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Blues at their strongest, claims Cech
PETR CECH believes Chelsea are
stronger now than when they
were crowned Premier League
champions two years ago.
The Blues must beat Newcastle
today in the penultimate
match of the campaign to prevent
Manchester United from retaining
their title.
Cech believes his side is more
formidable now than when Jose
Mourinho was in charge - even
though they could end up conceding
the Premier League to Sir
Alex Ferguson's side.
I would say the team is at
least on the same level and
maybe a little bit better than two
seasons ago,'' he said.
This is because this year has
been tough as we started from
behind and had to chase United.
That is difficult to do so the
quality we have shown is at least
the same.''
Cech has demanded Chelsea
keep up the pressure on United
by prevailing at St James' Park
and is confident his side have the
resolve to take the title race
down to the wire.
Last week was a great week
as we beat United and reached
the Champions League final,
which was a great achievement,''
he said.
We will do our best to keep
our dream of winning the Premier
League alive at Newcastle.
If we win then the
last game will be interesting.
There is always a
lot of pressure at
Chelsea but we are
used to this and have
to make sure we
keep winning games.
You can see we
have the same qualities
as two years ago
when we won the Premier
League. We can
handle the pressure and
maybe win every
game.''
Cech is delighted
for boss Avram Grant,
whose position remains
under intense
scrutiny despite guiding
Chelsea to the Champions
League final.
It was an emotional week for
Avram because he was under
pressure,'' Cech said.
He must take great personal
satisfaction from this as this is
the first time Chelsea have
reached the Champions League
final.''
Cech has been pleased with
his own form this season has
not suffered despite suffering
a succession of injuries.
It's not been the
best year for me
because of injury
but I'm
still happy
with the way
I've played so
far,'' he said.
I've kept
my standard
despite all
the injuries
and this is
the most imp
o r t a n t
thing for me.
" I ' v e
missed a lot of games and you
don't like doing this as a professional.''
League Managers' Association
chief executive Richard Bevan,
meanwhile, claims Grant will remain
Chelsea boss whatever
happens this season.
I've spoken to a couple of
people and I don't believe Avram
will lose his job,'' he said.
Roman Abramovich is very
close to Avram - they're friends
and similar characters in many
ways.
In Russia they say
Abramovich loves his football
and wants to get more involved.
I think we'll see a closer relationship
between the two next
year - and bigger signings as
well.
The only danger for Chelsea
fans is where does Abramovich
go if Chelsea win the Champions
League?
I'm told that when
Abramovich is not at Chelsea
games it's because he has responsibilities
at the highest level
of Russian government that he
takes very seriously.''
9:38am Monday 5th May 2008
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