Source: Telegraph
Aston Villa's Stilyan Petrov declares Chelsea are not so special any more
Since the Portuguese manager was sacked in September 2007, Chelsea have struggled to find any consistency, first under Avram Grant and then Luiz Felipe Scolari. [LNB]The result, according to Petrov, is that Chelsea's reputation no longer affords them the reverence they once had. [LNB]"When Mourinho was there they had a special team," Petrov explained. [LNB]"I think they had more belief in themselves. I don't think they're the team that they used to be under Mourinho. A lot of changes have happened there." [LNB]The man responsible for those changes, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, was on a scouting mission with his new manager, Guus Hiddink, at Villa Park on Wednesday night. But if he was hoping to see any signs of wear and tear, he will have been disappointed. [LNB]The high-energy performances from Martin O'Neill's young guns, against CSKA Moscow, provided enough evidence that Villa's hectic season has not taken its toll so far. [LNB]However, all is not lost for Chelsea. Still finding his feet, their new manager can take confidence from Villa's shaky home performances at home, as well as the result of the first fixture between the two sides this season, a 2-0 win for Chelsea in October, in which Villa were outplayed. [LNB]"They were quicker, faster and stronger than us," Petrov conceded. "Will we learn from our mistakes? We have got a lot of points to prove. It's not because of luck we are in this situation. [LNB]"It's because of all our hard work and the way we have been playing. Chelsea will be strong. Every new manager wants to start with a win, so we are expecting a hard game. They'll try to show that they can still be at the top but we won't give up." [LNB]While Petrov believes Chelsea can still lay claim to being in the title race, he played down his team's own chances of winning the league – at least for this year. [LNB]"I don't think we're in the title race because other teams have been there for a long time and know what it needs to be champions," he explained. "We are just trying to show them that in years to come we can challenge."[LNB]Meanwhile, O'Neill described Hiddink's attempt to combine the managerial role at Chelsea with that of the Russian national side, as "exceptionally difficult". [LNB]"I think there might be a reason for doing it on a short-term basis. But overall, I think it would be hard to combine an international management role with one in the Premier League. [LNB]"Eventually, when you lose a game or two, someone will accuse you of not spending enough time in one particular camp. I think it is exceptionally difficult." [LNB]
