BELLETTI TO LEAVE
Posted on: Wed 09 Jun 2010
Juliano Belletti joins Joe Cole and Michael Ballack as players leaving the club when current contracts run out at the end of this month.
Signed as an attacking right-back by Jose Mourinho in August 2007, for the second and third of his three years at Chelsea Belletti was more likely to be seen in midfield.
He made that positional change under the management of Luiz Felipe Scolari who remembered the player's aptitude for the role from their days back in Brazil.
Belletti arrived at Stamford Bridge for an undisclosed fee with a World Cup winners' medal and a winning goal in a Champions League Final to his name. He was one of several to have made the move between Barcelona and Chelsea in the past two decades.
Mourinho lasted only a matter of weeks into Belletti's stay, but the player quickly demonstrated his abilities during his first season in England with two stunning Premier League strikes - against Wigan and Tottenham - the latter of which won the Chelsea Goal of the Season award for 2007/08.
He faced tough competition from Paulo Ferreira and later Michael Essien to make the right-back berth his own that year but a total of 38 (six as sub) appearances suggest he was the favoured choice, particularly at Stamford Bridge.
It was as a sub that Belletti made his mark in the Champions League Final, replacing Claude Makelele in the last minute of extra time, before coolly slotting home a penalty in the shootout, his first touch, only to see the side lose out.
The arrival of Jose Bosingwa during the summer that followed saw Belletti, who was turning 32, lose his status as the choice when an attack-minded right-back was needed and he remained in England with the reserves when the first-team embarked on pre-season tour. However within weeks of the start of the 2008/09 campaign he was asked to play holding midfielder against Tottenham and cemented his popularity by scoring against big local rivals for a second season running, earning his own White-Stripes-inspired song.
He also played as an attack-minded right midfielder in a season that yielded 9 starts plus 25 sub appearances and three goals, including one in a last-gasp turnaround against Stoke at home.
Last season's 13+9 games were a mix of right-back and midfield appearances. He started the big home wins over Blackburn, Wolves and Sunderland but unfortunately his last significant act was conceding a Cup Final penalty at Wembley. Happily Petr Cech negated its impact. He leaves the club with FA Cup and Premier League winners' medals.
A thoughtful and popular figure, Chelsea Football Club would like to thank Juliano for his contribution. He played 54+40 games and scored five goals.
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2067357,00.htmlJOE COLE TO LEAVE CHELSEA
Posted on: Wed 09 Jun 2010
Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Joe Cole will be leaving the club upon the expiration of his contract at the end of this month.
It brings to an end Joe's seven-year stay at Stamford Bridge, and we would like to thank him for his dedicated years of service and wish him well in his future career.
Cole arrived here in the summer of 2003, a £6.6 million signing from West Ham United funded shortly after Roman Abramovich's takeover of the club, though it was unclear how his skills would best be utilised under the guidance of Claudio Ranieri.
Things became a lot clearer when Jose Mourinho took over, implementing a devastating 4-3-3 system that saw his wide men run riot - while Joe was only rarely preferred to Damien Duff or Arjen Robben, he popped up with a number of crucial goals and stepped in well to cover Robben's injury problems, securing first a Carling Cup (his first medal in professional football) and then Chelsea's first championship in 50 years.
The next season saw perhaps the best form of his career as we surged to another title, the standout memory of the season being the fine individual goal that bamboozled Manchester United's defence and all but wrapped up a back-to-back title win.
Injury would dominate his 2006/07 campaign but he returned fit for 2007/08, and though Mourinho departed Joe took on further responsibility, again scoring crucial goals to keep us in the title race, earning the Chelsea Player of the Year award to recognise his efforts.
A ruptured cruciate ligament in January 2009 saw him miss eight months before a sparkling return against Queens Park Rangers in the Carling Cup, where he also wore the captain's armband.
After a season of being in and out of the starting line-up as he worked his way back to complete fitness, the last of Joe's 40 Chelsea goals came at Old Trafford in April. It was a delicate flick that summed him up as a player and helped propel us back to the top of the Barclays Premier League where we would stay until the end of the season.
In total, he played 282 times for Chelsea, 93 as a substitute. He becomes a free agent when his contract expires at the end of the month.
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2067102,00.htmlMICHAEL BALLACK TO LEAVE CHELSEA
Posted on: Wed 09 Jun 2010
Chelsea Football Club can confirm Michael Ballack will be leaving the club upon the expiration of his contract at the end of this month.
The midfielder has spent four years at Chelsea, and all at the club would like to place on record our thanks for his service and wish him luck for the future.
Having arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2006 as a free agent, Michael leaves us in the same manner after making 168 appearances (27 as substitute) and scoring 25 goals.
It was from Bayern Munich in his native Germany that he joined Chelsea, another star name to join Andriy Shevchenko at Stamford Bridge, though it was Ballack who would settle more comfortably to life in England.
Although he never managed to sustain the pre-Chelsea record of a goal every two games or so, his strong character, professionalism and will to win made him a popular character on and off the pitch - in a first season of acclimatisation he made key contributions at big moments, notably in the Carling Cup Final and the FA Cup semi, though ankle injury would keep him from the Final.
It was not until December of his second season he would feature again, but he hit the ground running and even took the captaincy with others either injured, suspended or at the 2008 African Nations. At this time Ballack scored important goals to haul us back into the title race, and smashed a penalty past Manchester United to bring us almost level with the eventual champions.
The second Champions League Final defeat of his career followed before an excellent Euro 2008, and he returned hopeful of a strong campaign with Chelsea, though another injury, this time to his feet, kept him out for a number of weeks during 2008/09 before a return to form and fitness under Guus Hiddink that helped secure the FA Cup.
Under Carlo Ancelotti he fitted in well to the midfield but was never an automatic selection, though early injury to Michael Essien provided less competition, before John Mikel Obi was ruled out for the final month of the season.
It was sad that on the day Ballack became the first German to win the Double in England, he was forced off in the Cup Final with ankle ligament damage that would force a withdrawal from the World Cup.
Michael will remain at Cobham for treatment until his injury is healed, but he will become a free agent as of July 1.
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2067096,00.html[ 本文被arsenal在2010-06-10 08:15重新編輯 ]
