Chelsea’s form has substantially improved

Chelsea’s form has substantially improved after the appointment of Guus Hiddink on an interim basis.

The club are on an unbeaten run of more than five matches in their latest success came at the Emirates stadium following a 1-0 win over arch rivals Arsenal. This was yet another season in which the blues have managed a double over Arsenal. However, a major portion of the success comes about because of the Dutchman. Hiddink has been a breath of fresh air since he has been able to keep the club out of the headlines while silently managing to get results.

Even though the club has to make up 14 points in order to return to the top four, the Dutchman remains confident about qualifying for the Champions League next season. This will be the priority for the club between now and the end of the campaign, although there will be a tendency to focus on the league title. Yuri Zhirkov played for the club for a few years before departing to Russian football with Anzhi in 2011. He was part of the team that won the FA Cup under Hiddink. Now, Zhirkov has watched the progress that the club has made under the Dutchman.

He has showered praise on the 62-year-old says that he has the ability to transform any team.”I know Hiddink and I have no doubt that once he took over, the atmosphere at Chelsea became so much better and more relaxed than it had been before.The reason for the recent poor run is psychological. A year ago, Chelsea won the championship and this has had a bearing on the next season.When you win the title, it is also difficult to defend it and to play at the highest level. I think with Guus, Chelsea will ride out the crisis and next season will be back at the top of the table,” said Zhirkov.

Dmitry Alenichev has accepted that he has received a request

Dmitry Alenichev has accepted that he has received a request of transfer from the Armenia international Aras Ozbiliz and the midfielder would make an away move soon.

According to Alenichev, Aras believes that he would be playing more if he joins some other club and that’s something which the Spartak coaching Staff agrees to as well. So, by mutual consent, the player and the club would disassociate.

A website quoted the boss as saying, “Aras has not been able to play as many games as he believes he should have after coming back from injury.”

“He himself and we too are of the view that there would be more opportunities for him somewhere else where he can hopefully find his rhythm that he has been struggling for of late.”

Alenichev then revealed that apart from Ozbiliz, there are some others players too who would be on their way out.

“I think a couple others would go too.” said Alenichev.

Although there were no particular names taken, it’s believed out of those “couple” mentioned, one is Yura Movsisyan.

Movsisyan would not be leaving on a permanent basis though, as per the reports, and would only be placed on loan to a Major League Soccer team.

An official confirmation regarding this is, however, yet to come out.

Movsisyan is another Armenia international who has been playing in Russian top tier for 4 years and has shined for Spartak Moscow, but, in parts, not consistently.
He has also gone through run of games where he has not played that well.

If you look at paper, Movsisyan’s numbers look better in comparison to those of Ozbiliz, but, he has had a lot more games to play and that too in the central position. So, making the comparison of him and Ozbiliz, who is a winger, would probably be a little unfair.

Yaya Toure will Retire from International career soon

Yaya Toure, like his sibling Kolo, might also bring the curtain down on his International career soon.

He did not get picked for the AFCON qualifying game versus Sierra Leone as he had made himself unavailable for the fixture.

He is contemplating the best way forward for him in the twilight of his career and it’s believed that a big announcement is just on the cards.

Yaya was in charge of the Ivory Coast side when they ended the 23-year drought and achieved the African glory earlier his year.

His workload has been immense in the recent years as he has been a regular for both his club and national squad and now that he is getting older, it might have become quite tough for him to soak all the physical stress.

The weariness had a bit of an effect on his game the previous season as he had looked jaded playing for City in the Premier League.

So, that could be the thing which might be prompting him to leave the international scene.

The new Elephants’ boss Michel Dussuyer has, however, longed for Yaya to continue.

He was quoted telling the press the other day, “Yaya’s currently reflecting on Ivory Coast future. Hopefully, he decides to play for a bit more time.”

Yaya had made his debut in the international Football in 2004 and is the 4th most capped Ivory Coast player at the moment.

Didier Zokora is topping that list of players with the most number of games for Ivory Coast. He has 123 to his name, while, the second is Kolo Toure (who retired just after AFCON 2015) trailing by 5.

Didier Drogba stands third with 104, while, Yaya is not too far behind him having played 100 already.

ZHIRKOV STILL SIDELINED

Yuri Zhirkov is still sidelined for Chelsea as his team struggles to cope with a number of injuries. The Blues have had an extra week to prepare for the match following the postponement of last weekend’s clash with Manchester United.

Frank Lampard, Alex, Yuri Zhirkov and Yossi Benayoun remain sidelined.

ZHIRKOV WANTS TO BE A REGULAR

Yuri Zhirkov has said that his ambition is to become a regular for Chelsea. The Russian has endured a miserable start to the season following his £18million summer move to Stamford Bridge after being sidelined by a persistent ankle injury he suffered in pre-season.

But Zhirkov finally ended his frustration last night when he made his debut in Chelsea’s 1-0 Carling Cup victory over QPR.

The left wing-back said: “This is Chelsea, I don’t think anything needs to be said about the club.

“Everything is done at the highest level here. You have the best players here and the best facilities at the training ground and now I have to prove I am at this level too.”

ZHIRKOV IS READY TO PLAY

Yuri Zhirkov has claimed Chelsea’s medical staff denied him the chance to take part in the run-in despite him feeling he had recovered from injury.Zhirkov, 27, has endured a difficult spell at Stamford Bridge since signing from CSKA Moscow in 2009, with injuries hampering his opportunities at the club. He has suffered problems with his Achilles and knees this season and his most recent appearance for the club came from the bench in the 1-0 Champions League defeat at home to Manchester United at the start of April.

ZHIRKOV REPLACED AGAINST MANU

Yuri Zhirkov was one of the players who tried to unsuccessfully change the match against Man Utd for Chelsea. It might be a little late for the liking of Chelsea fans, but Carlo Ancelotti has finally made some changes in the 70th minute of the match, bringing on left winger Florent Malouda and forward Nicolas Anelka for Yuri Zhirkov and Didier Drogba in like for like changes. Chelsea’s tactics seem to be working, so Ancelotti simply felt the need to replace some players with fresh legs.

The Malouda switch was an obvious one, but everyone was stunned when Didier Drogba’s name and not that of Fernando Torres was called to come off for Nicolas Anelka. Drogba has been much more effective than Torres in this match, and no one was more confused at the substitution than he was. Drogba shook the hand of his manager when he came off and was not disrespectful, but still, at the same time, looked absolutely dumbfounded that he had been substituted off. Frankly, so am I.

ZHIRKOV PLANS TO LEAVE CHELSEA

Yuri Zhirkov has said that he will be leaving Chelsea if he does not get any chances in the future. The Russia midfielder, who joined the Premier League champions from CSKA Moscow for £18m in July 2009 is quoted in the Sun as saying: “My only target at the moment is to get back into the main Chelsea team. If I’m successful with that, all the other issues will resolve themselves.

“But if I fail to achieve that between now and the summer, I will start thinking of other possibilities.”

The 27-year-old has featured in 17 matches for Chelsea this season, most recently as a late substitute in their 2-0 Champions League victory over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday. “My condition has visibly improved,” added Zhirkov.

YURI INJURIED

Chelsea’s Yuri Zhirkov is suffering with his calf injury so he is a doubt to play against Fulham. Luiz, signed from Benfica on transfer deadline day, made his debut as a second-half substitute in last weekend’s defeat to Liverpool, and manager Carlo Ancelotti has now confirmed the Brazil international will be in his starting XI at Craven Cottage.

Jose Bosingwa could be the man to make way for Luiz, with Ancelotti revealing the player is doubtful with an unspecified injury, while Alex (knee) and Yuri Zhirkov (calf) remain sidelined.

And the Italian is expected to stick with the attacking trio of Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka despite their disappointing showing against Liverpool last time out.

ZHIRKOV FAILS TO RECOVER

Yuri Zhirkov has not recovered from his calf injury yet and will not play against Bolton. Frank Lampard will miss out once again for Chelsea, while skipper John Terry is a doubt ahead of their journey to the North West.

Lampard has been unable to shake off a calf injury, leading to his absence, while Terry is expected to be available despite picking up a back problem.

Ancelotti remains without Alex (knee), Yuri Zhirkov (calf) and Yossi Benayoun (Achilles).