Kevin McCarrasays it would be folly to jettison estblablished Chelsea players, but Avram Grant faces steeper challenges in the seasons ahead.
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH'S new money bought Chelsea an old guard. Signings that were built to last have sustained a struggle with Manchester United that is approaching this season's culmination in Premier League and Champions League. The rivalry originated on the opening weekend of the 2004-05 season when the clubs met at Stamford Bridge. It was a stultifying match, a portent of things to come. For Chelsea this was also a landmark as the crowd bonded with debutants who were immediate successes under the new manager Jose Mourinho in a 1-0 win.
Paulo Ferreira and, from the bench, Ricardo Carvalho got their first taste of competitive football at the club after joining from the Champions League holders Porto. Petr Cech and Didier Drogba also made their first appearances. There has been an innate dependability about the line-up ever since, with tumult usually confined to fleeting on-field incidents or post-match squabbles. While the parting of the ways with Mourinho last September did cause immense upheaval, the quality of footballer offered a chance that stability would return. Even those who anticipated an implosion thought it would be triggered by the reactions of the squad. "I can see a mass exodus, including the likes of Frank Lampard and John Terry," said the former Chelsea player David Speedie at the time.
Avram Grant had not only to send the same footballers on to the pitch but ensure, too, that they performed to the customary levels when they got there. In pulling off that feat the Israeli would have carried out remarkable work even if he had not steered Chelsea to a Champions League final.
The seamlessness of the Abramovich era has been uncanny. Of the players who beat United in August 2004 Cech, Ferreira, Terry, Carvalho, Wayne Bridge, Claude Makelele, Lampard and Drogba are liable to be on view tomorrow or at the Luzhniki Stadium. If Chelsea realised on that afternoon four years ago that they were equipped for the long term, Alex Ferguson would have understood that the overhaul at Old Trafford needed to verge on the comprehensive.
It is bemusing to look at United's 2004 selection. Liam Miller, Eric Djemba-Djemba and John O'Shea were all in midfield while Roy Keane served as the most reluctant of centre-halves. Just one person from that side is sure of starting the Champions League final and Paul Scholes, 34 in November, will be taking nothing for granted thereafter. While Chelsea were taking the title in 2005 and 2006, Ferguson was labouring over his response. When United regained the Premier League a year ago it was their first silverware since the 2004 FA Cup.
Some elements of a new squad were already there when Mourinho landed at Chelsea, even if Rio Ferdinand was then banned after the missed drugs test and Wayne Rooney had broken a foot at Euro 2004. United had spent £18 million on the teenager Cristiano Ronaldo the year before.
Ferguson has drawn on the budget judiciously, as when bringing in Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic cheaply. His thinking is, in part, a reaction to Chelsea's methods. Recognising the importance of their durability, he put such a premium on defending that United have conceded fewer goals than Grant's team.
The Old Trafford players, in some cases, are still in the throes of development and Evra may have to tolerate a seat among the France substitutes at Euro 2008. Michael Carrick did not even make the England squad for the last friendly. Snubs of that sort will not be entirely to Ferguson's satisfaction if they fill a few of his men with the energy of dissatisfaction.
If they beat Wigan tomorrow and Chelsea defeat Bolton, United will have earned the title on goal difference born largely of incisive attacking. Exuberance comes more readily to Ferguson's line-up. For the return legs of the respective Champions League semi-finals, the outfield players picked by Grant to face Liverpool were, on average, a couple of years older than those sent out against Barcelona by Ferguson. There should be additional running power at United.
It is extraordinary that Grant's players still have genuine hopes of the title after so many significant injuries. Then again, age itself might have something to do with the physical vulnerability. Should the title be denied Chelsea again, the manager, like Ferguson in 2004, will have to ask himself how he can open up a new phase.
The trouble is that the team is neither ineffective nor decrepit. Makelele, at 35, is the one person stored away for special occasions. It would be folly to jettison established players when Chelsea, since the summer of 2004, have been beaten only twice by United over 11 meetings in Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup. Nobody would be much surprised if this group lands the Champions League. That, nonetheless, would not establish that the players can maintain fitness and form over a sprawling domestic programme if they should begin next season without the Premier League trophy in their possession. Chelsea have been aware of all this for a while. They have no cause to sling out footballers and it would be a sorrow if Drogba or Lampard were to insist on leaving.
The strategy is supposed to be one of subtle evolution, yet the 21-year-old Mikel John Obi, booked seven times this season and sent off twice, is currently too much of a hothead in the holding role. Salomon Kalou (22) is not a key attacker as yet. Bids to acquire ready-made players are also problematic and Florent Malouda, a £13.5 million (€17m) buy, is yet to settle. Michael Ballack, for all his renown, has imposed himself only recently. There is no more to be said about the case of Andriy Shevchenko.
Claudio Ranieri and then Mourinho recruited an excellent group. They have been daunting to opponents but in the seasons to come these footballers will present a steeper challenge to the manager who must replace them. Guardian Service
