Chelsea Football Club News

• Nickname:Blues
• Founded:1905
• Manager:Roberto Di Matteo

• Ground:Stamford Bridge
• Capacity:42,440

Grant: Ballack is top-class

31 Jan 2008 - 09:47:26

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Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack earned high praise from boss Avram Grant after his matchwinning performance in the 1-0 victory over Reading at Stamford Bridge.

The 31-year-old Germany ace has struggled to reach his best form during his time with the Blues, but Grant believes that Ballack is starting to prove his class.

He commented: "All the team performed very well. I don't think Michael played as badly as people think last year.

"I have known him for a long time. I saw him play so many times in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen. At Bayern Munich one of his qualities was to come into the box and score and provide assists.

"He is a modern player, because he can do everything on the pitch and here we saw one of his qualities.

"I very much like intelligent players and he is one."

Ballack has scored ten goals in 55 appearances for Chelsea since his arrival from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2006.