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We are the pretty boys now, says upbeat Chelsea boss Avram Grant
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09 May 2008
While league leaders Manchester United — and Arsenal — will be among the clubs queuing up to contest Grant's assertions, the Chelsea manager has convinced himself that his team are easy on the eye.
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Winner: Grant is Manager of the Month
Although Grant is in a minority of one, Chelsea have undeniably kept up the pressure on Manchester United. Arsenal's aspirations of a fourth league title under Arsene Wenger evaporated in April.
Grant said: 'We've been playing the best football in the last month, playing it at the right time against really big teams and big managers. You need to think for every minute in a game when you come up against them.
'Sometimes, you score more goals against weaker teams. I remember after Derby County, when we won 6-1, I said to one of the players that I was disappointed because I wanted us to score more goals.
'He said: "Why do you say that — we've won 6-1?" But I said it might be important at the end of the season. He came up to me last week and said: "How did you know?"'
United are guaranteed the title if they win at Wigan, but manager Sir Alex Ferguson's intelligence network has given him cause for concern.
Bolton's players, it appears, have allegedly been celebrating their remarkable escape from the clutches of the relegation zone with some over-zealous evenings out.
Ferguson made his feelings known yesterday, but Grant responded with some dry wit of his own. He added: 'Alex is friends with Mossad (the Israeli intelligence service), but nobody believes me.
'We know Sir Alex, I like him and I respect him, but I know why he says things sometimes. I don't know how he knows what's happening at Bolton.
'First it will be very tough and then we will have to look at the result at Wigan. Steve Bruce's side have not lost at home since January, they are in the spotlight and everyone is watching.
'Whatever happens on Sunday, I'm very proud of what we've done this season at Chelsea. Alex said two or three months ago that this was the best United side he'd ever coached. If that's so, we've given them a good battle and it might go down to goal difference.'
Grant cheekily suggested a different way of separating teams that finish level.
He said: 'I think there should be a play off between the two teams if they finish level on points at the end of the season, but I have an interest to say that. If you are at the same number of points, you are at the same level.'
Ricardo Carvalho will train today for the first time since he walked off St James' Park on Monday with a back injury, but he is expected to play.
Although Grant's future as Chelsea manager remains shrouded in mystery, it has emerged that Didier Drogba's future is also in the balance.
Milan believe they have reached an agreement with the striker to join them in the summer.
Although Chelsea had initially agreed to his request to leave, they are now wavering.
With a shortage of adequate replacement strikers, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon may yet put his foot down.
Grant said: 'Didier has not said to me that he wants to leave. Sometimes Didier has bad days and sometimes good days, but he gives everything for the team. We have 27 players in the squad and they don't all tell me they are staying.'
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