Are Chelsea petty or just inept?
There’s a storm brewing over the Chelsea-Ballack-Germany saga, what with the exclusion from the Champions League group stages squad for Chelsea and then the delay by Chelsea in giving Ballack permission to go for a photo-shoot with the rest of the German national team for sponsors Adidas.
We also have Jose Mourinho saying that Shevchenko and Ballack have to try extra-hard at Chelsea if they want to be treated according to their status because at Chelsea they have several other superstars to contend with (JT, Lamps, Drogs) who work their asses off and give 200% on the pitch.
Everyone’s jumping on Chelsea’s case calling them vindictive and the newsbites keep pouring in, what with Ballack’s ‘disappointment’ at missing out on the squad (although he’s not sure when he’ll be fully match fit, and I can bet it won’t be before late November) and Bierhoff (German National Team’s general manager) criticising Chelsea for insulting their sponsors and Germany.
Everyone has assumed that Chelsea are guilty of being petty and are ‘teaching Ballack a lesson’ for undergoing surgery last season with Chelsea’s permission. No one has stopped to consider that a) the non-inclusion of Ballack in the Chelsea Champions League group stages squad is a pragmatic move considering the length of Ballack’s layoff and b) the delay in granting Ballack permission could have been ineptitude on the part of the London club.
Are Chelsea being petty or just being inept? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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Discussion - 10 Responses
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Ballack is Chelsea’s player. They can do what they like with him and it is nobody else’s business. If they think he might not be back to full fitness for the last Champions League qualifiers then they’re better off not naming him in the squad and naming one of their other top quality players instead. One that will definitely be fit for all the qualifiers. As for the photo-shoot… Well he’s going on the photo-shoot isn’t he? So what’s the problem?
No they are not being petty and websites such as yours would be better off actually finding out what people have REALLY been saying. Original I know but it would help. Ballack, on his own admission, is not fit now and cannot even join in training let alone be fit enough to be put into squads. Changed UEFGA rules this yera means that the club has to be extra careful when naming squads.
See this link for the facts http://www.chelseafc.com/page/NewsHomePage/0,,10268~1105406,00.html
Now you have read that you will understand that we could have included an unfit Ballack and left out a fit midfielder but that would not make any sense whatsoever.
As for the photo shoot I would refer you to the explanation in the Independent today….
“The Independent says sources at Chelsea have indicated that the German Federation failed to make the correct approaches to them to obtain the special insurance clearance needed for Ballack to take part in the commercial. They say that the first letter they received from Bierhoff requesting permission was dated 31 August. Kenyon and his assistant have been out of the office since that date and Chelsea claim a follow-up phone call was made to the wrong department.”
Now you can, of course, faint at in disbelief that German efficiency could fail like this but hey I’m sure that PK is not sitting in his office just in case some national Football Association wants to talk to him.
ruudi4
calm down man it almost seems like you didn’t read the full article
No, i´m sorry but that´s definitively not the way how to treat the captain of the german national team !
Read carefully the last two sentences !
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/premiership/article2947447.ece
We can just hope that Schalke and Valencia will progress in the group stage. Would be funny!
I dont think they are petty or inept, just go about things in a very wrong way. For any other team Ballack would be pivotal and any other team would have included him in the squad because even if he plays for 2 out of the 9 matches he could be the difference for any team. Chelsea dont consider him a priority quite obviously and that sends out very wrong signals. The whole ballack siituation with Sheva not playing a single game this season shows there are somethings going very wrong in Chelsea. Can you imagine them not playing for any other team?
A, what are you talking about?
Ballack’s not going to be very pivotal with a dodgy ankle. Sends out very wrong signals? What does that mean? What signals? You need to choose your best and most reliable squad, not worry about signals. This is football, not a women’s coffee morning! Screw signals you great big girl’s blouse!
M, i would expect that response from a chelski supporter. There is a way you are supposed to treat players, if you tell one of the best players in the world you can live without him, what signal does that send? but then i guess a supporter of a club that can only buy success, who is so excited about finally winning something, would no nothing about ethics or treating players with respect.
A.
I’m not a Chelski supporter and I’m not, like you, a bandwagon Chelski hater. Mr Ballack is injured and has not played in months. If he recovers from his injury before the last game of the first phase of the Champions’ League, he will be very short of match fitness. Why gamble with an injured, unfit player when you have other players available? If he recovers earlier, he can play in the other competitions. It’s not like he has been excluded from all compettions. So what makes you think that you know the squad better than Mr Mourinho? Or is it that you’ve received some special signals that you’re not telling us about?
Umm .. M this is a blog, where people give there opinions, so while i might not have divine intervention or insider info from mourinho himself, i think that if you could have a top class player for even 2 out of the 9 group games, it should be worth it. There are no guarantees about anyones fitness but all im saying is that by excluding him when he could be fit sends a wrong signal to players that we can live without you. and who are the other better players in midfield that would not be chosen ? for lasana diarra you have sidwell, and that about it. But then maybe he shouldnt have selected sheva because when fit ballack played more than him anyway, plus with pizarro you got another striker.. so who then? scott sinclair? ben sahar? do a fit any of them deserve to be chosen over a potentially unfit ballack?
Makelele, Sidwell, Essien, Lampard and Obi Mikel. Alex and Belletti have both played in midfield before and so has Bridge. All better than an unfit or injured Ballack. That’s 2 with 3 back ups in the middle and another 3 possibilities. I don’t know about Chelski being petty or inept but I think you are both of those things.