Source: Team_Talk
'Mature' Anelka happy to assist
icolas Anelka credits his fine form to having maturing as a player, but the Chelsea striker has no regrets over his conduct at the World Cup.[LNB] The Frenchman may no longer possess the explosive pace of his youth and has enjoyed more prolific periods in front of goal in the past.[LNB]However, he feels he is now contributing more than ever to the team after learning his trade over the years.[LNB]"When you are older you become more mature on the pitch," he told the Daily Express. [LNB]"I am happy with the way I am playing and also with the way the manager asks me to play. I like everything about it, and about Chelsea."[LNB]Anelka is not asked to play as an out-and-out centre-forward by Carlo Ancelotti these days but he enjoys the challenge of trying to create opportunities for his team-mates.[LNB]"I used to play purely up front. Now I play on the right or left," he explained.[LNB]"Strikers get better with age. They get more experience. You don't panic when you don't score any more. [LNB]"Obviously for a striker it is good to score, but for me it is OK if I don't score, as long as we win the game. I have been scoring goals in England for a long time now, so I know I can do it. [LNB]"At the end of your career the most important thing is to be happy with what you did and what you won.[LNB]"I didn't really worry too much if I didn't score even when I was young. My motivation is to win the game. [LNB]"If I can score it's even better. For me an assist is like a goal."[LNB]Anelka was at the centre of a disastrous World Cup campaign for France over the summer when he fell out with then manager Raymond Domenech.[LNB]He was sent home in disgrace and banned for 18 matches, but insists that he has no regrets over what happened.[LNB]"No, I am not sorry. It's life, it's part of the game. Sometimes you are happy, sometimes you are not. Sometimes things happen in the dressing room," he said.[LNB]"But now it is in the past. I am OK about it. I was just glad to come back to Chelsea and concentrate on my club."[LNB]Anelka, 31, will reach a point over the next few years when he has to consider what he wants to do after hanging up his boots.[LNB]He is keeping his options open at the moment but knows one avenue that he definitely does not want to explore.[LNB]"Management is not for me," he said. "I might work with the kids, but I don't want to be a coach. I have seen the pressures."
