We’ve missed Michael Ballack. I don’t care what anyone else says, we sold him a season too soon and when Lampard was out last season, the club must have known they’d shot themselves in the foot letting him go.
Not that our former midfielder didn’t have his own injury problems though, given the last game he played for us saw Kevin Prince Boateng jump all over his leg in the FA Cup final, putting him out of the game (and the world cup) for 3 months.
Ballack hadn’t expected that to be his last game for us though because like some of us, he’d been expecting a contract extension to be agreed. Ballack says “I never had the chance to say goodbye officially, because after that last game we were still talking about a new contract and I thought we would come together.”
Not that he seems to hold any sort of grudge at being kept in the dark for so long before his swift exit, saying “It’s not normal to talk so long about a new contract. You should get a decision much earlier. Yes, I think it was a decision of the club, not the coach. Sometimes things go differently from the way you think. You have to change your policy. They put more young players in, to change the team a little. That’s understandable.”
Of the many managers he had at Chelsea, Ballack doesn’t really seem to have a bad word to say, and of Carlo Ancelotti, says “He was always fair to the players. He always found a good way to train this difficult team, because it was not easy to train them with so many individuals, so many egos. That’s not easy for a coach. In the past few years they have changed the manager a few times but it’s not always about the manager. The team is also part of it.”
So is he suggesting, as Scolari did following his departure, that players have more power than any manager at Chelsea? Well, probably a little because whilst he denies any part in Scolari’s departure himself, Ballack hints there’s probably a battle of ego’s at the Bridge, saying “It is totally not true. I don’t know where he (Scolari) got that from. It surprised me because we had a good relationship. I (just) thought he couldn’t find the right chemistry with the players, what you need for this club. I said when I arrived at Chelsea that it’s important that the big players don’t push too much in a personal way, because that’s not too good for the team. They have to step back.”
On Mourinho, Ballack initially seemed impressed, saying “I had the feeling after my interview (with Mourinho) that he had an outstanding influence on people and I liked it. I looked up to him.” Mind you, following his trip back to Germany for surgery in 2007 and the furore that surround that, the German midfielder says “The relationship was not the best. He didn’t speak but you could feel it.”
Surprisingly, when it comes to Avram Grant, Ballack seems to have had a bit of a softer spot than some of us, insisting “He’s a smart guy. It’s always difficult to work after Jose. Avram was a totally different person, but he understands football. But a few of the players were used to the Jose style. A lot liked it: aggressive and English. Avram was very different (but) it was a really good season. We nearly won the league and we went to the Champions League final. We should have won and that would have been the biggest success in history for Chelsea. And after, he got sacked. Why? I don’t know.
He gave the players more freedom. Maybe they misunderstood that and thought, “This coach is weak”. A few players in the dressing room had this feeling: “He’s not so strong, like Jose. He’s not that good.” I just think it was a different way. He gave the players more freedom but more power. I don’t think he was a bad coach for Chelsea. I think the opposite.”
At least he sets the record straight about Roman’s involved though, particularly around the rumours of Abramovich swooping in at the training ground in his helicopter to deliver a bollocking because at that suggestion Ballack laughs “No, no. I never saw it. Maybe he landed it in the corner! That he is more powerful than the coach is normal because he’s the boss. But we thought he was shy, which maybe he is. Of course, he’s a powerful person but he was really in the background.”
So what about the Champions League then, and all the disappointments along the way for Ballack? Again, Ballack is pretty well-balanced in his thoughts, saying “I had a great career. But not to win a big international title is also part of my career. I had a lot of emotional days at Chelsea, some that did not really end well, especially in the Champions League. But afterwards, you realise how difficult it is even to come so far, to reach the final.”
And on facing his former club in this year’s competition? Ballack says “It will be good moment for me to have a new and maybe last contact with those fans.”
Blue is the colour
