Build Up: Chelsea v Manchester City

"“Money plays an important part in any team’s success. United and Chelsea, even Blackburn back in the early days, won the league only because they spent a lot of money. City are a bigger club than Chelsea and Blackburn so I can’t see why we shouldn’t be successful.

Who can say what a footballer is worth? Whether a player is worth £50million or nothing is down to what a club is prepared to pay. But money can’t help you once you go on to the ­training ground or into a stadium. I don’t know one player who has dollar signs or pound signs in his eyes when he is on the pitch.

When I was a kid I didn’t play football thinking about how much money I might earn. In that respect, ­nothing has changed. I wanted to be the best player I could be, to play for a top club and win trophies – and I will achieve that aim with City.

We just want to be the best we can. If you are not together as a team then you will never win anything. But I know there is a soul at Manchester City. We have kept five clean sheets in ­seven games this season and that is down to the work ­ethic, the spirit and the togetherness. And it is clear that the ­Premier League is now more competitive than it has ever been, so how can that be a bad thing for football?

Do you want to see Chelsea or United win the title every year?

The more negative things that are said about us, the more I see it a sign that ­people now respect us. People want us to fail, so what? We are in the elite now. I don’t feel any ­bitterness or anger towards these people because they are not important. We want to be the best we can and once we start ­winning trophies, this obsession ­people have with the money we earn will stop.

When I joined the club I was excited by the plans the owners had for the club. If anything, we have progressed faster than I thought we would. We have a lot of new ­players and they have fitted in well but, in four or five months, this team will have improved beyond recognition.

The owners aren’t just investing in the team, they are investing in the whole club, the training facilities, the ­stadium, the fans and the city of Manchester itself. They know how ­important City are to the people of Manchester and there is much more going on at the club than just creating a team.

It is about making something special for the people of the city and if we get criticised for that then I can only say that the people who want to be negative are ignorant.”

I don’t think we have got what we have ­deserved from our ­performances this season. Sometimes football can come down to getting a little bit of luck at the right time and against Sunderland and Blackburn the results didn’t match the performances.”"

""We were delighted to beat them twice last season and we hope to do it again, It's going to be a really exciting game. We need to make sure we take something from it. If we can get one point that would be great, but if we can get all three like we did twice last season, that would be fantastic.

The manager wants us to work really hard on defending every day in training because when you defend well, it gives you the chance to win games. We don't concede many goals because we are really tight as a unit and work really hard for each other. We hope we can keep going like this.

What we will have to do is defend as a team, like we have been doing, and stay really focused. Then, when we can, we'll have to be really aggressive with them.""

""All he thinks about is scoring goals, But this season he is passing well and making a lot of assists, too. That makes him a much better player. It seems as though he is getting better with age, because he is so intelligent. He has had to change his game, and he knows he needs more help from his team-mates now.

He used to like to do a lot himself but now he shows he cares about the team and that is really good. I know his game well but it is still difficult. He is so powerful. He is on fire at the moment, playing so well, and he seems to have improved his style of playing. We are going to have to defend really well as a team to stop him." "

""I stay in touch with everyone at Chelsea, all the lads I played with anyway. They know that last year we had them on the back foot so they are really starting to take a lot of notice of City. We beat them twice last year. They will be on red alert about us and will try to make sure they are more prepared this time around.

Last season, we just all went out there as a team and believed we could do it and just went for it rather than waiting for them to come at us. We will go out trying to do the same thing to them again on Saturday.

We have the players and the potential to do all those things but I just don't think it's something that happens overnight. It's taken them four or five years to get in the position where they are strongly challenging for the title every year. We need time to achieve those goals. We have that potential here and it's just a matter of gelling and playing well. When we do gel we are going to become a formidable force, definitely.

I've been very impressed, especially with Michael Essien and the way Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda have been playing. Their form has got back to the way it was when I first got there. They are doing really well.

But coming here is a massive game for them as well as us. Although they're in a great run of form, hopefully we can go out there and make it as difficult as possible."
"

""Everyone talks about the City game because they do not give us credit for what we have done so far this season, Lots of people see these two games as a test and we are ready. It could be an opportunity for us to prove we are the champions and that we are prepared for any kind of opposition. There'll be a lot of pressure, but we have to use our experience and stay calm. Our only objective is to get points.

They [City] are getting better and have bought some top-quality players, Last year's games against City were difficult for us and that could be an extra motivation for us. It will be a tactical game. Knowing their manager [Roberto Mancini], they have probably seen our games and seen that we can go away and pick up points. Their players will also see this as a chance to show they are ready to fight for the title. But we will defend our title at any price.

At the end of the season I'm sure [Didier] Drogba will be far in front of me, I can compete but not for a very long time. It's a pleasure for me [to be part of the team] and I just want to enjoy that. Playing in a team that is winning games and scoring goals is what we train hard for and that is what we must keep doing.""

""If I was a defender playing against Chelsea, I would be very scared because you don't know where we're going to come from - we have Ashley Cole bombing forward on the left side all the time, So it is hard to know what to expect when we have all these players bombing forward all the time.

If you look at our front three, none of them have a static position, they are all moving around. It is the same with the midfield although I tend to stay a little bit more because I cannot afford to leave that position.

Playing that way helps us a lot while the other team is thinking about whether to follow Nicolas Anelka's runs, Frank Lampard or Michael Essien.""