Source: Daily_Mail
Florent Malouda: Chelsea isn't Hollywood - we work hard to win trophies
Florent Malouda rolls his eyes to the window and says: 'I could have gone to Madrid where it is always sunny.' Rain is bouncing down in Surrey as the Chelsea players gather to travel to Manchester.[LNB]It is one of those little foreign footballer asides, but there is a point to it too as Malouda attempts to debunk the myth that his early days in London were blighted by homesickness and that only now, near the end of his third English season, does he appear contented.[LNB]There has been a significant change, he will not deny that. His football suddenly has more freedom and his personality has started to sparkle on the pitch, just as it does behind the closed doors of the training camp, but there are other reasons why he is finally flourishing.[LNB] Chelsea boy: After hitting four goals in his last two outings, Florent Malouda is targeting the Premier League title[LNB]'I feel like I'm more respected when I speak,' says Malouda. 'I feel I have an impact and more credibility. You have to win your place in the hearts and heads of your team-mates.[LNB]'That's what I was trying to do from my first year. But I was coming into a team that had won a lot of trophies. Now with the performances I'm putting in, I'm more respected for what I am and what I can give to the team.[LNB]'Maybe I was putting too much pressure on my shoulders. I wanted to prove myself and I wasn't satisfied. I always want to do better and I think the best is still to come. I can do much better.'[LNB]The root of the change was a conversation with Carlo Ancelotti, one which extracted a promise from the Chelsea manager to give Malouda a settled run in a more advanced position.[LNB]'This is the fifth manager I've had here and every manager has known I have the ability to play in almost every position, so I was used differently,' says the 29-year-old France international. 'After some time I just expressed my feelings to say my natural position is more up front.[LNB]Crowd pleaser: Malouda has become a firm favourite among the Stamford Bridge faithful[LNB]'We always had that relationship and that's the reason I could speak to him freely and tell him my mind. He told me he would give me an opportunity and I had to take it. I said, 'OK, I will prove to you'. I wanted to be on the pitch in the big games. Our relationship didn't change but I showed him I could be a leader.[LNB]'People speak of a transformation, more because I score goals than because I'm a better player. When the manager tells me to play left back or defensive midfield, I feel just as important because a team need that.[LNB]'Maybe I'm more open to people now. Inside the dressing room, the players will tell you I was always like this from the beginning. I came in and was singing the Crazy Frog.[LNB]'I'm like this inside the dressing room but it's true that maybe from the outside I was hiding. When I'm on the pitch now you can see I'm enjoying myself.'[LNB]As for homesickness, he's not having that at all. He left home a long time ago, swapping his native French Guiana on the Caribbean coast of South America for Paris as a teenager and had his heart set on a move to Stamford Bridge, long before it happened in summer 2007.[LNB]'When I came here my family was ready,' says Malouda. 'I'd been coming for two years. I'd seen my friends Didier Drogba and Michael Essien come here. So I knew where I was coming.[LNB]'When I was at Lyon, I was looking at Chelsea winning trophies and the players were so happy. I went to Didier's house and saw his pictures of the trophies and his family celebrating at Stamford Bridge. I wanted that.[LNB] 'I wanted to be in those pictures with my family, celebrating on the pitch with the trophy. That's why I play football.[LNB]'It was my choice to come to Chelsea. They were so competitive in the Champions League and I said, 'That's where I want to be'.[LNB]'Ibought my house in London. I chose to bring my children to a Britishschool. It was what we wanted. After that, I couldn't say, 'I don'tfeel good in England'. But this was the picture people were seeing ofme. That has changed because my performances improved.'[LNB] HAVE YOUR SAY... Help Florent Malouda to name his daughter Florent Malouda has invited Sportsmail readers to suggest names for his fourth child. The Chelsea winger's wife Florencia is expecting their third daughter and it will be the couple's first offspring to be born in London. Why not help the France international by submitting your suggestions. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK Malouda and his Brazilian wife Florencia are expecting their fourth child, their third daughter, next month. 'It's like, every club I go to, I have a baby,' he grins. 'My son is already addicted to Chelsea. He's four and he wants to be the next John Terry. I've told him to go up front because there's more money to make but his mind is set.[LNB]'This will be our first child born in London and she will be a true Londoner. My wife wanted to go back to Paris but I said, 'No, we live here and when she grows up she will say she was born in London'. We are struggling for names though because we already have two girls. If your readers can send in some names we will study every proposition.'[LNB]His friendship with Drogba is significant, not only as part of the lure to Chelsea ahead of Real Madrid and Liverpool who were also interested.[LNB]The pair had been together before, at Guingamp, and shared a common bond having arrived in France with everything to prove.[LNB]'Didier is such a big star but I knew him from the beginning, when we were playing in the French second division,' says Malouda. 'He was at Le Mans and I was at Chateauroux, so we already had that, but life made it that we went to the same club, Guingamp.[LNB]'He had a really hard time there because he had to prove he was theright choice. To see him at this level, scoring so many goals, I'mhappy for him but, at the same time, I know he has humility. He showsanother face on the pitch but he is always the same person.[LNB]'Whenwe speak, it is the way he spoke the first time we met. We have alwayshad to prove we deserved to be there. We have had the same experiencesin life and to play together at the same club, at such a high level, itis a really special story.[LNB]'Our families are close, our kids goto the same schools, in the same class. We have a lot of things incommon. We are different characters but we complement each other.'[LNB]LikeDrogba, Malouda devotes huge amounts of his time using his profile tohelp communities, especially in his native Caribbean, and has becomeheavily involved in the project to help Haiti recover from itsdevastating earthquake.[LNB]Friends united: Malouda and Drogba go back a long way[LNB]This is the positive side of the money-soaked world of modern football, an antidote to champagne and fast cars and the scandals which engulfed Chelsea captain John Terry earlier this season.[LNB]'It was a difficult time for him but as a club we stayed together and tried to stay calm even if there were disturbing events around,' says Malouda. 'We don't want people to think about Chelsea the way they were, like it was Hollywood. It's not like that. We work hard every day because we want to win trophies.[LNB]'We want to show we are positive. I think we are good guys. I've been in dressing rooms before where it was not at this level. We share things together, we spend time together. We work hard together and we want to achieve everything together.[LNB]'We'd like people to respect that and not talk every time about us as people who earn a lot of money, who don't care about life, who don't have any respect.'[LNB]Perhaps the various distractions of Chelsea's season have actually helped Malouda emerge as a figure of responsibility, someone with qualities to inspire on and off the pitch.[LNB]'You have all the passion around at the stadium but when you go home it's good to have a quiet atmosphere to calm down and recover,' he says. 'That's the right balance and the best way to feel good in your head and perform.'[LNB]After the Champions League defeat against Inter Milan, Malouda was one of the few players to front up in public and admit Chelsea had been beaten by a betterteam and must shake off their disappointment and target the Premier League and FA Cup.[LNB]Ancelotti's team have responded by winning their last two games 5-0 and 7-1 but the title could be won or lost at Manchester United, when a win will take Chelsea two points clear at the top with five to play.[LNB]'I came here to win trophies,' says Malouda. 'Last year, the FA Cup was my first and I want that feeling again when you're celebrating something you've worked hard to achieve.[LNB]'To win the Premier League is my dream and I want it to come true. I want to put a big picture in my hall of fame.'[LNB]Florent Malouda was speaking insupport of Chelsea Soccer Schools which will be providing boys andgirls aged 4-14 with professional coaching in a fun and safeenvironment during the Easter holidays. To find out more visit: www.chelseafc.com/soccerschool[LNB] United v Chelsea: Jamie Redknapp's pick of the teamsFired-up Fergie: Man United can beat Chelsea without injured ace RooneyDidier Drogba may need surgery on groin injury at the end of the season, says Carlo AncelottiChelsea's Michael Ballack is banking on taking the title to wire regardless of Old Trafford resultCHELSEA FC
