Ballack joins Chelski

Poolman SG

Ballack chose 'stronger' Chelsea over Man Utd

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Germany midfielder Michael Ballack says he chose to sign for Chelsea instead of Manchester United because the English champions are a better team.

The 29-year-old was unveiled by Chelsea on Monday after arriving from Bayern Munich on a free transfer.

He signed a three-year contract with the club owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, winners of the last two Premier League titles.

'Manchester United came in quite early for me but really I saw the possibilities of Chelsea as being much greater,' the playmaker and Germany captain told a news conference.

'They are a stronger team and also London has its attractions, particularly as a family man. And in the final analysis it was Chelsea's aims that attracted me.

'Just look at the achievements of the club in the last two years, winning the title twice, and you can see what a super team they are.

'Also you have to consider the competition they are playing in. Liverpool won the Champions League last year and Arsenal are in the final again this week. This shows the strength of the league in England.

'And it's also a challenge for me, because the sort of play here suits my style.'

Ballack is expected to be rotated in Chelsea's teams on domestic and European duty with Ghana's Michael Essien in a three-man midfield featuring top goalscorer Frank Lampard and Frenchman Claude Makelele in the holding role.

'As for my position, I'm quite flexible,' he said. 'I can play at the back or the front of midfield and that flexibility is in the side as well.'

He will start his career in English football after helping Bayern win consecutive German league and cup doubles, part of a six-trophy haul during four years at the club.

'I had a great time at Bayern Munich. The fans have always been behind me. The last few weeks have seen a number of provocative statements which have obviously had an effect on the fans of Bayern Munich.

'And if a few of them react with whistles and boos that's understandable.'

Ballack took advice from Germany coach and former Tottenham Hotspur striker Jurgen Klinsmann, along with other German players in London's Premier League clubs before making his decision.

'I asked some players about English football - Jurgen Klinsmann, Robert Huth (Chelsea) and Jens Lehmann (Arsenal). They told me good things about this country.'

Ballack denied that Chelsea's new-found wealth under Abramovich's ownership was behind his move.

'That's not the case,' he said. 'It's more about a dream of playing abroad, which I had from the age of 22 or 23.

'In those days it was a question of where and when would I go. But then I had my moves to Kaiserslautern, Leverkusen and finally to Bayern and so I never went. But now is the right time.

'Money I can earn in any league, I earned well in Germany. That's not the main reason. The main challenge for me was to come and play in England.'

Poolman SG

Funny enough , Chelsea " stronger " than MU , in term$ of what ????? Mr. Green

Patrik SG

$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Laughing

stellazio SG

in debt,depth also.. Laughing

R3SsH|n SG

so he is gonna take the number 13 jersey?
then gallas is on his way out... Cool

798 SG

no backbone... Confused

stellazio SG

sibei sian ar. Crying or Very sad

Poolman SG

Agree ..... Gallas a very good player for Chelski . He should stay , and Carlvahno go , right ?

That's the problem when u tinker too much with a team . Some players will be unhappy ..... hope the favouritism is not the main cause for Gallas' departure .

Heard also Chelski one of their wingers will go , according to Mourn-The-Man ..... after Mourn-the-Man said Simao is good for his team , he expect one of the winger to go bye-bye ..... SWP ?????

Poolman SG

Heard also Good-John-Son also being track by Alex Ferguson ?

the Bear SG

you should see the venom used to describe him in football365..

and the bayern fans booed him in his last game...

i guess GBP130,000 per week and a 7-figure signing fee says a lot..

stellazio SG

ya lohz..carvalho cannot defend one la,he everytime want to play like dm try to intercept every ball den make mistake.. Crying or Very sad

and the stats also show that chelsea keeps the most clean sheets with gallas and terry at the back, i can't believe that mourinho doesn't want to keep him..

stellazio SG

ballack now at his peak, will cost a team at least 20m to sign..and yes i think he can sell jerseys too.. Laughing

stellazio SG

and today skysports reported that chelsea interested in roberto carlos..what for? another player that cannot defend..don't become another madrid la,wha kao.. i bet its kenyon that anyhow wana sign to boost appeal, not really what mourinho wants.. Mad Mad

weiqimun SG

my 6th sense tells me that ballack will do a kezman next season Wink . he may have german reliability, but i hope he will be a BIG chelski liability.

lampard and him playing together will have too many issues. they are similar players, like to attack from the park. u don really need 2 of them especially you have a team like chel$ki who has depth in talent$.

i know many won't bet against chel$ki getting a 3rd successive, but i also think that many premiership team are smarter now dealing with maureen's team. come august, i will still trot to s.pool and place my bet on liverpool lifting the premiership , like i have done in the past.

Poolman SG

Chelski signed Ballack is to relief Lampard’s duty , Lampard is the ever present in the team , it’s good that he can have a rest between tight fixtures and matches .

Poolman SG

It's not difficult to figure out how to beat Chelsea , eg , Liverpool must not only beat them at Anfield , they must also try to deny them at Stamford Bridge , and must win all other 34 matches , to achieve that .

If Chelski dropped points , it's just a bonus for Liverpool .

Winning the league , one team must possess the most very important factor - Consistency , in winning . Habit of winning .

weiqimun SG

the truth is both of them want to play. ballack would not go to chel$ki if he's to provide a relief/cover for lampard. Vice versa. maureen himself stated that both will start. Not inconceivable but if you have 2 with similar playing style, you stifle the tactics and versatility of the team. Chel$ki has got depth in midfield. Maureen essentially will deprive one other player there and that will surely cause more discontent.

weiqimun SG

dun mean to be rude, but what you state is a given, to any team Smile

win all matches, be consistent, etc...you get success

the challenge is how to stifle chel$ki tactically on the field. man-for-man, chel$ki will win hands down. maureen is quite a tactically astute guy, given his track records. i think so far, only rafa and fergie has proven to be able to deal effectively with maureen. i dun have the answers, otherwise i wun b here... Wink

liverpool's early form let us down. next season, gunners, reds and man u(re) will not let anything slip. also, i think the outright fear from the `smaller' teams playing the blues will also be less, though not necessarily they will win. blues also need luck to desert them next season. take their first match against wigan. it's travesty that blues win with a last minute goal when wigan was the better team on the day.

potentially a fight to the finish for the top 3 teams, whichever it is (reds + 2 more).

iveco SG

Ballack at his peak? Isn't he hitting the big 3-0 already?

SexyChin SG

There is no denying that he is that good.