Chelsea
captain Marcel Desailly has warned fans that the team is "not
ready yet" and admits he must "set an example" to improve
the defence.
Desailly
is about to enter his fifth season at Stamford Bridge, having been
signed by former boss Gianluca Vialli for £4.6m from AC Milan
in August 1998.
In that time, he has picked up only an FA Cup winners' medal and
an FA Charity Shield winners' medal but is far from confident about
adding to that collection this season.
"This could be a great season for Chelsea," said the 33-year-old
France international. "But then we keep saying 'we could be
great' and 'we can be great'.
"We've had great moments - like going on nine-game runs. And,
yes, we've done well, but we still do not have the overall consistency.
"We're not ready yet. We're only sometimes like a good team
but we do not have enough about ourselves - individually or collectively
- to get out of trouble.
"This is the main thing because, if we had that, we could be
one of the best teams in the league."
In fact, Desailly believes the manager who signed him for Chelsea
produced a better side than current incumbent Claudio Ranieri.
"The team under Vialli were more ready to cope when they were
in trouble, to analyse the game and come through it," added
the skipper in an interview with the club's TV channel.
"Now, although we have more quality, we're a bit crazy. We're
not able to analyse the moment. We're not able to slow down and
keep what we have in our pockets.
"Maybe some of the lower opposition know from our history that
if they are ready to play hard against us, they can beat us. The
bigger teams wait for us to come at them and match us."
Despite his concerns, Desailly feels progress can be made and wants
the club's senior professionals, like himself and Graeme Le Saux,
to take more initiative on the field.
"There are many young players and experienced players who must
be able to play together and have the consistency," he said.
"Last year, our strikers made us happy and scored lots of goals.
The defence was not so good but - if the strikers carry on and our
defence does better - it can be a good season for Chelsea.
"We need players who are prepared to take on the difficult
things. Players like Graeme Le Saux who does not wait for people
to go forward. He pushes forward himself.
"Graeme plays in the English style and the crowd are expecting
that. I have to set an example too."
