Confident Ballack Smells Success

16 April 2009 15:09
Michael Ballack claims he can "smell the success" and has vowed to give his all to help the club land a hat-trick of trophies.[LNB]Ballack's confidence follows the agony of accumulating the same number of runners-up medals last season.[LNB]This term they are outsiders in the Barclays Premier League race, but are firmly in with a chance in the knockout competitions, with semi-final appointments in the FA Cup and Champions League.[LNB]The first of those is Saturday's domestic showdown with Arsenal at Wembley and Ballack has warned Arsene Wenger's side that Chelsea are determined not to finish another season empty-handed.[LNB]"The hunger is always there. I've played football my whole life and I still want to win something," said the 32-year-old.[LNB]"I have a few years left but I will give everything for the rest of the season to win one, two or three trophies.[LNB]"We will give everything for the FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League. We have the squad and we will do it.[LNB]"The team is hungry after finishing runners-up three times last season.[LNB]"We are not a team who have won everything in the past. If you compare us to a club like Liverpool, they have had big success. But now we are smelling the success.[LNB]"We are coming close to winning something. This club needs a big title to go further and that's what we are trying to achieve at the moment."[LNB]After three seasons without success - their last major trophy was the FA Cup in 2005 - double-chasing Arsenal are every bit as eager to finish the campaign on a triumphant note.[LNB]Ballack believes the Gunners have been undermined by their inconsistency but admits they have hit form at the business end of the season.[LNB]"Arsenal have a squad and a team that can play football, everyone knows this. But sometimes they can be up and down," he said.[LNB]"That is why they are sometimes not at the top of the Premiership. But if they play at their highest level everybody knows they can play fantastic football.[LNB]"They have good players and that is what they are showing at the moment, so we have to be careful."[LNB]Chelsea were beaten 2-1 by Arsenal in November and are keen to avenge that defeat, though Ballack admits his team's workload is demanding.[LNB]"We want to win and we have to show them that we can beat them. We lost one game to them earlier in the season," he said.[LNB]"We were playing well until they scored. They got an offside goal and we had been controlling the game up until that point.[LNB]"Everyone knows the FA Cup semi-final is another big game and it will be very special for everyone involved.[LNB]"It's another big challenge for us but it's always difficult to keep going.[LNB]"That was our problem two years ago when we went out of the Champions League against Liverpool - they could rest eight players before the semi-final.[LNB]"We were still in the title race and that gave them an advantage - they were fresher.[LNB]"But if you want to win trophies you must learn to deal with that situation."[LNB]

Source: Eurosport