Ballack in Last Chance Saloon?

Paddy · I'm a chatterbox! Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 737 votes: 7

http://www.chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk/, Monday January 22 2007

It pains me to write this particular article but recent performances suggest it has to be done.

It's very rare that I knock anyone who pulls on the blue shirt of Chelsea. Unfortunately I learned the hard way back in the late eighties after I slagged Joe McLaughlin off for his part in the debacle that was the Blackburn defeat. The game was off course the first we'd played at Stamford Bridge with the terraces shut and was also the first in our memorable promotion season.

Joe, during that game, made an uncharacteristic error and my full wrath was vented in his direction. Little did I know that he'd played knowing one of his family members was seriously ill and was to, sadly, pass away shortly after. He may have made an error but the central defender was so proud to pull on that blue shirt and try his best he didn`t want a personal tradegy to come between him and the chance to represent our club.

A lot of years have passed by since then. I'd like to think I've become older and wiser and that I've managed to curb my youthful aggression and engage my brain before opening my mouth, indeed, I'd like to think I've mellowed quite a lot. Nowadays, I tend to sit back and watch the world go by, taking note of things and storing them in the memory for commenting on at a later date. However, with Chelsea clinging to their title hopes by a thread, the time has come to offer comment on one player in particular, Michael Ballack.

I can recall that night Bayern Munich came to SW6 as if it was yesterday. I can recall the contempt I held Ballack in after he'd tumbled over theatrically to earn Bayern a late penalty, a penalty that would offer them a glimmer of hope in the second leg. Nevertheless, it was an act that I`d have applauded if the boot was on the other foot.

I watched anxiously as Ballack steered the spot kick into the bottom corner with nonchalant ease, despite being an opposition player, he'd caught my eye. There was something different about him, an aura that separated the superstar from those around him. A top notch gun-slinger strutting his stuff in a strange town.

So to say I was delighted when, in the summer, we secured his services is probably an understatement. I ignored the snide comments that he wouldn't be able to play alongside Frank Lampard and I feared for the future of Michael Essien. I truly believed that with Ballack in the side we'd be able to go that extra mile, that we'd be the side to march to glory on the domestic front and be able to eclipse the giants of Europe as we closed in on the Holy Grail.

Well, to be brutally honest I couldn't have been more wrong!

Michael Essien, as we all know, has gone from strength to strength whilst the Chelsea career of Michael Ballack has, to put it mildly, been very disappointing.

Highlights have been very few considering the enormous pay cheque he's receiving every week. Indeed, far from witnessing the performances of a superstar on the pitch we've been treated to displays that, at best, can be described as languid, unadventurous and so laid back the first strains of discontent from the Chelsea support have already been voiced. Far from being the top-notch gunslinger we`d all hoped for, he sadly resembles someone living on past memories.

The air of invincibility that was so apparent whilst he wore the colours of Bayern has been replaced by a tendency to stroll through games, a tendency to waste possession and a tendency to commit a plethora of silly fouls that put our fragile defence under increasing pressure. Strangely, the 'Special One' seems content with his performances and has already described Ballack as one of his untouchables.

Now, in the months to come, that praise may well prove to be the work of a genius and could well go down in the history books as a remarkable piece of man-management but in the immediate future, I can't help but feel that Michael Ballack owes us big-time.

With the vultures of the press perched above Stamford Bridge waiting to pontificate at the merest hint of a crisis, is now not the time for Ballack to produce the goods, to take a game by the scruff of the neck and produce the sort of performance his status dictates he should be able to do?

If not, then I'm sure there will be many more supporters only to willing too openly question his role at Chelsea, his ability to last the pace in English football and also to mock the fact that his weekly wage takes the average Matthew Harding Lower supporter approximately four years to earn.

The football pitch can be a wonderful place when things are going well but in times of adversity, unless you're prepared to dig in and deliver, it can also be the most lonely place in the world. Sort it out Ballack, our patience, whilst being a wonderful virtue, is starting to wear a little thin!

MUTU

I always believed Ballack was a big game player. He never really impressed in Bundesliga matches, except for the important ones, but he always did well in the Champions League and the national team.

tracylynn

Franz: Ballack made wrong choice

Transfer window blogBayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer feels Michael Ballack made the wrong decision in joining Chelsea ahead of Manchester United.

Bayern are keen to strengthen their midfield after losing their skipper last summer to Chelsea under the Bosman Ruling.

Ballack continues to be overshadowed by Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge and has yet to win over the Chelsea supporters.

"I believe something has to happen in midfield [in the summer at the latest]," commented Beckenbauer on Bayern's situation.

"We are missing a player like Deco, Diego or Lionel Messi, or a young Mehmet Scholl. We don't have anybody like that.

"I don't see a position for him [Ballack] at Chelsea - the ideal position where he played at Bayern or where he plays in the Germany national team.

"Lampard is too strong and takes his position. You should know that when you sign him.

"He does not fit in at Chelsea.

"He should have gone to Manchester United."

Eurosport - AM - 24/01/2007 19:25

Schweini_rules

He was more than a superstar in Bayern . . he was worshiped like god , but now look at him...disgrace...glad he left Munich. Players should play for the team not the money.

Schweini_rules

well not like god as Effe and Olli but he was respected...strictly speaking he was bayern and we should admit that, when he was not playing FcB did bad ...

tracylynn

Ballack defends Chelsea decision

Michael Ballack has hit back at Franz Beckenbauer's claims he made a mistake in signing for Chelsea.

Bayern Munich president Beckenbauer said Ballack would have been better suited to Manchester United and would have improved a lot more as a player for the Red Devils.

But Germany captain Ballack has rejected the notion he made an error in moving to the Blues, despite recent media criticism in England.

"I am completely respected and get on well with my team mates, which is all that counts," he said.

"I can only speak for myself. I looked for a new challenge and I have found it here."

The 30-year-old midfielder has failed to make a big impact for the Premiership champions since his free transfer from Bayern, but for Ballack, the move was the correct one.

"For me, it has absolutely been the right decision," he told ARD radio.

Since he's left he has been criticized by everyone. Resentment by the fact that he left? Perhaps. I wished he had never left but if he's happy then that's all the matters.

Schweini_rules

He is living in a dream , he will wake up soon when they will kick him out and he will live in a nightmare then

Paddy · I'm a chatterbox! Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 737 votes: 7

I hate him. He betrayed Bayern and now he´s paying for it.

tracylynn

02-05-2007
Ballack shrugs off criticism
Germany captain Michael Ballack has hit back at criticism of his form at English Premiership champions Chelsea, saying manager Jose Mourinho was happy with his performances.

'As far as I am concerned, I have integrated well into the team,' Ballack said in an interview with the SID sports news agency.

'I feel very happy, I've found my role in the team and I have had plenty of confirmation of that, above all from my coach, Jose Mourinho, with whom I talk a lot,' the midfielder said Monday.

Ballack, whose reported weekly salary of 130,000 pounds (255,000 dollars) is thought to make him the world's highest-paid player, dismissed the criticism of his lacklustre form in the English press.

'There are a load of tabloid newspapers in England, which always need something to write and it doesn't particularly bother me.'

He did however accept that it was taking him time to adapt to his role in the star-studded Chelsea lineup.

'Naturally, in a team like Chelsea it takes time to perfect your game and play an outstanding role,' Ballack said.

The latest criticism of Ballack came not from England, but closer to home, from Bayern Munich president Frank Beckenbauer, who said he should have opted for Manchester United instead of Chelsea when he left Bayern last year because his teammate, England midfielder Frank Lampard, was 'stronger and takes his position'.

Ballack dismissed the suggestion that he and Lampard were struggling to form an effective partnership.

'He plays his game, I play mine. We have a good understanding.

'Chelsea have been champions for the last two seasons and so expectations are high.

'We are lagging behind a little in the title race and so this (the criticism) is something we have to live with, especially the new signings.'

Ballack said Chelsea knew they could not afford any more 'slip-ups' if they are to make up the six-point gap on United at the top of the Premiership.

'It'll be tough because United are so consistent. But we are still have a home match against them to come.'

Ballack also said he believed that Mourinho would be staying at the club, despite speculation that he has fallen out with billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and could be eyeing a move to Real Madrid.

'Our coach is confronted by new rumours every day. I am sure as my teammates are that he is going to stay at Stamford Bridge.'

Ballack is expected to line up for Germany in a friendly against Switzerland in Dusseldorf on Wednesday.

BERLIN (AFP) © 2007 AFP

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fanOfBayern

He needs to do what he is best at..that too very soon...otherwise...chelsea fans will start booing him... Smile

...

bogdan

Former Bayern Munich skipper Stefan Effenberg is impressed with Michael Ballack admitting that he must improve his Chelsea form.

Ballack has failed to make his mark in the Premiership since his summer move.

Michael Essien, Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard have all outdone the former Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich man, and he has been honest to admit he has not done well enough.
"I'm still not dominant and noticeable enough and I am still not scoring enough goals," he had told Premiere.

"It takes a while to settle into a team. Now half a year has passed, and things have worked out reasonably well.

"But I hope that things will work a lot better in the future."

Former Bayern Munich skipper Stefen Effenberg, whole career with the Bavarian giants ended as a result of Ballack's arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, has been impressed with what he has heard.

"I take my hat off to him after these comments," Effenberg told Bild.

"He is very self-critical, and that is the first step to improvement.

"His presence on the pitch has been lacking until now, and also a little luck in finishing."[/b]