Chelsea boss, Carlo Ancelotti, has warned his side not to underestimate Athletico Madrid when the Spanish side play at Stamford Bridge this evening. Ancelotti wants a marked improvement on some inconsistent recent Chelsea displays and says that if his side are going to win the Champions League they will need to grind out wins from matches like this.

Chelsea should be able to name a very strong side and Ancelotti does not have many headaches to deal with. He will be happy at the fact that his team are still competing and not out of any thing even though they have not been playing as well as they could do.

He said: “Atletico didn’t start well but they have very good qualities. They have Aguero and Forlan, they are dangerous strikers and we have to pay attention to this. Aguero has fantastic quality and he can win matches. They are a good team.”

“We have a possibility to move eight points ahead of Atletico and that is very good because we want to arrive in first place in the group. We have a great opportunity to do this. To get first place in the group we need 12 or 13 points so it is important to win on Wednesday.”

Chelsea will want to finish first because if they do it will mean that they will get an easier game in the first knock out stage of the Champions League. However, every match seems to be a tough one in the modern day and Athletico will still be entertaining their own ideas of reaching the later stages.

Chelsea should be able to welcome back Germany’s captain, Michael Ballack, but right back, Jose Bosingwa, will miss the match with a knee problem. Otherwise the Chelsea gauntlet should be at full strength and it will be full steam ahead as they look to carry on their Champions League quest.

Chelsea will probably still feel a little bit of heart break from the final defeat they suffered two years ago at the hands of Manchester United. This should be enough inspiration to spur them on this season and they will go out of their way to make sure that there are no repeats of any last minute goals, like the one that knocked them out at the semi-final stage last year.

Chelsea are capable of going all the way but they need to work very hard at keeping a level of consistency that will allow them to compete with the better sides in the competition.

Liverpool defender, Jamie Carragher, has said that Liverpool should not let their heads drop just yet. The defender says that the week Liverpool have after the international break is likely to be decisive in how the rest of the club’s season pans out.

Carragher is a Liverpool legend and has been a regular first team player over the last few seasons. He is one of those players that defines the club he is at and he has been in many of the situations that Liverpool are in before.

He said: “It’s never nice to lose before an international break, particularly a game as big as this [against Chelsea], but we have got to put it behind us. It would have been good to send the international lads away with a bit of a buzz, but it wasn’t to be and now it’s a case of putting it behind us.”

“When we get back to it, we have got a massive week coming up with those games against Sunderland, United and Lyons. But every week you have as a Liverpool player is massive and we know we’ll have to be at our best to get going again at Sunderland as they are in good form.”

“Games against Chelsea are notoriously tight and a bit of quality or a mistake is always going to be the thing that turns it one way or another. But we have lost the ball in midfield for their first and I felt myself that I should have done a bit better for their second one.”

“I thought we played quite well and did all right for most of the game, yet we have still come away with a 2-0 defeat. It’s the small details that are so important at this level and we know that there are certain areas we have got to improve. There’s a gap at the top and we’ve got to close it.”

The point is that the very factor that keeps Liverpool apart from the big clubs on such a regular basis is consistency. They simply do not have it. If they were able to beat the big teams every single week then the club would have won another championship by now.

Also they are missing one or two players. There is too much pressure on specific areas of the team and this makes them vulnerable. If these areas do not fire then it makes it impossible for the club to win games as they cannot adapt.

Rafa Benitez is trying to stay upbeat about Liverpool’s title chances, despite the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea yesterday. Goals from Nicholas Anelka and Florent Malouda were enough to put Chelsea right back into the driving seat after Manchester United’s draw with Sunderland.

Liverpool were also soundly beaten in a Champions League match against Fiorentina during the week, a match that Benitez said was one of the worst performances that he had ever seen from his side.

Liverpool will need to buck up their ideas very quickly or it will probably end up being just another dull and boring season that will not play to the ambitions and expectations of the average Reds fan.

Benitez said: “We must stay calm. We will see what happens in March and April. I think you will see all the top sides losing more points against the other teams. It’s good for the Premier League, good for the competition, and it just means we have to try to win more games.”

“I think the performance wasn’t bad. We were against a very good team. The end of the championship is a big distance away. Manchester United’s result [a 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland on Saturday] was a surprise, but we want to stay concentrated on our season, not on the season of other teams.”

Benitez seems to be quickly running out of patience with his side and could wield the axe of rotation all over again ahead of Liverpool’s next game. The problem for them is finding the consistency that will help them move forward and be able to challenge for the title all season long.

The point is that Liverpool do have it in them to compete but what they don’t seem able to do is compete regularly and make good of their best form. Once they find the consistency then they will be amazing.

The other factor is that the club look one or two players short. Fernando Torres does not have a world class partner in attack, too much pressure is put onto Steven Gerrard and the defence needs an extra world class player to hold the side together.

Once all of these things have been found then Liverpool will be fine. January can’t come quick enough at the moment but the message is already clear that the team will not be able to reach the top level of competition this season.

Fabio Aurelio says that he thought he had seen most things during his time at Liverpool, but he was not prepared for the Benitez backlash following the 2-0 defeat against Fiorentina.

Benitez does not appear to be a manager that gets easily annoyed but the performance of his side the other night would have been enough to make even the most modest of managers completely lose the plot.

Aurelio said: “I think that was the most annoyed we have seen the manager, but we were all annoyed. We all felt like that after the first half and I think that’s why you saw a better performance in the second. But we didn’t need harsh words at half-time. We all knew that we were not playing well and that we had to be much better.”

“In the second half we controlled more of it at last and we created chances that normally we would have taken. We just couldn’t find a way to play against them in the first half, and they were finding a lot of space. They were controlling the ball and we couldn’t come up with any way to stop them.”

“It was so unlike Liverpool. In the second half we were a different side and if it had been like that from the start, it could have been a different result. We can’t think about that now, though, just how we will manage it again if we have the same situation in the future.”

“In football you always have a chance to put it right and turn things to your favour and ours comes at Chelsea on Sunday. It’s a good opportunity for us to get over the disappointment of losing in Florence.”

“It is a very important game in the Premier League, against a very strong side, and we have to recover from this result straight away and have the confidence we can do a good job again.”

Liverpool look as though they are going to be this season’s frustrating team to watch. Brilliant at one second but terrible the next. There is no secret plan to uncover, all the team has to do is find the form that saw them completely smash Hull City to bits and play like that in every single game.

Europe is a different league to the Premier League but Benitez has won this cup and will do every thing he can to make sure his side don’t slip up again.

Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has let rip on his team after an unconvincing win over Apoel last night. Chelsea got their noses in front early but failed to increase their 1-0 advantage, regardless of the fact that they had a number of good chances.

Ancelotti said: “I wanted Chelsea to play better and to take more control, to play with courage. But I think that at this stage of the season it’s normal. We have to change. They ran a lot, but we have to play better.”

“It wasn’t a good performance. We started with good control, scored a goal, and we had opportunities to do quick counter-attacks after that, but we didn’t do that.”

“In the second half it was different. We tried to control the game with possession, but we made a lot of mistakes. Nicosia played very well in the second half and deserved to draw the game.”

Captain, John Terry, speaking ahead of the next Premier League match with Liverpool, added: “We have to be better. They are a very good side who had a tough result yesterday [a 2-0 defeat away to Fiorentina]. They will be up for it and they are a big club so we will have to respond again when we play them.”

“Ideally you want to play well and win. We haven’t been at our best tonight, but there were times when we passed it well and we came away with three points, so you can’t ask for more.”

The weak performance is being used by Chelsea critics as evidence over why they will never be able to win the Champions League under the current management and structure.

They need to be stamping their authority all over games and teams such as this because when they come up against a better side they will not be allowed to get away with it.

The frustrations last night were clear as Terry himself got involved with a player right at the end of the game but the point is that a win is a win. Chelsea can take another three points away with them and they should be satisified that they are looking good for qualification.

There is time and space to get some hard work done ahead of tougher and more important games but for now the focus should switch to beating Liverpool this coming weekend in the Premier League, where they have just seen their lead slip.

Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, is being forced to defend his controversial zone marking policy that he uses during Champions League games. A lot of people have said that Rafa will get punished if he continues to use the system in Europe and that it will be one of the reasons that Liverpool will not progress this season.

The system works by giving each player a specific area of the pitch to be in and control as opposed to marking another player directly. Although this system may work well in the Premier League it does not always hold firm in Europe and the system was exposed by a much weaker European side in Liverpool’s first Champions League match this season.

The Spaniard said: “The system has been very effective for us. If you look at the records, we don’t concede more goals than other teams from set-plays. This is the right way for us to go and you see a lot of goals conceded with teams man-marking.”

Former Liverpool striker, John Aldridge, said in a newspaper piece: “Liverpool’s European exit at the hands of Chelsea last season provided conclusive proof that the defensive system is unreliable against intelligent opponents and it will catch them out again.”

“Guus Hiddink clearly identified a weakness in the Liverpool back line at Anfield that night and once Chelsea scored three away goals, their passage to another European semi-final was all but assured.”

“It is still an issue this season and I feel the defenders have lost a little bit of confidence. Liverpool are looking uncertain every time their opponent gets a corner or a free-kick around the box and it is a major worry as they start another Champions League campaign.”

“The truth is defenders make mistakes and this is why we have conceded some disappointing goals. We’ve also had some problems with injuries in defensive positions and this has affected us also this season. With everyone fit, I’m convinced our defence will be strong once again.”

The point is that Liverpool will come up against better class European teams, the likes of which they have not played before. The standard is better than ever and with the money spent by a lot of sides the pressure will be right on them to brush aside teams like Liverpool, who will not be considered serious Champions League contenders until the later stages. It’s a system they will stick with but one they probably shouldn’t.

Spurs romped to victory in their third round Carling Cup match against Preston North End, thanks to a hat trick from Peter Crouch. Tottenham looked in sparkling form and were never threatened during the match as they easily progressed to the next round.

Before the game, Spurs manager, Harry Redknapp, was calling for his side to show some backbone after two heavy recent defeats against Manchester United and Chelsea. Well they showed this in abundance against Preston as the gulf in class between the two sides was huge.

Redknapp said: “It was a good hat-trick. Robbie took his goal well. It [deciding which strikers to start] is a nice problem to have. This was a game a lot of people looked at and had it down as a potential shock.”

“But I thought we were dangerous and sharp going forward. That said, this was the type of game we would have lost 12 months ago. We’ve just had two defeats and we certainly didn’t want to be facing Burnley on Saturday on the back of three defeats.”

Spurs are still very much a team in progression. It is growing more clear as each game passes that Spurs are still some way behind the top teams in particular areas. The real test is reducing the gap in consistency between performances such as this and the ones that see them lose 3-1 to a Manchester United side that play for half an hour with only ten men.

Alan Irvine, the Preston boss, added: “Tottenham were very good going forward and certainly caused us problems. They showed the difference between the Premier League and the Championship. We could have taken the lead before they scored and we could have equalised when we were 1-0 down.”

“The scoreline gives an impression we were played off the pitch but I thought there were some good points to take from the game.”

Ironically this could have been the perfect game at the perfect time for this Spurs side. They were able to go into a match as the heavy favourites and were able to give a number of their first choice players a run out in a match that they were always going to win.

The next test for them will be how they perform in their next Premier League game against Burnley, who have shown no signs at all that they are out of their depth at this level.

Peter Kenyon has left his post as Chief Executive of Chelsea. The move has been met with a mixed reaction as some are glad to see the back of him, while others are mystified as to why he left.,

Frank Arnesen now looks set to walk into the position as Kenyon’s role in football is now up in the air. The strongest rumour going around is that Kenyon left because of his role in the process that eventually saw Chelsea get banned from signing any players in the next two transfer windows.

Kenyon was part of the initial team that was taken to Stamford Bridge by owner, Roman Abramovic, when the Russian completed a take over deal. Kenyon had previously been employed at Manchester United who were fuming when their best businessman was taken away from them and whisked down south.

Bruce Buck, Chelsea Chairman, said: “Peter has done a fantastic job for Chelsea in the last five-and-a-half years and has been absolutely central to the success on and off the field we have had during that time.”

It is unknown where Kenyon will go next but it looks as though he may take a long break from football befoe deciding to start throwing around applications for high proifle jobs at a variety of football clubs. He could bring a lot to the table for many teams but they will be wary in the immediate after math period as Chelsea fans have warned against him, saying that he is the reason the internal transfer system of the club has started to decay.

Kenyon himself said: “I think we have really built a club, in a relatively short space of time, that can be in the forefront of European football for many years to come. That is a major achievement. I intend to take a little time off but I am certain I have at least one major challenge left in me.”

Chelsea said yesterday that they will not rush in repalcing Kenyon who held the position for a very long time. It is thought that Arnesen is the strongest candidate to walk into the role although there will be a lot of applications for the job.The thing that Arnesen has going in his favour though is the respect that he’s been at the club already for a long time, knows how it will work and knows what he will wan

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, says that banning football clubs from buying players under the age of 18 will make the transfer situation worse and not better. Wenger’s point is based on the fact that football clubs are businesses and established organizations.

Banning clubs from buying players may lead to complications when it comes to agents who may be presented with the opportunity of buying all rights connected to a player, which could prompt a repeat of the Carlos Tevez saga that eventually saw West Ham United paying a settlement of £30 million to Sheffield United.

Wenger said: “If you ban players from moving before the age of 18, you know what will happen? The player will be sold anyway. To whom? To agents. At what age? At 13, 14. Where will they go? Not to top-level clubs with top-level education. They will go to clubs who have been bought by business people, of a very low level, and will stay there until the age of 18 waiting to be sold. The money will go out of the game.”

“If your players cannot move to the best clubs, I believe they will not improve. If you have a child who is a good musician, what is your first reaction? It is to put it into a good music school, not in an average one. So why should that not happen in football? If a player goes to Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, it is all [above board] and he gets a good education.”

“Clubs will just make future agreements with the clubs to sign them at 18 when they are 16. Are they really going to wait? England is in a weak position for taking young players because they inflict a big handicap on themselves by the fact that they have no access to Asian players, no access to South American players, no access to African players [because of work permit regulations].”

Wenger’s critics will say that the Frenchman will react badly to the possibility of a ban because his football philosophy has been based on buying young players over the last two or three seasons and now that it is under threat he will say any thing to stop it from happening.

Football is a very lucrative business and there are a lot of people in the game who are just trying to make a few extra pounds by capitalizing on the inexperience of a lot of younger players.

Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, said yesterday that there will be no way back for Chelsea from their transfer ban. Blatter is well known for his erratic and sometimes questionable views as the head of global football but insists that such a punishment must be carried out.

Chelsea were banned from signing players for two years after it emerged that they had approached a number of teenagers illegally, offering them incentives to break their contracts and move to London. Although these players and their families will now be better off because of Chelsea, it does not excuse the way the club conducted their business and they will now have to rely on their squad and youth system to produce talent.

Blatter said: “There are clubs now who are looking at their books, some have even announced that a certain player has no contract with them and he is an amateur. They have done this to try to make sure that the player does not come under the jurisdiction of congress.”

“They are taken at 14 or 15 years old with clubs saying that their parents are going too. But they get put into another family, and what happens to them? One out of say 20 has a chance to go on in their career. The others are left, and they need to be protected.”

“We have now had a case [Chelsea] to analyze. It has been done by a committee with a judge and representatives of many clubs. That has now been settled. I have been asked by officials in Brazil to stop the exodus of their young players. We will do the same in Africa. We are trying to organize leagues [in South America and Africa] so players there can earn a decent living. That takes time, but we have started because it is the only way to protect young players.”

So it seems that the example has been set and it will be followed. Any similar circumstances will warrant exactly the same sort of punishment and this is highly worrying when you consider the number of Premier League clubs that have been mentioned in relation to player tapping.

Maybe certain clubs have pounced on the news about Chelsea and see an opportunity to get certain clubs punished. Previously this would have been impossible due to the legal superiority that big clubs can raise and even in the case of Le Havre, Manchester United have already flexed their legal muscle.