Carlo Admits World Cup Boost

Carlo Ancelotti feels England's World Cup flop is providing his Chelsea players with added motivation.

The Three Lions failed to make an impact in South Africa under Ancelotti's fellow Italian Fabio Capello, crashing out in the first knock-out round following a dismal campaign.

But Blues stars John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, who all struggled on England duty this summer, have enjoyed an encouraging start to the season.

Chelsea have set the early Premier League pace with 12 goals and six points from their opening two games, and Ancelotti believes the England players in his squad are determined to compensate for their World Cup failure.

"If you have character, then after a problem you cannot have no motivation," Ancelotti told the Sun.

"But from this, I think the English players are taking more motivation from the World Cup.

"They have all come back with good motivation and I think they are in good condition. The English players like Terry, Lampard and Cole are all now showing very good physical condition."

When asked whether England's miserable World Cup showing has worked in favour of his side, Ancelotti added: "I think so.

"To have a good rest after the World Cup was a necessity.

"They had a very long season in England and they needed to have good recovery time."

Lampard netted his first goal of the campaign against West Brom in the Blues' season opener at Stamford Bridge, while defenders Terry and Cole helped keep clean sheets in that match and in their 6-0 away victory at Wigan on Saturday.

"Defensively, we were good in the first half because Wigan put us under a lot of pressure and we didn't concede," added Ancelotti.

"They only had three shots from distance."

The Italian was also full of praise for Didier Drogba's display against the Latics, despite him failing to get his name on the score-sheet after landing a hat-trick during the Blues' 6-0 triumph over the Baggies last weekend.

"I am very happy with him and he showed a good understanding with Kalou," he said. "Usually a striker will try to score, but he was unselfish.

"He is not a Superman but he is playing well and he is a humble player. It is not easy to find such humility in a big player."

Kalou Accuses Chelsea's Rivals Of Being 'Scared'

Salomon Kalou has accused Chelsea's title rivals of being "scared" following their free-scoring start to the Premier League season.

The defending champions have kicked off their campaign with a pair of 6-0 triumphs against West Bromwich Albion and Wigan.

Ivory Coast striker Kalou, who scored twice in the rout at the DW Stadium on Saturday, has now revealed that he hopes that the glut of goals will strike fear into their future opponents.

"Two games, 12 goals - we've started the season like we finished last year," Kalou said. "When you are the defending champions you have to scare the other teams, and that's what we are doing.

"Right now we are enjoying it and hopefully we will continue to play at this level. I hope that after these two games any team we play will be afraid of Chelsea."

Last season Chelsea, in their first year under Italian boss Carlo Ancelotti, became the first side to score over 100 goals in a Premier League season.

Florent Malouda Insists Chelsea Have Stepped Their Game Up To A New Level

Florent Malouda insists that Chelsea have developed a “killer instinct”, and believes that the Blues now play the Premier League’s most entertaining football.

The defending league champions have started off the season brightly, winning both of their matches against West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic by the same 6-0 scoreline.

The France international believes that Chelsea’s play has stepped up to a whole new level, and Malouda thinks that the Blues have shown these past two weeks how much quality they possess.

“It is difficult to know why people still seem to think Arsenal and United play the best football,” Malouda told the Daily Mail.

“Even when we finished on top of Arsenal, people said they played better than us.

“If you want to win the League, you have to be efficient, but when you look at how many goals we are scoring, you surely have to recognize there is real quality about us.

“The manager has worked at making sure we control games and you are seeing an evolution in our play. We are keeping more clean sheets but also scoring a lot more goals.

“It is not enough for us now just to go 1-0 up. We have developed a killer instinct and want to finish teams off. There are goals throughout this team and if there is an opportunity to kill a game off, we take it.

“We'll never go easy on teams and it is great for confidence to know just about everyone in the squad is capable of scoring goals.”

Some believed that age would soon catch up to this veteran Chelsea squad, but Malouda believes that the experience and time together that the squad have enjoyed are what makes them better.

“I don't know about getting old, but I'm pretty sure most Premier League managers would settle for a squad like ours.

“The great thing about being together so long is that we all know the system and each other and the movement up front is improving all the time.

“Even when Salomon Kalou came on as substitute, he could feel where the ball was going to be played and ended up with two goals.

“We are tapping into the experience that has built up in recent years and turning it to our advantage. We all know the system and how to apply it and that does so much for our self-belief.”

Chelsea Readying Mammoth €40 Million Swoop For Real Madrid Defender Sergio Ramos

Chelsea are set to launch a sensational bid to land Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, and will offer €40 million for the World Cup winner, according to reports from Spain.

Sports publication Marca comments that Blues owner Roman Abramovich, whose side have been relatively quiet in the current transfer window after seeing an approach for Brazilian sensation Neymar collapse, wants to burst onto the scene with a major coup, and sees Ramos as the player to do just that.

The sizeable transfer fee will be coupled with a five-year contract for Ramos, worth €10m per season, and Chelsea are desperate to conclude a deal before the end of the current transfer window.

The London club’s only additions this summer are midfielders Yossi Benayoun from Liverpool and Brazilian international Ramires, who joined from Benfica, while the likes of Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Ballack have moved on.

It is hugely unlikely that los Blancos coach Jose Mourinho would wish to sell his prized defender, particularly with the current injury woes at the back which are hampering their preparations for the new season.

However, with Mourinho also coveting the arrival of a ‘number nine’ before the season begins, a boost to his transfer kitty may allow a bid to be launched for targets such as Fernando Llorente, Emmanuel Adebayor or Edin Dzeko.

Begovic Chase Still On

The inference is there that Chelsea is still very keen on the Stoke goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic.

After having an early bid rejected by Stoke City and being told that he’s not for sale, our sources tell us that Stoke City have yet to respond to a reputed offer of £4.5 million made, reportedly by Chelsea, recently.

Furthermore, the Potteries club is reportedly being hounded by other clubs keen to lure the keeper from Stoke with Manchester City Fulham and Middlesbrough also reported as being keen.

Reaction: Scoring & Scaring

Following a record opening-day win last week, Chelsea followed it up by equalling our all-time best top-flight away win, yet it is points rather than goals that are pleasing the players more.

Saturday's 6-0 win at Wigan, the first time the club has recorded that scoreline two games running, matches a 6-0 win away at Barnsley in 1997 (that also the second Premier League game of the season).

On that day Gianluca Vialli netted four times. Thirteen years on the goals were more evenly spread throughout the team with Florent Malouda, for the second game in a row, opening the scoring.

'We are not thinking about records,' he said as he reflected on Saturday's game.

'Even last year we were not aware of the records until we broke them and this year we know we start again from the beginning and we play to win.

'Even if it is 1-0 we are happy because when you start the season you just want the points and after that maybe the goals for the goal difference. That could be important.

'People are thinking about big tests against big teams ahead but we focus on getting the points and being at the top of the league from the first game.'

Malouda believes knowledge that a one-goal lead can never be considered enough is what sets the team on road to the big victories; results that are only beginning to mark Chelsea down as big entertainers.

'Even when we finish on top of Arsenal people still think that Arsenal play better than us,' the Frenchman notes. 'We don't comment about the other teams but since the manager came in he tried to bring control of the game and people have seen an evolution because we are scoring more goals and we are getting more clean sheets.

'If you want to win the league you have to be efficient and when you see a team like Chelsea scoring so many goals, I hope that people will recognize our quality. But we are not playing for that. Our aim is to win.'

Didier Drogba may have been goalless but his outstanding contribution ran to a significant hand in five out of the six goals.

'We scored six but we suffered a lot in the first half,' he pointed out, 'so I think the game was difficult and the fact that we scored quickly in the second half made it easier for us.

'We have played together for such a long time that we know what we have to do when the game is difficult and we know also what we have to do to make it easier.'

Super sub Salomon Kalou, beneficiary of two Drogba assists to set his scoring underway for the season, is optimistic the Blues' 12 goals will have an instant impact.

'I hope that after these two games the teams we play will be afraid of Chelsea.

'We have started the season how we finished the last one. It is going to be very tough but right now we are enjoying it and hopefully we continue to play on that level because when you are the defending champions you have to scare the other teams.

'Even though he didn't score, Didier had a great game,' Kalou added.

'He was there for his team-mates and he knows how to balance his game. He knows when he can score and he knows how to pass the ball and I was glad to be there to finish it.'

Adidas Kit Signing This Week

To celebrate the launch of our new away kit, Adidas is giving Chelsea fans the ultimate money-can't-buy prize - an invitation to meet some of the players for a photo and kit signing.

Six Chelsea men will be at the Adidas Sports Performance Store at 415-419 Oxford Street in London this Thursday, so if you fancy the chance to meet Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda, Branislav Ivanovic, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge and Gael Kakuta, now is the chance.

If that wasn't enough, you can get up close and personal with the Barclays Premier League trophy, and win two tickets to cheer on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.