Watch Chelsea » guardian.co.uk http://www.watchchelsea.com Part of the Watch Live Breathe Network Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:45:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Henrique Hilário steps up after Petr Cech is ruled out for a month http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/21/henrique-hilario-steps-up-after-petr-cech-is-ruled-out-for-a-month/ http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/21/henrique-hilario-steps-up-after-petr-cech-is-ruled-out-for-a-month/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:12:52 +0000 admin http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/21/henrique-hilario-steps-up-after-petr-cech-is-ruled-out-for-a-month/

• Chelsea’s Cech has torn a muscle in his right calf
• Hilário likely to be given the nod ahead of Turnbull

Henrique Hilário is in line to start the new season in goal for Chelsea, after the club confirmed that Petr Cech had torn the calf muscle in his right leg and would be sidelined for the next four weeks.

Carlo Ancelotti, the manager, is expected to prefer Hilário to his other back-up goalkeeper, Ross Turnbull, for the Community Shield fixture against Manchester United two weeks on Sunday and the Premier League opener at home to West Bromwich Albion the following Saturday. If Cech’s rehabilitation goes according to plan, he should be back for the game at Wigan Athletic on 21 August.

Cech had returned to Chelsea training on 5 July, together with Hilário and Turnbull, and he had hoped to benefit from a full pre-season, as a side-effect of the Czech Republic failing to qualify for the World Cup. But after playing for 30 minutes in the 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday he will now miss the club’s remaining friendlies against Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt and Hamburg.

Hilário was put through extra training yesterday by the goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon, after Cech felt his calf muscle tear during a routine jog and the 34-year-old Portuguese, who made 11 appearances in all competitions last season, is preparing for a return to the spotlight.

Chelseaguardian.co.uk

]]> http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/21/henrique-hilario-steps-up-after-petr-cech-is-ruled-out-for-a-month/feed/ 0 Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech ruled out for a month with calf injury http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/21/chelsea-goalkeeper-petr-cech-ruled-out-for-a-month-with-calf-injury/ http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/21/chelsea-goalkeeper-petr-cech-ruled-out-for-a-month-with-calf-injury/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:25:09 +0000 admin http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/21/chelsea-goalkeeper-petr-cech-ruled-out-for-a-month-with-calf-injury/

• Blow for Chelsea as Cech tears calf muscle in training
• Goalkeeper missed a month of last season with similar injury

Chelsea’s goalkeeper Petr Cech will be out of action for a month after tearing a calf muscle in his right leg.

Cech, 28, suffered the injury in training on Tuesday, and medical tests confirmed he will miss the start of the new season as a result.

Cech missed a month of last season with a similar injury sustained at Internazionale in the Champions League.

A spokesman for Chelsea confirmed: “Petr will be out for around a month after scans showed a tear in his right calf. He is expected to miss the rest of the pre-season campaign.”

Chelseaguardian.co.uk

]]> http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/21/chelsea-goalkeeper-petr-cech-ruled-out-for-a-month-with-calf-injury/feed/ 0 Joe Cole joins Liverpool on four-year contract http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/19/joe-cole-joins-liverpool-on-four-year-contract/ http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/19/joe-cole-joins-liverpool-on-four-year-contract/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:09:07 +0000 admin http://www.watchchelsea.com/2010/07/19/joe-cole-joins-liverpool-on-four-year-contract/

• England international moves to Anfield on a free transfer
• Cole becomes Liverpool’s second signing of the summer

Liverpool today signed Joe Cole on a four-year contract, subject to a medical due to take place “in the next 48 hours”.

The 28-year-old England international has moved on a free transfer after his contract with Chelsea expired at the end of June. He had also been linked with Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, who will both compete in the Champions League next season, but has chosen instead to move to Anfield where he becomes the second signing of the summer after Milan Jovanovic, the Serbian winger who joined from Standard Liège earlier this month, also on a free transfer.

The capture of Cole was seen as a key factor in proving to the likes of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, who have both been linked with departures after a disappointing seventh-placed finish in Rafael Benítez’s final season in charge, that Liverpool can still compete for quality signings. He will be seen as a replacement for Yossi Benayoun, the 30-year-old Israeli creative midfielder who has joined Chelsea for £5m.

Hodgson is still on the look-out for a new left-back with Fabio Aurélio having left and Emiliano Insua on the verge of completing his move to Fiorentina. After that the Liverpool manager will hope to secure commitments from Gerrard and Torres about their futures.

The former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp, whose father Harry was keen on signing Cole for Spurs, said reports the player was holding out for the most lucrative contract were unfair.

“From what I know, compared to other players in the Premier League now, he’s not being greedy at all,” Redknapp told Sky Sports News. “He just wants a good deal and rightfully so – he’s a free agent and he’s worked that situation nicely – but I know he’s not asking for anything astronomical, like what is being portrayed in the press.

“He’s just looking for the right club and he needs to play football now. He missed a lot of time at Chelsea last season with his knee injury and didn’t quite get back to the level he showed previously. He needs to go somewhere, be loved, and play football and get back to being the Joe Cole we all know.”

LiverpoolChelseaTransfer windowSimon Burntonguardian.co.uk

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