Chelsea kick off their 2010/2011 Champions League campaign with their sights firmly set on an appearance at Wembley Stadium on 28th May and the club’s first ever victory in the competition.

Since the Roman Abramovich revolution at Stamford Bridge began in 2003, Chelsea have qualified for the Champions League on each of the seven seasons that the Russian Billionaire has been owner of the club. However, despite three Premier League titles, three FA Cup victories and two League Cups during that regime, the Champions League still eludes the Blues and it’s no secret that Abramovich is desperate for Europe’s most prestigious domestic honour to define his dynasty at the club.

Carlo Ancelotti is the current Chelsea manager and one with the onus to deliver Champions League success this term. The Italian is the sixth manager during Abramovich’s ownership and the fifth to manage the club in Europe with Claudio Ranieri the only one to miss out after he was relieved of his duties despite guiding the club to their first Champions league qualification 2004 in order to make way for Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho set the benchmark for Chelsea fans’ European expectations in his first season in charge when reaching the Semi Finals. A Last 16 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in 2006 followed by another semi final defeat in 2007 was enough to fray relations between the self-titled ‘special-one’ and Abramovich a fall out which saw Mourinho relieved of his duties and replaced by Avram Grant.

It was Avram Grant in his short eight month spell in charge who was the only manager to guide Chelsea to the Champions League final, narrowly losing out on penalties to Manchester United on penalties in the 2008 final. However, that was not considered enough for Grant to get the job on a long term contract and was swiftly replaced by Felipe Scolari ahead of the following season.

Brazilian Scolari took charge of Chelsea’s 2008/2009 campaign and ensured the team qualified for last 16 of that year’s Champions League but results in the league meant that the World Cup winning manager would not get a chance to manage in the knock out stages and Guus Hiddink was placed in charge until the end of that season. Hiddink had won the European Cup as manager of PSV Eindhoven in 1988 and came to Stamford Bridge with the reputation as one of the World’s best managers but not even he could progress beyond the Semi Finals, with Barcelona proving the obstacle at the final fence in 2009.

Abramovich’s next appointment in his pursuit of the one trophy that remains missing from the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet is current boss, Carlo Ancelotti. A four times Champions League winner with AC Milan (twice as a player and twice as manager), Ancelotti boasted the best CV of any available manager in Europe at the time of his appointment and got off to the best possible start in the League, regaining the Premier League title after three years in the grasp of Manchester United in addition to winning the FA Cup in his first season in charge, completing the ‘double’ for the first time in the club’s history. However, defeat in the last 16 stage of the Champions League, ironically at the hands of Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan en route to them winning the competition, ensured that the search for a Champions League continued into a seventh season.

Chelsea have started the 2010/2011 season with a 100% record in the Premier League and it would take brave man to oppose them winning back to back championships but the big question marks surrounds their chances of winning the Champions League. A favourable draw sees them play Slovakian side MSK Zilina, Marseille and CSKA Moscow in the group stage of this year’s tournament and qualification to the last 16 seems routine but the question remains can Ancelotti succeed where his four predecessors failed?

Ancelotti’s profile certainly fits that of a manager capable of giving Abramovich and the Chelsea faithful what they have craved for so long and there is no question whether the squad is good enough, which leaves only whether the one remaining factor will once again stand in the way of Chelsea and overdue European success, luck!

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All six of Chelsea’s Champions League exits in recent years have come attached with a hard luck story and the laws of probability suggest that fortunes should be due to change. The Champions League odds have them as a joint second favourite alongside Real Madrid and behind Barcelona to win this season’s competition and it’s difficult to argue with that view. With the final at Wembley, a venue Chelsea has played at ten times since it re-opened in 2007, there is every incentive for the Blues to want to end their wait in what would essentially be a home game.

If Chelsea can once again continue their trend of reaching the later stages of the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti could be the man to end the wait to taste European success in 2011 with everything seemingly in place. The small matter of Barcelona and the Jose Mourinho managed Real Madrid may prove a difficult assignment if they are to at least reach the final but this looks the best opportunity they’re likely to have. If Ancelotti is not the man to deliver success, it’ll be a difficult task to find the next Chelsea manager capable of fulfilling the high expectations everyone associated with the club have come to expect.

The Premier League has always been physical and competitive but recent events have threatened to cast a dark cloud over the league’s hard but fair reputation. Players such as Karl Henry and Nigel de Jong have found themselves at the centre of controversy following some reckless challenges that have led to long-term injuries to key players. However, while the debate rages over whether players or managers are to blame, there is another element to this that is being ignored.

That is the role of technology and equipment.

Football and technology have gone hand-in-hand for many years now. Football has become a multi billion pound industry and sponsorship of the top players has become ubiquitous in recent years. Sports manufacturers such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and Umbro routinely battle it out to secure the most lucrative contracts with the world’s best players as they look to get their hands on a slice of the football revenue pie. In return, the companies bring out new equipment for the players to wear week-in week-out so that they get the maximum exposure for their product.

The game has seen a radical change from only a few decades ago. Speed, pace and power are now the operative words when describing the modern day game and to accommodate that, the sports companies are producing even more lightweight boots.

The two biggest football companies, Nike and Adidas both have a range of lightweight boots that are marketed for their speed. The newest examples for each company both weigh less than 200g for each boot.

The result of such lightweight boots means that players may forget that they are wearing studs (or blades in most cases) and launch into challenges without thinking about the potential damage they could cause.

Also, the blades on most modern day boots, coupled with the hard, firm pitches found at almost all Premier League grounds mean that the foot can easily stay trapped in the surface rather than releasing. This ultimately proved to be the reason for Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia’s horrific injury last month against Rangers.

Another contributing factor is the trend for most clubs to water the pitches before kick-off. The aim is that the surface water will create a slick surface for a quick, snappy passing game. However, the watered pitch will also mean that slide challenges are more dangerous as the wet surface would obviously cause you to travel further and quicker than on an otherwise dry one.

While boots have been at the centre of attention for the recent spate of injuries, player’s shin pads have had rather less coverage.

I have noticed a trend amongst Premier League players of choosing tiny shin pads. We all know that the shin pad is a mandatory piece of kit for a footballer but there is nothing that governs how big it should be. When I play football, I usually have a large shin pad which covers almost all of my shin along with an ankle protector to shield from any tackles just above the boot. But for the professional players, they just seem to have a small slip-in pad which barely covers half of the shin. Take for example Carlos Tevez. The Argentine striker frequently celebrates his goals by taking out his shin pad which reveals a somewhat flimsy looking plastic pad which is supposed to protect his leg from serious injury.

No doubt that the trend for smaller shin pads is a result of the importance of speed in today’s game. The larger, more cumbersome shin pad would be a hindrance to a player to whom speed is of the essence.

But speed shouldn’t come at the expense of personal health. If the league brought in mandatory rules governing equipment that made larger, more sturdy shin pads universal, then all the players would have to deal with the same problem and nobody would be gaining an advantage.

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Injuries are part and parcel of the modern game but I feel that with a little regulation, they could become a little less frequent.

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It has been a superb week for Arsenal with three impressive wins and plenty of goals. Arsenal seem to be getting into gear and with news that Van Persie and Ramsey are set to return in the coming weeks, there is an air of positivity around the Emirates and an inner belief that this just might be their season.

This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of blogs that include…Gibbs a cause for concern, Wenger’s transfer dilemma and the unsung hero in Arsenal’s development.

Plus we have taken a look at the best Arsenal stories on the Web this week.

*

Featured Articles of the week

Wenger’s 10 Young Guns That Failed To Make The Grade

Are These The Worst Arsenal Kits Of Our Time?

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Other Arsenal Blogs

Looking to succeed where Dos Santos and Vela have failed?

Why Kieran Gibbs is a cause for concern

Benedikt Howedes v Per Mertesacker – Wenger’s transfer dilemma

Fabregas is the most effective midfielder in Europe FACT

The unsung hero in Arsenal’s development

Wenger finally wakes up and smells the coffee?

Has Wenger finally unearthed his new Robert Pirès?

Should Arsenal and United test Ajax’s financial water with January bid?

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Click here to see the BEST ARSENAL ARTICLES around the WEB this week

Best of Web

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Andrey Arshavin – The Russian Enigma – Online Gooner

Who earned a whopping 70% bonus this year and who else might be? – Le Grove

Arsene is a Very, Very, Naughty Boy – Highbury House

When Maturity Is Mistaken For Desperation – A Cultured Left Foot

The sadness of Manuel Almunia – Online Gooner

Fabianski: A word of warning – Le Grove

Everton manager David Moyes predicts that Marouane Fellaini will return from a hamstring injury two weeks ahead of schedule.

The Belgium international was ruled out for six weeks when he picked up the problem while on international duty last month.

But an upbeat Moyes told the Liverpool Echo:“The situation has improved. He’s training well and will have an outside chance of being fit for next Sunday.

“The lad is probably the hardest working player when he’s injured and probably the most dedicated to getting back.

“The medical staff say he’s a pleasure to work with, he wants to put his time in and get back quickly.

“He was in Belgium doing a solid week’s work and he really puts himself out.”

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Fellaini has featured in 78 matches for Moyes’ team following his transfer from Standard Liege in the summer of 2008.

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Manchester United have completed a deal to sign Denmark goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard from Norwegian club Aalesunds.

The 26-year-old has agreed terms on a deal running until the summer of 2014, moving for an undisclosed fee, although he is unable to feature until the transfer window re-opens in January.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson told his club's official website:"Anders is one of the brightest young keepers in the game.

"The challenge at Manchester United is always to look to the future and in Anders, we have signed a goalkeeper of great presence and even more promise.

"Having the time to train with him before he is registered will be an important period for him – almost like a pre season to get him integrated with the other players.

Lindegaard himself added:"Joining Manchester United is a dream come true for me. The club is such an institution in Denmark, it's an honour to come here.

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"I'm looking forward to playing and training alongside some of the great players in football today.

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Everton boss David Moyes is looking to solve his striking crisis by bringing in Monaco forward Dieumerci Mbokani.

Mbokani made his name playing club football in the Democratic Republic of Congo for Mazembe where he scored 67 goals in 72 games. A successful loan move to Anderlecht was then followed by a permanent transfer to Standard Liege in 2007. During his time in Liege he netted 35 times in 81 games ans his growing reputation resulted in a move to French club Monaco for a fee believed to be in the range of €6 million in 2010.

However, Mbokani has been out of form this season and has failed to make much of an impression for his new club and only found the net on one occasion. It is believed that David Moyes sent a scout to watch the Congolese striker play in Monaco’s 2-0 defeat to St. Etienne at the weekend.

Everton have been horribly short of goals this season. Their tally of ten goals in nine home games is he second worst in the Premiership and is a big contributor to their lowly league position. With Jermaine Beckford, Louis Saha and Yakubu all either struggling for from or fitness a new striker would help take the weight of goals off of Tim Cahill.

Watch below for a taste of what Mbokani can do…

[youtube 5RxRudD-2GQ]

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Up until recently, I didn’t know what a snood was. And now I do, I can’t helping thinking there are too many pansies in the game these days. Just imagine me walking out at Burnden Park in the 1960s wearing a snood and gloves. The Bolton fans would have loved that. And Bill Nick, too. He’d have banned them, no question. His idea of a football strip was one that had holes in it and had been worn 100 times. It wasn’t a proper outfit otherwise. In fact, we only got a new kit if we reached the FA Cup Final.

There was none of this fancy stuff – snoods, gloves, under garments, willy-warmers, or anything like that. We should ban it all on behalf of us old footballers who got grazed hands and knees, and froze to death while we were running around. I read the other day that boots worn by some of today’s top players can help keep your feet warm. What? I’m thinking about getting a pair to wear around the house. I could have worn them last weekend as I watched the Ipswich v Leicester game. It should have been abandoned when the referee took the players off, although I can’t imagine I’d like to tell Roy Keane I was cancelling a match that his side were winning 3-0.

Back in my day, fixtures were rarely cancelled because of snow. They normally laid a tarpaulin over the pitch, which solved the snow problem, but when you pulled it back it was hard as rock and as slippery as an ice rink. If they’d left the snow on it would have been easier to play. I remember up at Manchester City one year we could hardly stand and lost about 5-1. But that was all part of the game. Sometimes we’d have grounds like that, other times it would be a mud heap. Nowadays they’re all like billiard tables. We had to adapt dramatically. There were times you could not pass a ball 20 yards because it got stuck in the mud. You had to lift it or chip it, and all these various skills came in to play over the course of the season.

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I had to laugh at Wayne Rooney complaining last week that Christmas was a difficult time for footballers. You don’t know you’re born, sunshine! We played Christmas Day and Boxing Day. One year at Chelsea, we were home to Portsmouth on Christmas Day and away to them on Boxing Day. We won 7-4 and then lost 3-0. How do you work that out? Christmas morning at Stamford Bridge would be a full house. Men would watch the game, have a pint and go home for dinner. It was a good tradition.

The one perk we had at Tottenham was that they’d give us a turkey each and a bottle of perfume for the girls. The perfume was worth about sixpence and the turkey was all right, although it always looked like it had given itself up rather than been caught. At Chelsea we didn’t even have a Christmas party and if we did in Milan, I wasn’t invited. We used to have them at Spurs until it all got a bit out of hand.

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The first team had finished training, so we went to the White Hart and started having a decent drink. One of the reserve team players was ordered to get us, so we sent him packing. Eventually Cecil Pointon, our trainer, came in and said: “Come on, lads.” But we insisted he had a drink first. By the time we got back for the festivities, Bill Nicholson had a face like thunder. The board of directors were sitting there with all the rest of the players – the reserves, third team, youth team – and there were the star pupils staggering in. We all sat down and started throwing rolls – it was mayhem.

As the chairman got up, Dave Mackay shouted: “Sit down – you’re p****d!” It was pandemonium. And then dear old John White capped it all. You shouldn’t laugh, but it wasn’t an absolute sin to drink and drive in those days. On his way out, he took one of the main gates with him, collected it around the bumper of his car. That was the last party we ever had. Festive best wishes to you all!

Matt Le Tissier, Alan Shearer, Wayne Bridge, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott… Lloyd Foot?

There are few British teams who can boast about having produced as many young talented players as Southampton FC with the South-Coast team’s youth system having turned-out some of the most highly-regarded players in the Premiership from Shearer to Walcott. And now the Saints Academy is looking to its next big talent – eighteen-year-old Lloyd Foot.

Standing at 6ft 2in, Foot has the stature of a commanding centre back, strong and domineering – arguably key traits in making it in today’s game. Influenced as a child by the likes of David Beckham and Steven Gerrard, Foot also possesses the leadership qualities to boot. However he sees his best attributes as his ‘style of playing out from the back and composure’, and he aspires to play like the Real Madrid and Spain defender Sergio Ramos. I’m sure both Southampton and England would hope such comparisons materialise further.

He is hoping to follow the rapid ascendance of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who has this season progressed from the Academy into the first team at The Saints, and is currently a regular in the gossip columns with the papers focusing on his rumoured big money transfer to a Premiership side.

Foot though, and excuse the pun, has his feet firmly on the ground: “It’s hard to say when I’ll break into the first team, as you need experience as a centre back. Hopefully in the next few years but it’s up to the gaffer.” At the moment he is enjoying the thirteen-match unbeaten run the Southampton Academy side are on.

He puts the success of the club’s youth academy down to its structure. “The structure is brilliant. A lot of money is ploughed into it every year and all the coaching staff are really good.”

Whether or not Foot plays a direct role in the first team campaign this year, he is confident of the club’s chances: “I definitely think we’ll go up this year, and then next, if we could get a couple of good signings, we’ll hopefully do well in the Championship.”

It is at this level of football or higher where Foot envisages himself plying his trade in five years time. With such talent, commitment, and at a club that has such a good track record, it looks as if Foot could go all the way.

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La Liga club Atletico Madrid claim Chelsea offered them 52 million pounds for stars Sergio Aguero and Diego Godin.

Atletico chief Miguel Angel Gil says the Premier League giants attempted an expensive double-swoop on two of the club’s best players during the January transfer window.

The news would not be surprising with Chelsea thought to be keen on signing a defender after the chase for Benfica’s David Luiz came to a halt when the Portuguese club rejected Chelsea’s 17-million-pound bid.

Gil also revealed that Chelsea were not alone in their pursuit of Argentine Aguero, with Real Madrid also making a 39 million pound offer for the in-demand striker.

“Yesterday I received an offer of 45 million euros (39 million pounds) from Real Madrid for Aguero and I said no,” Gil told AS.

“This week, Chelsea offered us 60 million euros (52 million pounds) for ‘Kun’ (Aguero) and Godin and our answer was the same.”

“I will not negotiate with Real Madrid or any other club for Aguero now or in the summer. Atletico have said no to the two offers because they believe in these two players.”

But Chelsea refused to comment on the speculation that the pair were on their way to Stamford Bridge.

“We do not respond to transfer rumours no matter how wild they are,” a club spokesman said.

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While Gil’s hands-off warning could sour Chelsea’s interest, they are reported to be seriously interested in the duo.

Aguero, just 22, has scored more than 50 goals for his club and regularly represents Argentina, while Godin has already won 43 caps for Uruguay at the age of just 24.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew bemoaned the injury to striker Shola Ameobi after his side lost 1-0 at Fulham on Wednesday.

After a busy transfer deadline day that saw key striker Andy Carroll sold to Liverpool for 35 million pounds and fellow forward Xisco depart on loan to Deportivo La Coruna, Pardew is now facing a striker shortage that threatens to derail his side’s Premier League campaign.

And the manager’s disappointment at losing Carroll was compounded when Ameobi left the Craven Cottage pitch after just 10 minutes with a suspected fractured cheekbone.

It left Pardew with the untried pairing of Leon Best and substitute Nile Ranger up front, with both failing to make an impact.

“Shola’s injury has not helped our cause, it’s another blow following the one on Monday,” Pardew said.

“We need to rally together and I thank them (the club’s fans) for their support at Fulham.”

Pardew admitted his side were second best at Fulham, who won thanks to a second-half strike from Damien Duff.

“We did not play well enough tonight. The pitch was not the best and didn’t help either team, but we did not threaten enough and we could have been a lot better,” he said.

“They didn’t let us play much, it was a tight, tense affair. But we have Arsenal on Saturday and hopefully we will come away with better points.”

Fulham boss Mark Hughes was happy with his side’s improving form, with Wednesday’s result coming just days after their 4-0 trouncing of Tottenham in the FA Cup over the weekend.

“We scored one, could’ve had a number of others, had good clear chances and could’ve won more comprehensively,” Hughes said.

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“Probably as pleased with the performance and result tonight as I was at the weekend.”

“It was difficult for us in the first half. Newcastle came to stop us playing our normal game. They penned us in and, really, that wasn’t the game that we wanted to play,” he said.

“Second half, we had to address that and make sure we imposed ourselves.”