It’s Chelsea against the rest

LONDON – Premiership kings Chelsea begin the defence of their title in the humble surroundings of Wigan Sunday as the west London multi-millionaires take their first step on the path to total domination.

Bankrolled by Roman Abramovich’s millions and inspired by the colourful and controversial coach Jose Mourinho, the Stamford Bridge side, happily seducing most of the world’s best players, stand on the verge of strangling the life out of English football. And there’s nothing their rivals can do about it.Chelsea, who clinched their first league crown in 50 years last season, have already laid down a marker by beating Arsenal 2-1 in the Community Shield at the weekend.It was a result which convinced most observers that the destination of the title is already a foregone conclusion even with 10 months of action to come.Chelsea, who have spent over 100 million pounds on players since last summer, have splashed out another 21 million on bringing Manchester City flyer Shaun Wright-Phillips on board and eight million on Asier Del Horno from Atletico Bilbao.Lyon’s 30-million-pound rated Michael Essien also looked on the verge of signing up, although the French champions appeared to end their long-running saga with Mourinho late Sunday when they announced that Essien was no longer for sale.Mourinho was also rumoured to have flirted with AC Milan’s Andriy Shevchenko.By contrast, rivals Arsenal have lost inspirational skipper Patrick Vieira to Juventus while Manchester United have been rocked by the Malcolm Glazer takeover and Rio Ferdinand’s refusal to sign a new deal.Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who has brought in Alexander Hleb for eight million pounds from Stuttgart, admits Vieira will be missed but is backing Spanish teenager Francesc Fabregas to plug the gap.Wenger had been hoping to persuade Sevilla to part with striker Julio Cesar Baptista but the Brazilian opted instead on a 29.7-million-dollar move to Real Madrid.United, who had got used to carving up the title with Arsenal before Chelsea’s emergence, have spent four million pounds on South Korean star Park Ji-Sung while Dutch veteran Edwin van der Saar has been drafted in as Old Trafford’s latest goalkeeping experiment.Elsewhere, Merseyside giants Everton and European champions Liverpool will be left to battle for the fourth Champions League qualifying spot.Liverpool, having persuaded Steven Gerrard to resist Chelsea’s overtures and paid relegated Southampton seven million pounds for striker Peter Crouch, will be confident they can edge their city rivals.Everton endured a miserable pre-season and lack a genuine cutting edge to threaten again the established order.As always, Newcastle have been busy in the transfer market paying Chelsea 6.5 million pounds for Scott Parker and almost four million for Inter Milan’s Turkish international Emre.For the rest of the Premiership’s 20 teams it will be a battle either to grab the crumbs of making the Uefa Cup or escaping the trapdoor of relegation.-Nampa-AFPAnd there’s nothing their rivals can do about it.Chelsea, who clinched their first league crown in 50 years last season, have already laid down a marker by beating Arsenal 2-1 in the Community Shield at the weekend.It was a result which convinced most observers that the destination of the title is already a foregone conclusion even with 10 months of action to come.Chelsea, who have spent over 100 million pounds on players since last summer, have splashed out another 21 million on bringing Manchester City flyer Shaun Wright-Phillips on board and eight million on Asier Del Horno from Atletico Bilbao.Lyon’s 30-million-pound rated Michael Essien also looked on the verge of signing up, although the French champions appeared to end their long-running saga with Mourinho late Sunday when they announced that Essien was no longer for sale.Mourinho was also rumoured to have flirted with AC Milan’s Andriy Shevchenko.By contrast, rivals Arsenal have lost inspirational skipper Patrick Vieira to Juventus while Manchester United have been rocked by the Malcolm Glazer takeover and Rio Ferdinand’s refusal to sign a new deal.Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who has brought in Alexander Hleb for eight million pounds from Stuttgart, admits Vieira will be missed but is backing Spanish teenager Francesc Fabregas to plug the gap.Wenger had been hoping to persuade Sevilla to part with striker Julio Cesar Baptista but the Brazilian opted instead on a 29.7-million-dollar move to Real Madrid.United, who had got used to carving up the title with Arsenal before Chelsea’s emergence, have spent four million pounds on South Korean star Park Ji-Sung while Dutch veteran Edwin van der Saar has been drafted in as Old Trafford’s latest goalkeeping experiment.Elsewhere, Merseyside giants Everton and European champions Liverpool will be left to battle for the fourth Champions League qualifying spot.Liverpool, having persuaded Steven Gerrard to resist Chelsea’s overtures and paid relegated Southampton seven million pounds for striker Peter Crouch, will be confident they can edge their city rivals.Everton endured a miserable pre-season and lack a genuine cutting edge to threaten again the established order.As always, Newcastle have been busy in the transfer market paying Chelsea 6.5 million pounds for Scott Parker and almost four million for Inter Milan’s Turkish international Emre.For the rest of the Premiership’s 20 teams it will be a battle either to grab the crumbs of making the Uefa Cup or escaping the trapdoor of relegation.-Nampa-AFP