Grant living the 'fantasy'

Chelsea's new head coach claimed they were on the verge of playing fantasy football after he secured his maiden victory in the Mestalla but details have emerged of a largely uninspiring team talk ahead of the game.

We've done it together: Chelsea players celebrate at the end but it is not so friendly between Grant and Clarke

Perhaps things will improve with the imminent arrival of Henk Ten Cate, whose Ajax side were dumped out of the UEFA Cup last night.

It appears that although Grant has encouraged his players to be more expressive, in line with the philosophy of his paymaster Roman Abramovich, it will take time before Chelsea's players are at ease with his ideas.

That much was made clear in an opening 20-minute spell when Valencia played Chelsea off the park, but Grant's men gradually took a firm grip on the game to secure the new head coach's first victory.

As skipper John Terry testified, the return of the established order made the difference on a difficult night. Ricardo Carvalho, playing his first game since the opening day of the Premier League season, excelled alongside his captain and Didier Drogba, sent off last Saturday, was at the top of his game.

Terry, who suffered no ill-effects after playing with a special mask to protect his fractured cheekbone, revealed: 'It has been a difficult time but with Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard (who was missing through injury) around it makes my life easier.

"We all have to rise to the challenge otherwise we will go down together. The spirit has been missing a little bit from the last couple of games but we move on. I had a great relationship with Jose Mourinho but he has gone. If we dwell on that we will suffer as a team.

"Players come and players go. You get on with things. There have been no major changes since the new manager has come in and that is important. He is slowly putting his tactics, feeling and thoughts into it."

Chelsea's squad have been slow to react to Grant's new methods and Joe Cole's 'ball of the century' played as big a part in their victory in Valencia as anything Grant put on the tactics board before the game. Last night, Ten Cate's agent Sigi Lens confirmed: "It's true we have an agreement with Chelsea.

"It's an opportunity for him, a challenge to work with a big team and to work with Avram Grant to build a new team. Chelsea want to take him now so if there is an agreement between the two clubs, everything will be clear."

Ten Cate has a year left on his contract and the issue of compensation is the only thing preventing him from joining Chelsea now. That, however, is sure to be thrashed out during the international break.

He has presided over Ajax's exit from the Champions League and UEFA Cup — last night's defeat came on away goals to Dinamo Zagreb — and last season's Dutch runners-up are unlikely to put up much resistance.

The 52-year-old's imminent arrival is already causing divisions among Chelsea's backroom staff.

Grant's relationship with his assistant Steve Clarke, who has been taking training in the wake of Mourinho's departure, is a thorny issue and they sat on opposite sides of the plane out to Valencia.

The players have already picked up on their relationship and there is a belief that the club are lacking leadership off the field.

At least the positions on the pitch appear to be a little clearer after Chelsea's players proved that they can be a cohesive unit under another manager.

Cole was one of a number of players not shedding tears when Mourinho left last month but he reminded the former Chelsea coach of his ability with his curved pass into the path of Drogba for the second-half winner.

Although the Chelsea midfielder has benefited from Mourinho's departure — Paulo Ferreira and Makelele are also back in favour — he is not getting carried away.

Cole, who has earned the nickname Zizou from his team-mates in honour of his Zinedine Zidane-style performances, said: "I said before the game we had to step it up by five or 10 per cent but I think we went even higher.

"I have been at clubs before in bad situations and the worst thing players do when it's like that is to start pointing the finger and saying: 'He's not doing this' or 'he's not doing that'.

"At West Ham, the situation was bad among the players and people were blaming each other. That's not the way it is at Chelsea. Big players look at themselves first and pick the bones out of their own performances.

"Teams can't play the way we did against Valencia unless they are willing to play for themselves, their team-mates and their manager.

"For me, that's what Chelsea is all about. It felt after the game that we were really back."

He picked out Drogba for particular praise. "When Didier plays like that he is unplayable," he said. "He is the best in the world.

"Playing with him is a dream because you know when you get the ball wide he is going to get on the end of your crosses. He runs the channels and does the work of two players."