City seek early psychological lift against Chelsea

LONDON: The destination of the Premier League trophy will not be decided when current champions Chelsea meet their immediate predecessors Manchester City on Sunday, but the winners will get a welcome psychological boost for the long campaign ahead.

The meeting between two of the main title contenders has come early in the season but three points are three points whether they are won in August or May.

If Manchester City take them they will already be five clear of Chelsea whereas last season they never got their noses in front of Jose Mourinho's side.

City began their campaign with an easy 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion on Monday with Yaya Toure looking back to his imperious best, scoring the best goal of the season so far with City's second from the edge of the box.

Toure's excellent display and an equally emphatic statement of intent from City's captain Vincent Kompany were both in contrast to many of their performances last season.

"I know what I have to do and I don't care what people say about me. I'm not back - I've always been there," a defiant Toure said at the Hawthorns.

His manager Manuel Pellegrini, who has just signed a new deal with the club, did say Toure had had problems last season following the death of his brother Ibrahim, when Toure struggled in matches against the top sides.

So he will be under scrutiny when Chelsea visit on Sunday.

INDIFFERENT START

Chelsea made an indifferent start with a 2-2 draw against Swansea City at Stamford Bridge but much of the focus since has been on the curious aftermath of the match with Mourinho banning the club's first team doctor Eva Carneiro from the bench.

Mourinho was unhappy that Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn went on the pitch to treat Eden Hazard near the end.

Chelsea were down to 10 men following the dismissal of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and because the medics had come on to the pitch, Hazard had to go off before he could resume playing, leaving Chelsea with nine men on the field.

That incensed Mourinho and his banning order has made headlines since but what should concern him more was the way his team played.

Courtois will miss Sunday's game with newly-arrived deputy Asmir Begovic taking his place.

Petr Cech, Chelsea's first choice goalie for much of the past decade, is now at Arsenal and he will be hoping to put his miserable debut for the Gunners to the back of his mind at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Cech was at fault for both goals as Arsenal were shocked 2-0 at home by West Ham United on Sunday.

Palace meanwhile go into the game after an impressive 3-1 win at promoted Norwich City.

Palace have only beaten Arsenal three times in 37 meetings since they first clashed over 80 years ago and Arsenal have not lost a league match at Palace since 1979.

Arsene Wenger's men, who won the FA Cup last season and started this season with a Community Shield victory over Chelsea, will be looking to bounce back immediately.

The weekend starts with the re-introduction of a televised Friday night match with Aston Villa meeting Manchester United at Villa Park.

Both teams won their opening matches last weekend so whoever wins on Friday will go top, at least until the rest catch up on Saturday and Sunday.

Jose Mourinho Eva Carneiro: Chelsea manager bans ‘naive’ team doctor from matchday bench

Eva Carneiro has been banned from sitting on the bench after treating Eden Hazard late in the game against Swansea.

DOWN to 10-men and with a player down on the ground, Chelsea team doctor Eva Carneiro’s decision to run to Eden Hazard’s aid has seen her banned by Jose Mourinho from sitting on the bench on matchdays.

Carneiro had decided to treat Hazard on the field late in their 2-2 draw at home to Swansea, forcing the attacker to go off the pitch and putting an already 10-man Chelsea down to nine for a short time.

Mourinho was furious at Carneiro’s decision to enter the field and treat Hazard, and vented his anger at her as she returned to his technical area.

Mourinho then confirmed to Sky Sports after the game that he was “not happy” with his medical staff and it is now understood she has been banned from matchday duties.

Sky Sports sources understand the Gibraltar-born Carneiro will continue in her role as first-team doctor, but she will only work at the club’s training ground in Cobham, Surrey.

On the incident, Mourinho said: “Even if you are a kit man, doctor or secretary on the bench, you have to understand the game.

“You have to know you have one player less and when you go to the pitch to assist a player, you have to make sure your player has a serious injury.

“I was sure he hadn’t a serious problem. He had a knock, he was very tired. But my medical department — on an impulse — was naive and left me with eight outfield players in a counter-attack after a set piece.”

Carneiro joined Chelsea in 2009 as a reserve-team doctor before being promoted by Andre Villas-Boas to take the first-team role in 2011.

Earlier this year, the club were forced to issue a statement condemning sexism and discrimination in the game after Carneiro was subjected to sexist abuse from supporters.

Arsenal vs Chelsea: Arsene Wenger insists Eden Hazard is not in Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo class

Ahead of Community Shield Wenger praises the winger but contradicts Jose Mourinho's claim that he is at the level of the world's very best

Jose Mourinho may believe Eden Hazard is ready to challenge Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the best player on the planet, but Arsène Wenger is not convinced.

The Arsenal manager argues that the Chelsea playmaker is not yet at the level of the Barcelona and Real Madrid forwards because he cannot compete with their goalscoring record.

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Messi and Ronaldo both scored more than 55 goals in all competitions last season, compared to Hazard’s 19.

“He can decide the games and you always put the top players in this kind of calibre, when they can decide games by creating something special,” Wenger said. “Hazard is in that category. To reach the other two or three who are dominating world football at the moment I think it demands consistency and that is what he still has to do. It is all about opinions. You have to compare the numbers and players like Messi and Ronaldo still score 50 goals per season, that is absolutely exceptional.”

_{Hazard enjoyed a stellar campaign last season}

While Hazard may not sit on the summit of world football yet, Arsenal’s Community Shield opponents on Sunday, Chelsea, were firmly on top of the Premier League last season.

Leading throughout, Jose Mourinho’s side finished 12 points ahead of Arsenal, who ended the season third and outside of the top two for the 10th successive year. But with no major tournament this summer and a fully fit squad, Wenger believes this season can be different and Arsenal must challenge for the title.

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“Even last year we had no excuses, just the fact that they [Chelsea] started stronger and we didn’t. There were reasons, that is for sure,” said Wenger.

“[Per] Mertesacker, [Laurent] Koscielny, [Mesut] Ozil came back [from the World Cup]. We lost [Olivier] Giroud, Koscielny and Ozil for four months right from the start. [Danny] Welbeck joined very late on Sept 2. This season it is different.

_{Wenger believes his team will start better than they did last year}

“I believe they were more stable than us defensively and at the start of last season especially they had a good start. After six games we were 11 points behind Chelsea and we finished 12 points behind Chelsea. That means after six games the decision was made. They had a strong start and we had a slow start.”

If Arsenal are to claim a first title since 2004 then one man viewed as pivotal to that charge is Ozil, who Wenger believes can compete with Hazard as the Premier League’s leading light. The playmaker moved to the Emirates from Real Madrid in 2013 for a club record fee of £42.5 million, but his late arrival that year and the World Cup 12 months later have prevented him from having a full pre-season.

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This summer, though, Ozil’s preparations have not been interrupted and Wenger believes that could be pivotal.

“He is physically stronger, that is for sure,” Wenger said. “More equipped to deal with the Premier League and in the second part of the season last year we have seen that intelligence of his passing.

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“The fact is that he added some steel to his game that was needed, certainly in the Premier League, and I am confident he can be one of the great players of 2015/16.

“He joined very late without any preparation with the team, and in 2014 he came back exhausted by the World Cup. He got injured for four months and in the second part of the season he started to really adapt. This is of course the test, it is a very important season for him. But you can see that people have turned in favour of him recently, they are starting to enjoy his game.

_{Wenger is backing Mesut Ozil to make a major impact this season}

“The Premier League is sometimes a shock as well for the players because they think, ‘Oh, what’s happening here?’ And I remember when [Robert] Pires arrived, the first year I put him next to me at Sunderland and I said, ‘You will sit next to me today and watch the game.’ After 20 minutes he said, ‘Is it always like this?’ But he adapted.”

Within 19 months of his appearance on that bench at the Stadium of Light, Pires was voted Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association. It is an achievement Wenger will be hoping Ozil can replicate.