The Chelsea Daily Drivel (Catch Up) - Zidane helped Chelsea & Ossie's statue!

""I think we've seen so far that some people take us for granted and under-estimate us a little bit, but the Chelsea certainly didn't. That is exactly why they are worthy champions. They did their job, they killed us off and then they eased off in the second half.

We managed to do some things in the second half but they had already got the game won.

I thought some of the movement Chelsea showed was a bit different. I haven't seen that before and it caused some of my players problems. Because we let a few goals in we forgot what to do and how to do it, and I had to remind my lads of that at half-time.

But Chelsea have world-class players and I have seen just how good they are at first hand. Mr Abramovich has obviously spent his money wisely and they have fantastic players there now.""

""We have strong guys, We have a lot of six footers. Even someone like Frank Lampard, you don't realise how strong he is. Essien is shorter but is very, very strong.

Our physical presence through the middle with Didier Drogba up front and John Terry and Alex at the back really works well for Chelsea. Ashley Cole may be smaller but if you think he is a pushover, he is strong.""

""Before, when I started to train, I had an identity which I put on my teams. I didn't look at the characteristics of my players. I wanted to play 4-4-2 for the first two years. After that, I changed my ideas. It changed at Juventus – Zidane didn't want to play on the left, but in the centre, so I changed my formation for my players.

There is not a winning shape: you can play 4-4-2, 4-3-1-2. Now I look at the skills and characteristics of my players and put the right shape in the team for them.""

"This has led to players having their bonus payments reduced, which basically means a pay cut, and when addressed at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground earlier in the week by chairman Bruce Buck, they were told that the club will now have to generate the money first in order to bring new players to Stamford Bridge.

The Russian forked out over £230 million in his first two years with the club, signings the likes of Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and defender Ricardo Carvalho, as well as some of the least successful signings such as Damien Duff and Adrian Mutu, all for substantial sums.

The cutbacks will also mean slashing catering costs and coaching staff numbers at their Cobham training ground.

However players who signed a contract before 2009 will still have their win bonuses guaranteed.

Despite the cutbacks at Chelsea, Abramovich is still owed £726m by holding company Fordstam but the club have recorded a staggering loss of £493m since the Russian took over."

"After the tragic, sad passing of the King of Stamford Bridge, Peter Osgood, in March of 2006, there were widespread calls from throughout the Chelsea fraternity for the club legend to be forever remembered.

In the months and years that followed, the football club announced plans to erect a statue in memory of, arguably, our greatest ever player. That tribute has been in the pipeline for a while now and, the club announced this week, will be officially unveiled next week.

The 9ft 4in statue will be placed outside the West Stand at Stamford Bridge, and will be unveilved in a private gathering on October 1st. It will be able to be visited by Blues fans for the first time for our visit of Arsenal on October 3rd.

Osgood scored 150 goals in more than a decade at the club, over two separate spells, and played a pivotal role in both our 1970 FA Cup final triumph and our European Cup Winners' Cup win the following year.

The statue of Ossie will join his ashes, which were buried beneath the penalty spot in front of the Shed End, as fitting and everlasting tributes to a Chelsea legend."