http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1362654,00.html?gusrc=rss
Chelsea rotate for a clean sweep
Dominic Fifield / Tuesday November 30, 2004 / The Guardian
Chelsea will pursue the Carling Cup with a radically altered line-up on
the banks of the Thames this evening, though to denounce Jose Mourinho's
selection as understrength would be to miss the point. For Fulham, as
jittery opponents at Craven Cottage, rotation is unlikely to bring respite.
Such is the buoyancy at the Premiership leaders that the Portuguese and
hissquad enter tonight's Carling Cup quarter-final against their local
rivals daring to contemplate a clean sweep of the three domestic competitions,
to be supplemented potentially by the Champions League.
"We are in all four and our aim is to win them all," admitted Arjen Robben,
encapsulating the mood at Stamford Bridge. That may smack of heady optimism
but bold statements are backed up by irresistible form these days.
Not since the club's heyday in the early 1970s have Chelsea supporters
thrilled to such scintillating football. The ominously stodgy defensive
mind-set of the season's first two months built solid foundations upon
which Mourinho's side have subsequently flourished.
They are unbeaten in 11 matches, having sauntered to a 4-1 win in the league
at Fulham just over two weeks ago. They have a five-point advantage at the
top of the Premiership to complement progress in Europe.
It is arguable whether British football has ever boasted a squad of such
lavish depth and quality as that funded by Roman Abramovich and tweaked
by Mourinho, prompting the aspirations for a clean sweep. "It's certainly
the best squad we've ever had," said Peter Osgood, the former Chelsea striker.
"At the beginning of the season I'd have said let's just win the league,
please. We needed a domestic title under our belts for the first time since
1955 - forget the cups - but the way they're going now, they're coasting
on all fronts."
"They're up to every task," said Alan Hudson, the midfielder whose skills
ignited Chelsea during the early 1970s. "They could win everything,
especially with Arsenal on the wobble now. Those five points in the league
won't be easy to claw back. The manager's the difference. People get worked
up about Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson, but Mourinho's got them both on
the run. The fella's cold-blooded, and you need that."
Fulham, meanwhile, limp into this evening's game on the back of three
successive defeats and with their manager, Chris Coleman, wary that Chelsea
are capable of "running up a cricket score". Regular reserves such as Scott
Parker, Carlo Cudicini and Mateja Kezman are all expected to feature for the
visitors. "The lads have got to be aware that if we show fear then they will
rip us apart," said Coleman. "The last time we played them they were on fire
and we ended up getting battered."
"The depth is simply frightening and they're so gifted in every position,"
said Osgood. "The manager inherited a good squad but he's strengthened it
and he's made it far more consistent."
That consistency dictates that there is little scope for dismissing the
League Cup. It is four years since Chelsea won a major trophy - the 2000 FA
Cup - and Mourinho, not to mention Abramovich, will not contemplate a season
without silverware. "The Carling Cup is not an irrelevance to us," said Eidur
Gudjohnsen. "We haven't won anything yet, but the first trophy is very
important." The suspicion remains that the first might prompt an avalanche.
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最近士氣挺不錯的...就一直這樣下去吧
--
Deny your conditioning.Cry.Love your friends. Kiss strangers.
Drink more. Do what you want. Have a baby. Believe in Narcissus.
Articulate boredom. Drink piss. Get naked. Argue constantly.
Masturbate openly.Never hallucinate.Exercise sensitivity. Suck cock.
Fuck. It's all so empty.
--
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