Latest news with #MarkSchwarzer
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
'Still a really good player in there'
Former Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer says there is a "really good player" in Jadon Sancho but the winger "just has to find his place".Sancho came off the bench to score the Blues' third with a fine finish in Wednesday's 4-1 Conference League final win over Real Betis in what could still be his final appearance for the 24-year-old joined the club on a season-long loan from Manchester United in August in a deal that included an obligation to buy for between £20m and £25m, but it emerged in March Chelsea could decide not to make the deal permanent if they pay United £5m."He's a bit of an anomaly," Schwarzer told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "He's struggled for game time for one reason or another."He's a player everyone knows has an incredible amount of ability - it is just trying to tap into that. He's proved he can do it while in Dortmund for a sustained period of time. It didn't work out at United and now he's been hit and miss with Chelsea."The question is, do they keep him? They're obliged to buy him but there is still a get out, which will cost them a little bit of money. Only time will tell what happens to Jadon Sancho but I still believe there is a really good player in there. He just has to find his place."Sancho is one of several players in Enzo Maresca's squad with an uncertain future, including those who will return to the club from loan spells elsewhere."There are so many players at Chelsea in a similar position," Schwarzer added. "Joao Felix is coming back and you look at him and think there is no place for him in this team. He doesn't suit the way they play either. The list goes on. "Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Mocked by some, but celebrated wildly - how Chelsea won 'massive' trophy
Many wondered how much winning the Conference League would mean to Chelsea - but there were few doubts at the final all season the Blues have walked over their opposition in Uefa's third-rate tournament, but they were really tested by Real Betis in Wroclaw, especially in the first four second-half goals were all wildly celebrated - and the players then partied after the 4-1 win as much as if they had won any other major Palmer, the man of the match, set up goals for Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson, with Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo also netting."Winning this trophy is massive," said former Blues keeper Mark Schwarzer, a BBC Radio 5 Live summariser for the game."You can see what it means to them and how important it is to win it."This is what it's about. It's about creating that bond and that experience of winning a trophy."It was Chelsea's first trophy since the Fifa Club World Cup in February 2022 and their first considered a major prize since the 2021 Champions club's former midfielder Joe Cole, watching for TNT Sports, said: "People turn their noses up at it but look at all the smiling faces among the players, the staff, the fans. This is what it is all about."Fellow pundit Lucy Ward added: "People mock this trophy but this will mean a lot to this set of Chelsea players because it is a platform to move on into the Champions League this season."BBC Sport takes a look at the story of Chelsea's Conference League campaign. Almost getting knocked out last summer Chelsea's European campaign actually almost ended in August. The Conference League is the only one of Europe's competitions where English clubs have to go through a play-off Blues led Servette 3-0 on aggregate 14 minutes into the second leg, having won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and taken an early lead in Servette pulled two goals back and, after a delay in the game as fireworks were let off, the hosts almost scored in the 94th minute to force extra time."This kind of game, at the end, you have many things to lose and not many things to win," said boss Enzo Maresca afterwards, following just his fourth game in charge. Wholesale changes for every game Rotating and resting players in secondary cups is not a new phenomenon - but Chelsea took it to a new level in the Conference League this averaged 8.5 changes per European game, based on their previous Premier League the league stage there was a recognised Premier League team and a Conference League XI - with very little overlap. They were much changed in the domestic cups too, although fell at the second hurdle in forward Palmer, their star player, was not even registered in Europe until the knockout the Blues started playing in knockout games they started using more first-team players, like Palmer, Caicedo and Marc even through that they never made fewer than five changes from their last league game, including the the season ends, well, until next month's Fifa Club World Cup, 18 Chelsea players featured in more Conference League than Premier League games this includes five players who left the club in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who played all 15 European games, featured 13 times in the Guiu, whose six goals were two shy of the Conference League Golden Boot, has yet to start a league the final saw a stronger XI, with only four outfield changes from the side that beat Nottingham Forest last Sunday to clinch a Champions League spot."Chelsea have got so much more money than anyone else competing in this competition," said ex-Blues winger Pat Nevin on BBC Radio 5 Live. "But they have respected the competition by saying, 'we're not going to put out the softest of teams but we'll put out enough to make sure we'll get through'."I have to say, looking back on it all now, Enzo Maresca has done a great job." A 16-year-old debutant in the semi-final Chelsea have given plenty of youngsters game time in the Conference League this players who have yet to make their Premier League debut have featured in Europe for them this includes 16-year-old Reggie Walsh, who became Chelsea's youngest player since 1967 when he played both legs of their semi-final against academy players have made their debut in the competition, with 13 appearances for 19-year-old forward Tyrique George, compared to 11 in domestic of 19-year-old defender Josh Acheampong's nine starts for Chelsea have been in the Conference League."It's definitely a stepping stone to men's football," he said of the Conference Rak-Sakyi, 20, played four times in the league phase, but his most senior domestic football has been in the EFL Trophy with Chelsea's with the trophy on the line, none of them featured in the showpiece against Betis. A 7,000-mile trip & team named after biblical character Chelsea played a few unfamiliar names this season in Europe's third-tier Real Betis, the only team from Europe's top five leagues they met were Heidenheim, who ended the season playing in the German relegation-promotion play-offs."The fact Chelsea are now coming after we've won the first three games is honestly quite hard to believe," said Heidenheim boss Frank Schmidt, who has been in charge since they were a fifth-tier side in 2007."But the fact is they're not coming here for a friendly, we don't have to pay them. It's a competitive fixture. Heidenheim and the entire region are really excited."Chelsea welcomed Armenian side FC Noah, named after the biblical character with the ark, to Stamford Bridge."Being in the Conference League is a spotlight for the club, to show ourselves to European football, because now everybody knows who Noah is," said Noah boss Rui Mota."It's an honour to have this game."Then came their longest ever European trip, a 7,000-mile round journey to Kazakhstan to play flight took eight hours, having to avoid a direct flight path over Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East, amid multiple ongoing conflicts. Many first-team players were left in a five-hour time zone difference, the Blues acted as if they remained on UK time, making the kick-off 15:30 instead of 20:30 local time - and then the game was played in - and two directors wrote a letter to the Chelsea fans who attended, personally thanking they even had big talking points until the semi-finals and their match on the plastic pitch of the Swedish side's manager called his own side's pitch "horrible", although it did not cause problems in the end. 45 goals - including eight in one game That Servette scare in August was the closest Chelsea came to going out all cruised through in other ties, with every group game won by two or more goals. Every knockout tie, including the final, was won by two or more biggest win was the 8-0 rout of Armenian side FC Noah in November. That was the joint-second biggest win in Chelsea's history and the Conference League's biggest victory so took them to 16 goals in their first three league games, and ended on 26 in six games. Including the qualifiers, they netted 45 times in 15 Noah success led ex-Blues and England midfielder Cole to say on TNT Sports: "Chelsea shouldn't be in this competition, but this is where they are."This tournament doesn't start for Chelsea until the quarter-finals or semi-finals. They are massive favourites to win it and they should be."They never trailed in any knockout round, beating Copenhagen 3-1 on aggregate, Legia Warsaw 4-2 and Djurgarden 5-1. Trailing to Abde Ezzalzouli's goal at half-time in the final gave them a scare - but they took command after the a 5-1 win over Shamrock Rovers in December, the Irish side's manager Stephen Bradley said: "If they want to, they can show up and probably put another two XIs out there and win this competition. "If they're in the Champions League they could go close to winning that. That's the level they have." So... how big a deal was this to Chelsea? Previous Conference Leagues have been celebrated under Jose Mourinho, ended a 14-year trophy drought when they beat Feyenoord in Bowen's last-minute winner for David Moyes' West Ham against Fiorentina in 2023 earned the Londoners a first trophy in 43 beating Fiorentina last year, Olympiakos became the first Greek side to win a European club for Chelsea - the first winners used to lifting previous European silverware - it did not feel the same in the build-up. They did not even sell out their 12,500-ticket allocation for the there were no muted celebrations at the end as their players, staff and fans inside the stadium appeared to enjoy it as much as anything else they have Levi Colwill, 22, said: "You can see the way the fans are celebrating now, it shows how much it means to them."So what next?"The Chelsea fans are very demanding because they are used to winning," added Cole, who won three Premier Leagues with the Blues. "Now they have seen this team win, they have more belief, the players have more belief. I feel like there is a really good era coming."
BBC News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Palmer 'is an absolute genius'
Pundits have been reacting to Cole Palmer's performance in the Conference League final after he became the difference-maker in the second-half with two Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole, speaking on TNT Sports: "Cole Palmer is an absolute genius."We don't produce these players. They don't fall off trees."He took the game by the scruff of the neck tonight and there are not many players in world football that can do what he does."It's a privilege to watch him play football."West Ham striker Michail Antonio, also speaking on TNT Sports: "The game was lost until Cole Palmer decided to turn up."He got on the ball, kept asking for it, demanding it. Two unbelievable balls, two unbelievable goals. What a goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "The balance of the team wasn't right until Reece James, Levi Colwill and Jadon Sancho came on."Cole Palmer changed the way he played at that point, and he was looking for those runs."Palmer has delivered and that's the difference. He is a young player, but has an incredible amount of maturity."He led this side and dictated that second half."Did you know? Cole Palmer is the first player to assist twice in the final of a major European competition since Marcelo for Real Madrid against Liverpool in the 2017-18 Uefa Champions League.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Chelsea fans are used to winning silverware'
Chelsea is a "a very different football club" to the one that used to be a serial silverware winner, says former goalkeeper Mark Blues have not won a major piece of silverware since they lifted the Champions League trophy almost four years to the day in have the unwanted record of having lost six domestic cup finals in a row and will be hoping to turn their luck around in on the lifting silverware front when they face Real Betis in the Conference League final on Wednesday."It has been a successful season without even winning a piece of silverware and that's unusual to normally associate with Chelsea Football Club. As we know, it's a very different football club."They haven't won a major trophy since 2021 and Chelsea fans obviously are used to winning silverware. We all know it's a very different football club to what it was prior to that and I think this is a really good opportunity, albeit it's going to be a really tough game."Betis are a good side, they're not going to roll over. There are seven players that have an affiliation or have had experience in the Premier League, the manager as well [in] Manuel Pellegrini."It's not going to be a walkover by any means, it's actually going to be a really tough challenge and probably Chelsea's toughest challenge in the competition yet."
BBC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Europa Conference final build-up & Phil McNulty end-of-season Q&A
Update: Date: 08:50 BST Title: 'It's not going to be a walkover' Content: Real Betis v Chelsea (20:00 BST) Mark SchwarzerFormer Chelsea goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live I think it has been a successful season without even winning a piece of silverware and that's unusual to normally associate with Chelsea Football Club. As we know it's a very different football club. They haven't won a major trophy since 2021 and Chelsea fans obviously are used to winning silverware. We all know it's a very different football club to what it was prior to that and I think this is a really good opportunity albeit it's going to be a really tough game. Betis are a good side, they're not going to roll over. There are seven players that have an affiliation or have had experience in the Premier League, the manager as well, Manuel Pellegrini. It's not going to be a walkover by any means, it's actually going to be a really tough challenge and probably Chelsea's toughest challenge in the competition yet. Update: Date: 08:45 BST Title: And here come the Chelsea fans Content: Real Betis v Chelsea (20:00 BST) Not to be outdone, there have been plenty of blue shirts around Wroclaw in the past few days. Update: Date: 08:40 BST Title: Betis fans arrive in Wroclaw Content: Real Betis v Chelsea (20:00 BST) Real Betis fans have been arriving in Poland since Tuesday morning - and turning parts of the city into a sea of green. Update: Date: 08:35 BST Title: Get Involved - Phil McNulty Q&A from 10.00 BST Content: #bbcfootball, WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply) Here's the details with how to send over your questions for Phil today, he'll be answering them from around 10am UK time onwards. Make sure to put your names on all correspondence. We don't want to be hearing from Anon and friends today. Update: Date: 08:30 BST Title: Good morning! Content: Welcome to Wednesday's football news live. We'll have build up to the Conference League final, with Chelsea taking on Real Betis in Wroclaw tonight. But that's not all! Our chief football writer Phil McNulty will be answering your questions throughout the day, so get in touch and we'll put the best of your correspondence to him.
