USA-lägret: Terry och Cole intervjuade
Chelseas engelska landslagsmän John Terry och Joe Cole var i fokus på nattens presskonferensen under träningslägret i USA.
Och de båda spelarna ansattes givetvis med frågor om landslagskollegan Ashley Cole, som ryktats på väg till klubben, och talade inte oväntat varmt om honom. Nedan följer oöversatta svar från presskonferensen, hämtade från Chelseas officiella hemsida.
Om Ashley Cole:
JC: “Playing with Ashley, he makes it very easy for you. He is a great player and if he wants to come, we’ll have the two best left-backs in the country. We will be very strong in that position.”
JT: “He is a fantastic player. Defensively very solid, quick, great one-v-one and going forwards he is great as well. His crossing and everything about him is first class. But we still have Bridgey here. He had a good six months at Fulham and he is looking fit, sharp and ready to go.”
Om nyförvärvet Andrej Sjevtjenko:
JC: “His movement is fantastic. He is a proven goalscorer and we have been saying for a while if we could get someone to score us 30 goals a season it would be great. He has more or less done that for the last six or seven years in Italy. So I am really looking forward to playing with him.”
JT: “It is only very early days but already he is looking very sharp and his finishing is top draw, so I am just glad he is on our side now,” said Terry.
Om ett annat nyförvärv, Michael Ballack:
JC: “You saw what a good player he was at the World Cup. He controls the midfield very well, his passing is excellent, he scores an amazing amount of goals and he is great in the air as well, so another threat from set pieces. He is a top drawer player at the peak of his career.
Om truppen och träningen:
JC: “I think the squad is going to be a little trimmer this year but it is nice to buy quality players. You know if you go to any big club in Europe, there is always competition for places. I have never seen anything like the competitiveness here at Chelsea in training. It is so sharp. If I don’t train well one session, I have the hump all day because it is really an opportunity to stake a claim every day. If you do it right it is the perfect club and I love it here. You have to take the competition. The training here has been second to none. The way it has been organised and the attention to detail is amazing. We have certainly improved our squad and we are hungry.”
Om USA-intryck:
JC: “I actually came out here a little bit before everyone else and I had a look down Rodeo Drive which is a lovely place,” said Cole, referring to Beverly Hills’ swanky shopping street. I went to see Venice Beach, see all the guys pumping iron. I was going to have a go myself but they don’t make dumbbells that small!”