Manuel Pellegrini warns Chelsea they face a long five months if they want to claim Manchester Citys crown Manuel Pellegrini has warned Chelsea to prepare for a ‘long five months’ in the Premier League title race if they want to depose Manchester City as champions. Jose Mourinho’s side moved three points clear at the top of the table with victory at Stoke on Monday night. However, City have twice won the title on the last day of the season in recent years and Pellegrini inists they will fight all the way again. ‘We are not thinking about Chelsea, we are just thinking about our team,’ said the Chilean. ‘We know it is important to have our own pressure. ‘You never win the title in December. We have a long five months to continue playing as well as we are doing so far, and we will see at the end of the season which team has most points. ‘It is always hard to win (the title) the first time and the second time. Maybe when you already win one title, at the beginning of the season, especially after a World Cup, it is a bit difficult. After that, I think that is the same degree of difficulty one year as another.’ City go to West Brom on Boxing Day looking to extend their winning run to nine games in all competitions, and have not conceded a goal in four games despite losing captain Vincent Kompany to a hamstring injury. Pellegrini believes his team have overcome their stuttering start and rediscovered the form that saw them overhaul Liverpool in the title race last season. ‘We are playing now again with the intensity and in style of play we always do,’ he added. ‘We have again players in high level of performance and good moments. We are trusting in what we do so in the same way maybe we play in a poor way two months ago we are doing very well. ‘Defence is very important because always you can play with more trust if you don’t concede a goal. If not, you are one goal behind, you start playing faster than you need and you play against a rival. ‘So it is very important to keep our clean sheet as we did in the last four games, not only in the Premier League but also in the Champions League. It gives a lot of trust also to our team.’ City at home to Burnley on Sunday and Pellegrini confirmed that Kompany and Stevan Jovetic could be fit by the end of the week. However, he added that strikers Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko are unlikely to be available before the ‘second part of January’. ‘I think we need them as soon as we can,’ he said. ‘In this moment we are playing at a high level but we always need Aguero and all the other players that are injured to return. ‘When you come back from long injuries you always need some games to return to your normal performance. We have a squad for the whole year and we make some rotations. It is important the whole squad arrives at the end of the year with the freshness.’ Frank’s Lampard’s future is expected to be resolved in the ‘next days’, according to Pellegrini, with the former Chelsea favourite expected to stay at the Etihad for the rest of the season instead of joining up with their US affiliate club New York City. Pellegrini believes it is better for the organisation as a whole if Lampard delays his move to America. Asked if New York will be upset over the decision, he replied: ‘I don’t think so, that is why we have long conversations with all of them. That is just one club so I think that what is better for the club is better for all the clubs. ‘I said in the beginning it will be during December we are going to have the last decision. I repeat Frank is very important for our team so I hope he will stay here.’
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 03:36:00 +0000
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