Soccer / English Premier League / Grant just wants a little bit of time
By Neil Silver
LONDON - Avram Grant claims he can transform Chelsea - just like Arsene Wenger changed the face of Arsenal - as long as Roman Abramovich gives him time. The Chelsea manager knows the club must win the Premier League or the Champions League to avoid the threat of being sacked, just six months after taking over at Stamford Bridge.
However, Grant insists that he has succeeded in changing Chelsea's playing style and believes he can have the same affect as Wenger, whose Arsenal side visits the Bridge today for a crucial summit meeting - both desperate for a victory to close the gap on Manchester United.
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Wenger was regarded as a hated figure at Chelsea during Jose Mourinho's reign but Grant insists he is a major admirer of the Frenchman. And the Israeli believes he is changing his club's image after the win-at-all-cost approach of Mourinho, just as Wenger did when he arrived at Arsenal in 1996, soon after the end of the dour but successful George Graham era.
"Arsenal is a good example," Grant said. "I've never spoken badly of what happened here in the past but I know what people used to say about Arsenal before Arsene went there. They said 'boring, boring Arsenal' - now nobody says that.
"I don't think you can say Chelsea are boring this year. We are playing good football, sometimes we have dropped points, but we are going in the right direction. If you are going to change to a different way of playing, it's not going to happen in just one day. I don't think at Chelsea I will have the same amount of time to change things like Alex Ferguson was given before he won his first trophy at Manchester United or perhaps the time Arsene Wenger gets at Arsenal - but that is the way for a club to do it.
"I don't know where Chelsea will be in 10 years' time, except that I will have more gray hair, but I think if we keep moving in the same direction, things will be good. I'm not that romantic but I do like the way Arsene has a more romantic approach to the game.
"Wenger thinks more about the style of the game. We need to have respect for him. People can say what they like about him but their stadium is full with 60,000 people every week and people all over the world want to watch Arsenal.
"Arsenal play good football and the manager is doing a great job."
Chelsea blew leads of 3-1 and 4-3 in Wednesday's epic draw at Tottenham, leaving it five points behind the leader, United, with just three games to play. However, Grant insists he is proud that Chelsea is beginning to win plaudits for the team's more attractive playing style - which was one of the main reasons that owner Abramovich gave for axing Mourinho.
"I am very proud of the way Chelsea are playing, but when you play as well as we did at Tottenham on Wednesday you want all three points," Grant said. "I would rather drop points in a good game than in a bad game though. Every game that we lose, people say it is a 'big match'; every time we win, people say we were expected to win it. But of course we want to beat Arsenal and we know that if we don't, it will hurt our chances of winning the league.
"But when I took over, the club wanted to be taken on to the next level. Of course we want to win trophies, but even though we want Chelsea to be unique and we don't have to copy how Barcelona or Arsenal play, of course we want entertainment.
"Since I have been here, we are more focused on our team than trying to stop other teams."
In yesterday's Premier League matches, it was: Aston Villa 0, Sunderland 1; Blackburn Rovers 3, Wigan Athletic 1; Bolton Wanderers 0, Manchester City 0; Middlesbrough 1, Derby County 0; Newcastle United 2, Fulham 0; Reading 2, Birmingham City 1; Tottenham 2, Portsmouth 0; and Everton 1, West Ham United 1.
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