The fight for Joe Cole and coping without Essien

Chelsea fans don’t seem to have any reason to be in the worrying mood after the 7:2 hammering of Sunderland, especially since we are still sitting at the Premiership summit but not all is rosy at the moment. Michael Essien has just picked up a new injury while on international duty and could be out for more than a month, while Joe Cole’s future remains in balance since the midfielder has yet to sign an extension to the current deal that runs out in the summer. These are some serious concerns and should be dealt with as soon as possible, for everyone’s sake.

The club officials obviously have to do everything they can to keep hold of Joe Cole since there is nobody in the squad capable of replacing him. I have already written an article on the diminutive midfielder and there is no reason to repeat myself but I am pretty sure everyone at the club are aware what an asset the England international is to the club. The club should better give him everything he asks for in order to stay at Stamford Bridge since we would have to pay a lot more to bring a replacement than handing him a hefty new contract. With United, Tottenham, City and clubs from abroad lurking around, the matter should be resolved as quickly as possible since we desperately need Cole to stay a true Blue.

Carlo Ancelotti really didn’t need Michael Essien to pick up a new injury since the Ghanaian is our only notable holding midfielder. Mikel and Belletti can do the job when Chelsea are playing the likes of Hull or Stoke but they are far from the desired quality to play at the highest level. With Essien set to spend up to six weeks on the sidelines, Ancelotti simply has to buy a replacement.

Jack Rodwell or Marouane Fellaini look like the best solutions at the moment since they can both step in immediately, while they are also remarkable prospects for the future. Chelsea’s midfield is in desperate need of fresh blood and either one of the Everton players would certainly add a lot of flair to the aging midfield. The only problem is both players will cost a lot of money and Moyes will be reluctant to sell, but I am pretty sure that a hefty offer would make Everton officials change their minds.

We are well covered in other areas, especially when Drogba, Kalou and Mikel return from Angola, therefore buying a holding midfielder and tying Joe Cole to a new deal is the only thing that stands between Chelsea and numerous titles in the next few years. Online bookmakers believe Cole will remain at Stamford Bridge and I sincerely hope they are right.

Who is Chelsea target Luis Suarez?

It seems Carlo Ancelotti will be able to buy players in January after all since Chelsea’s appeal against the FIFA suspension is due to be resolved in mid January, by which time the Blues could have already recruited a couple of new players to help them deal with their African Nations Cup worries. The latest reports are suggesting Ajax forward Luis Suarez tops the shopping list and some even say the transfer is a done deal. The Blues need to act quickly, however, since Arsenal, Tottenham and even Barcelona are also interested in signing the Ajax man. The 22-year-old is likely to cost around £30 million but he would be worth every penny in my opinion.

The Uruguayan started his career in domestic club Nacional, where he was immediately recognized as one of country’s brightest talents and even won the league title in 2006. Dutch Eredivisie side Groningen spotted his potential and managed to snatch him for as little as €800,000, which proved to be a very smart buy. Suarez was impressive in his first season in Holland, scoring 11 goals in 30 appearances and was soon sold to Ajax for no less than €7.5 million.

It was at Ajax where he caught the attention of wider public, terrorizing opposition defences together with Klaas Jan Huntelaar and it was these two that formed one of the best attacking partnerships in the history of the club. Suarez continued to score goals on regular basis even after Huntelaar left and was even made captain by Martin Jol this season. Suarez scored remarkable 23 goals in 24 appearances this season even though he was mostly played on the wing and it is this record that saw him grab the headlines across Europe.

Some would say it is easy for him to score goals in weak Dutch League, but he also scores them in Europe and for the national team, while his assists are what make him stand out of the crowd. Even though he was pretty selfish when he came to Ajax, he has developed into a player completely dedicated to team’s cause and that is something Ajax coaches have to be given credit for.

Luis Suarez is a player with great vision and a great eye for the goal but he is also one of just few world-class players who can completely change the course of the game by creating a chance for himself or his teammates. Chelsea (Chelsea news) don’t have such a player in their ranks and that is why I am eager to see Suarez at Stamford Bridge in January. £30 million may sound like a lot of money but considering Suarez’s undoubted potential and the fact he is only 22, to me it sound more like a bargain.

Joe Cole for England

Fabio Capello is waiting to hear who England’s opponents will be at next year’s World Cup and once the draw is made, he will return to his biggest task at the moment, picking England World Cup squad. The Italian is unlikely to make too many changes to the squad that played in the qualifying campaign but a couple of players who missed the big part of World Cup qualifiers are hoping to be on the plane to South Africa. One of those is certainly Joe Cole, who is enjoying his football after recovering from 8-month injury lay-off and the diminutive midfielder will have plenty of time to impress Capello.

Joe Cole has last featured for England in the 4:1 in over Croatia and it is interesting he hasn’t had any contact with the manager since suffering a knee injury. Nevertheless, former West Ham played quickly proved just what Chelsea were missing while he was out and he is currently enjoying his role just behind the strikers. Cole offers the Blues a new dimension in attack and his ability to play his way out of trouble and provide killer passes for Drogba and Anelka is very much appreciated. His first touch and vision is impressive, which makes him very useful when playing in tight spaces.

The only problem is England play conventional 4-4-2 formation under Capello and the managed would have problems finding him a place in the side. Even though he is much more influential when played centrally, Cole is used to playing on the wings, with left hand side probably suits him best since he can cut inside and make all sorts of problems for opposition defenders.

Fabio Capello is still searching for the striker to play alongside Wayne Rooney and Cole is definitely capable of playing as a second striker. I am confident the Italian manager will realize just how much England can gain with Joe Cole since his versatility would be a big asset for the Three Lions.

The only thing Cole now needs to do in order to command a place in the national team is to play as much as possible for Chelsea and that shouldn’t be a problem if his rich vein of form continues. The midfielder was subbed in the Carling Cup defeat to Blackburn and is in danger of losing his starting place, but I am pretty sure Ancelotti doesn’t have better player than Cole for the position at the tip of the diamond. To sum it up, if England are to have any chance of lifting the World Cup after 44 years, they need Joe Cole in the side. You don’t have to be an expert in sports betting to know England are not exactly favourites to win the World Cup.

Gael Kakuta under the sporlight for all the right reasons

Gael Kakuta was recognized as one of the brightest youth talents in France when he made a move from Lens to Stamford Bridge but the youngster came under the spotlight when FIFA imposed a transfer ban on Chelsea for inducing the player to break his contract with his former club. The Stamford Bridge outfit has already launched an appeal and while they await the final decision, Chelsea fans had the chance to see what all the fuss was about.

After Kakuta largely impressed playing for the reserves, Carlo Ancelotti included him in the squad for the Premiership game against Wolves and handed him debut when his side were already 4:0 up. The youngster played some great stuff during his first 30 minutes in the Premiership and showed he was a great prospect for the future.

It was evident he wasn’t afraid of the big chance he got and played as if he was well established player. Kakuta didn’t waste any time in passing the ball around as most youngsters do until they feel confident enough to try something special but he immediately started looking for ways to create chances for himself and the teammates. The 18-year-old Frenchman showed why he was considered the brightest talent in Chelsea youth academy by constantly taking the players on and almost every contact he had with the ball led to a chance.

Kakuta obviously cannot be judged by a single performance and he need to continue working hard in order to command a starting berth at Chelsea but he’s got all the qualities needed to become a world-class player and Ancelotti is definitely lucky to have him in the squad.

Kauta is not the only youngster with a bright future at Chelsea and credit to Frank Arnesen because it’s been a while since the Blues had so many talented players coming through the ranks. One of Chelsea goals was to have a successful youth academy and they are getting closer to their objective by the day. Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic and Italian striker Fabio Borinia also played some part in the aforementioned Wolves game and they certainly didn’t disappoint, while centre-back Jeffrey Bruma is also touted as one to watch. Therefore, I can honestly say the future is bright at Stamford Bridge.

How will African Cup of Nations affect Chelsea’s chances?

One competition Premiership managers especially hate is African Cup of Nations since it often leaves them without several important players in the most important part of the season. Next edition of the competition will take part from 10th to 31st January but you should also take into account that the national teams are entitled to have the players around two weeks before the tournament starts. Therefore, Carlo Ancelotti will have to do without Drogba, Kalou, Mikel and Essien for approximately five Premiership matches. Seeing that we are talking about the crucial part of the season, this could be a problem.

First of all, Chelsea look like the hot favourites for the title with both United and Liverpool underperforming, although they will have to be wary of ever impressive Arsenal. Therefore, the Blues cannot afford to drop too many points during the Christmas holidays because that would put a big pressure on the team. The good thing is that Ancelotti has big enough squad to cope with the absentees unless the squad is hit with a big injury crisis. John Obi Mikel is not going to be sorely missed since he has barely featured this season, but losing Essien would definitely weaken the defensive part of the team. However, the boss could be handed a surprise boost since the Ghanian midfielder pulled out of the national team squad last weekend without having the consent of the Ghana coach and the national team officials have announced Essien could be banned from representing Ghana in the future.

The biggest blow will be losing Drogba and his replacement Kalou, since that will leave Nicolas Anelka as the only senior striker in the squad. There is a couple of ways how the boss can solve this problem. The first one is moving Joe Cole to partner Anelka, while playing Ballack as the tip of the diamond, while Ancelotti could also opt to modify his formation a little bit. The Italian also has two great young strikers in Borini and Sturridge, who have already proved their potential and this can be the right time to hand them the chance to shine. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

The most important thing, however, is that the Blues mostly face teams from the bottom part of the table during this period, thus the absence of aforementioned players shouldn’t be such a big problem. Chelsea are set to face Fulham, Sunderland and Birmingham at home, while playing Hull City and Burnley away, and they couldn’t have wished for the better fixture list. All the players will return in time to face Arsenal on 6th February and as things now stand, the next African Cup of Nations won’t do Chelsea a lot of harm. Therefore, the right betting strategy is to back Chelsea to win the Premiership at odds of 1.91 offered by 888sport.