page with the expletives included.

L'Equipe said on its website that the case is likely to start this autumn and the newspaper will defend itself by calling the "various witnesses to the scene".

The French Football Federation sent Anelka home from the World Cup as a result of the story, and the following day the entire squad went on strike in protest at the decision.

Wycombe Wanderers 5 - 1 Chelsea XI:

A sensational four-minute hat-trick from Jon-Paul Pittman helped Wycombe Wanders come from a goal down to win 5-1 against a Chelsea XI side on Thursday night.

Aliu Djalo opened the scoring for the London club after 13 minutes, only for Scott Rendell and Ben Strevens to put the League Two side into the lead before second-half substitute Jon-Paul Pittman completed the rout.

The only first-team players to be included in the Chelsea side were Scott Sinclair, Franco Di Santo and Jack Cork, with new signing Phillip Prosenik starting on the bench.

Despite the weak line-up, Chelsea came out strongest and broke the deadlock after 13 minutes when a Scott Sinclair shot brought a smart save from Wanderers goalkeeper Nikki Bull, but the parry fell into the path of striker Djalo who tapped into an empty net.

Chelsea did not stay in front for long though as Wycombe’s intensified pressure reaped rewards after 24 minutes when a loose ball from an attempted defensive clearing fell kindly to Rendell eight yards out and the 23-year-old calmly stroked the ball home.
Gary Waddock’s side deservedly took the lead 12 minutes later when a clever flick from Kieran Murtagh found Strevens inside the penalty area and the striker finished from a tight angle to take Wanderers into the lead before half-time.

The second-half was a balanced affair before American Pittman came on with 25 minutes remaining and proceeded to put the game beyond doubt.

On 76 minutes clever work from Chairboys midfielder Kevin Betsy fed in the 23-year-old to fire low underneath Chelsea goalkeeper Samuel Walker, only two minutes later it was 4-1 as winger Matt Phillips was this time the provider as Pittman finished cooly and then just over a minute later the striker ran through on goal and calmly chipped home a finish and wrap up a confident team victory.

Wycombe Wanderers: Nikki Bull (Steve Arnold, 83); Chris Westwood (Marvin McCoy, 74), Dave Winfield, Alan Bennett, Danny Foster; Gareth Ainsworth (Ian Westlake, 85), Lewis Montrose (Matt Bloomfield, 66), Keiran Murtagh, Kevin Betsy; Scott Rendell (Matt Phillips, 60), Ben Strevens (Jon-Paul Pittman, 66).

Subs: Steve Arnold, Leon Johnson, Ian Westlake, Marvin McCoy, Matt Bloomfield, Matt Phillips, Jon-Paul Pittman.

Chelsea XI: Samuel Walker; Billy Clifford, Rohan Ince, Aziz Deen-Conteh, Ryan Bertrand; Scott Sinclair, Jack Cork, Conor Clifford, Milan Lalkovic (Dan Philliskirk, 59); Franco Di Santo, Aliu Djalo (Philipp Prosenik, 59).

Academy Through To Milk Final

Chelsea FC's U-15 Academy side is through to the Final of the 2010 Milk Cup over in Northern Ireland.

Teams from around the world, including Everton, Man U and Chelsea, compete in a week-long tournament on the North Coast area of Northern Ireland. The teams are divided into three categories: Elite, Premier, and Junior for Under-19s, Under-17s and Under-15s respectively.

Chelsea aim to enter a young team into the Junior section of the tournament in readiness for the Academy season ahead. Whilst we have the ability to enter teams at U-17 and U19 level, these players are at the stage of Reserve football and will be concentrating on other pre-season friendlies.

Chelsea were placed in Group A with 11 other teams, however only 2 group matches are played. After these games, 8 teams 'qualify' for the quarter-finals which were played on Wednesday.

The great thing about the Milk Cup is not only do the spectators get to see future stars wearing their favourite jerseys but for teams from other countries to face each other.

CFC began with a 3-0 win over South Coast Bayern, an American youth team, on Monday over in Coleraine. On Tuesday for their second game, the U-15s saw off Co.Armagh convincingly with one of the highlight displays of the week - 7-0.

Back in Coleraine on Wednesday for the quarter final, Chelsea managed a 1-0 win over Co.Tyrone to book a place in the Semi's yesterday.

"You have to remember these schoolboys only finished their school year on the July 20th, so they’ve been back training for two or three sessions before we came to the Milk Cup," Geoff Harvey, team boss, revealed.

"I think tiredness came into a bit (against Tyrone), three games in three days is a real test for them. The boys then faced Dundalk SL and destroyed the team 4-0.

The last game of the week at 4pm today sees Mexican side Cruz Azul as the last team in the way of another piece of Blue silverware. As Neil Bath, Academy Manager, said recently in an interview, Chelsea are achieving much more in Youth tournaments compared to 5 years ago. Here's hoping that we continue to be this successful.

For those interested Reece Mitchell has been one of the stand out performers. The number 9 has been scoring all tournament and will be looking for more goals this afternoon.

Numbers Boosted For Frankfurt

There will be fresh faces for our third pre-season friendly of the summer on Sunday, with our World Cup representatives now back into the groove at Cobham.

The last of our players to spend their summers in South Africa reported back for training on Monday and have quickly set about playing fitness catch-up with the rest of the squad, which included the French, Ivorians and Serb Branislav Ivanovic, who were back last Thursday after their early World Cup elimination.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti fielded a young side for our first two pre-season friendlies, with John Mikel Obi, Michael Essien and Daniel Sturridge our only regular first team outfield players on show, but our English and Portuguese internationals now return to the group, despite only arriving back at Cobham from their holidays on Monday.

That means likely starts against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday for Ashley Cole, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira.

They will also be joined in the travelling party by Yossi Benayoun, who has recovered sufficiently from a groin problem to be available for selection, and Didier Drogba, who had hernia surgery last week. Four players, however, will remain in England.

'We will keep here Cech, Alex, Bosingwa and Deco because they need to work on their fitness,' explained Ancelotti. 'The other players are in good condition, and for the first game the players back from the World Cup can play for 45 minutes.

'The English and the Portuguese came back good and are doing well, but they are not in the best condition because it is very soon.'

With only a short time in which to prepare his side for our first competitive fixture of the season, in the Community Shield against Manchester United at Wembley on August 8, Ancelotti recognizes the importance of getting the group together for a few days.

'Now we are very close to the first appointment of the season against Manchester United and want to use these games to improve condition more, and I think we will be ready for that first game at Wembley,' he said.

'We decided to do this trip to Germany because we didn't have the players for a long time, so it is better to stay in Europe for a friendly game, and I think it is a good decision instead of going on a long tour.'