p4arab
Posts : 143
Join date : 2010-09-25
 |  Subject: Graeme Le Saux: John Terry and Frank Lampard not untouchable in possibly greatest ever Chelsea team  Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:30 pm | |
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Chelsea legend Graeme Le Saux believes John Terry and Frank Lampard are no longer untouchable in what he regards as possibly the club’s greatest ever team.
Lampard has missed the last four Chelsea games after having hernia surgery earlier this month, while Terry has recently missed matches for club and country with rib and hamstring injuries.
In their absence, the double winners have maintained their electric, 100 per cent start to the Premier League season and, although they crashed out of the Carling Cup at home to Newcastle United on Wednesday, are considered strong favourites to retain their title.
Le Saux, who spent 12 years at Stamford Bridge in two spells, has been enormously impressed by how Carlo Ancelotti’s team have coped without the two players who are regarded as the heartbeats of the club.
“John and Frank are the cornerstones of that side, so they’re hugely valuable players for that team,” explained Le Saux. “But we all know as players that you have to be fit. If you’re not fit and it gives someone else an opportunity, then it’s up to the manager. If he sticks with a player because he is playing well, then you have got to sit and wait it out.
“It depends how they train. If Frank Lampard is training well and looks like he has completely recovered from the hernia, then Ancelotti will pick him because he is a very special player in terms of his goalscoring and his contribution.
"But if him or John is not 100 per cent fit and he can justify not playing them, then I don’t think he would have a doubt about not playing them for that game or the short-term.
“Any good team is built on a squad and the more confident a squad is, the more the fringe players feel part of it, the more likelihood that when one of the big names comes out there is a seamless transition.
"Do you leave someone out because they’re not playing too well or do you put someone in because they’re a big name? It’s an interesting conundrum. I’m sure Carlo Ancelotti will be pleased to have the competition but it’s going to give him a headache.”
Chelsea travel to Manchester City at Saturday lunchtime in what many observers regard as the first major test of their league campaign after they chalked up five comfortable victories out of five, including two 6-0 thrashings and a 4-0 win.
“The things that really impress me are the composure of the team and that comes from the coach at the training ground,” Le Saux said. “It’s very relaxed but focused and that is a great balance he has there.
“The other thing I think he has ever so well – and he has done it very quickly - is that he has allowed the creative players to express themselves and try things. The system allows these players to shine and if it doesn’t work out it allows them to remain very solid. They seem to have a settled style and yet still quite adaptable.
“You’ve got it from all over the pitch. It’s not just Drogba scoring goals – everyone is chipping in. [Michael] Essien is back and he is a tremendous player – an incredible athlete and a great technician. He is absolutely phenomenal. He goes about his business very quietly and doesn’t maybe score as many goals as he should but he is a really important player in that team.”
Le Saux, who won a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, FA Cup and League Cup at Chelsea, as well as a Premier League crown with Blackburn Rovers, said the Champions League is the true test of whether Ancelotti is presiding over the greatest team in the club’s history.
He explained: “The Champions League is the big one. If they bring the Champions League to the club this year then they will go down as historically the best.
“They can achieve at least what they achieved last year but it’s only five games in and people are saying they can go the whole season without losing a game, but it’s a bit disrespectful to the other teams to suggest that.
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