Ballack in the cold

Michael Ballack

Michael Ballack was brought to Chelsea by Roman Abramovich to win the Champions League but the Germany midfielder will not feature in this season's group stage, after the London club omitted him from the squad list that they submitted to Uefa last Friday. They based the decision on the likelihood that Ballack will not be fit "for the majority of the group phase games" as he continues his rehabilitation from the ankle operation he underwent on July 3, having first had surgery to address the problem on April 27. But the news still caused shock, particularly as the Germany manager, Joachim Loew, said yesterday that he hoped to have Ballack, his captain, available for the European Championship qualifying tie against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on October 13.
Chelsea would only have played two of their six Group B ties by then. Thereafter, they have the double header against Schalke and the trip to Rosenborg before they finish, on December 11, with Valencia at home. Loew said: "[Ballack's] injury is over now, it's becoming better from day to day. It's important that he gets a base physically for the season. His coach at Chelsea must decide when he comes back [but] we hope that he will return to our team for the Euro qualifier against the Republic of Ireland."
Chelsea insisted nothing sinister should be read into the decision. The club could have named a 25-man squad but three would have had to be "locally trained" and since only the captain, John Terry, fits that criterion they named a squad of 23.
Clubs can add up to three new eligible players for the knockout stages of the competition which begin on February 19 - the deadline for registration is February 1 - and Chelsea argue that Ballack would come into the reckoning then, having not deprived the club of a fully fit player in the meantime. The move was said to have been agreed with the blessing of Ballack and Jose Mourinho, the manager.
It is difficult to ignore the suspicion that Ballack had been left out until the closure of the winter transfer window on January 31 with a view to keeping his value high for a potential sale. Players who appear in the Champions League become cup-tied and command significantly less in the market.
Ballack has had a chequered career at Stamford Bridge, since arriving on a Bosman free transfer from Bayern Munich in May 2006. He was billed as a "galactico" signing, together with Andriy Shevchenko, and Abramovich's fingerprints were on both deals. The billionaire owner felt compelled to inject some fantasy into Mourinho's squad that had won back-to-back Premier League titles but had not entirely captured the imagination and had fallen short in the Champions League. Yet Ballack, together with Shevchenko, provoked a degree of suspicion in the dressing room. His contract, which runs until the end of next season, pays him £121,000 a week and that proved a source of resentment.
Mourinho prioritises a collective work ethic and he struggled to fit Ballack into his team. Ballack started 23 of Chelsea's 38 Premier League fixtures last time out, although he was seemingly an automatic choice in the Champions League, starting in every tie until his ankle injury ruled him out of the semifinal defeat at the hands of Liverpool.
It was the injury that sparked confrontation. He damaged the left ankle at Newcastle on April 22 and, having been assessed by Chelsea's medical staff, returned to Germany and had surgery. He felt that Chelsea had failed to detect a piece of floating bone above the ankle, a claim which was angrily rejected. Chelsea were furious at the timing of the operation, coming as it did before the Champions League semifinal and crucial Premier League matches.
Mystery clings to Ballack's injury. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, the renowned German doctor, referred him for surgery in July and it was believed the procedure was relatively minor. Yet the 30-year-old has not played since. Chelsea were unhappy that Ballack did not travel with them on their close-season tour to the US, while speculation surrounded his future when he was linked with a move to Real Madrid. Ballack insisted that he was "totally committed to Chelsea". Both sides however, appear to have a parting in mind.