Unlike Arsenal, Chelsea demand to win things - Joe Cole

The Blues are on a tight schedule this month as they face Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham consecutively.

Thursday night brought in a wave of mixed feelings in London as Chelsea survived a late scare by Malmo FF, whereas Arsenal couldn’t, as they lost to a lowly BATE Borisov side 1-0 in Bulgaria.

It is quite safe to say that both the Londoners are having a tough season at present after being ousted by Manchester United from the top four in the Premier League table. While Europa League might prove to be their chance to save themselves some stick, their performances on Thursday night suggest they are struggling away from England as well.

After the 6-0 thrashing by Manchester City last weekend, Chelsea showed little signs of improvement coming back with a 2-1 victory from Sweden thanks to goals by Ross Barkley and Olivier Giroud.

Speaking in favour his former club, Joe Cole stated that any player looking for silverware would rather go to Chelsea than Arsenal. Although both the clubs are having a tough season at present, they have seen tasted success in the Premier League era.

Both clubs have a good reputation in Europe and are in fact some of the most feared teams in the continent. Yet, Cole confidently made his statement and it seems he does have a point. Under former manager Arsene Wenger, the Gunners were known to be conservative while considering their approach in the transfer windows.

Wenger’s focus was more on the coaching aspect and seldom could he be seen signing a super expensive player.

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On the other hand, taking advantage of the huge financial support by owner Roman Abramovich, Chelsea have always been one of the most active clubs in the transfer windows, whether it be summer or winter. Moreover, the Blues have also had a better share of success than their counterparts.

Relying on the same points, Joe Cole told BT Sport, “If you’re a player, you’d much rather move to Chelsea than Arsenal, there’s a better quality of player there and you’ve got more chance of winning things.”

“With Arsenal, they’re probably not going to win anything, they’re in a 10-year transitional period. Chelsea demand to win things.”

The 37 year-old, who is currently an academy coach for the Blues also had a few word of praise for the club’s manager Maurizio Sarri. “The response was excellent, I think Sarri’s put his marker down, 'I’m going this way, we’re sticking with my philosophy' and the lads bought into it.”

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Talking about the recent win in the Europa League, he said, “It was a massive result for Sarri. If the lads continue with that kind of intensity then the results could flow, they’ve got a cup final to look forward to in a few weeks, the picture could be very different come the end of the month.”

Chelsea face Pep Guardiola’s men once again when the two sides lock horns in the Carabao Cup Final on 24th February. As for Arsenal, they host relegation-threatened Southampton in the league on the same day.