Many eyes will be on Geremi at Watford tonight in the final pre-season friendly to see if he plays in central midfield again. Most people assumed that the Cameroonian international was bought to play on the right flank, but with the lack of fitness of Emmanuel Petit, the departure of Jody Morris and the lack of other central midfielder signings, he played alongside Frank Lampard in the first-half at Crystal Palace on Saturday and looked very comfortable.
Claudio Ranieri has been chasing Geremi for three years, and said to Chelsea TV after the match: “Look, Geremi is used to playing on the right, in the middle, in defence, he’s a universal player, it’s very important for me because I can change the situation when we need to.
“Now it’s not important to say Geremi will play in this position or that, it’s important that Chelsea has another good champion player, this is what’s important for me.”
Central midfield was a role he played for Real Madrid and he told Chelsea TV he is comfortable with it. “I used to play there and the manager knows I can play there and so what I do is work hard and wait for the manager. If he makes me play anywhere I am going to do my best.
“I am used to playing anywhere. It might be good or it might be bad I don’t know. But if the manager likes that, you are happy because every time you are going to play. I think it’s an advantage to play many positions and to try to help the team.”
Geremi crowned his performance at Crystal Palace with a match winning 35 yard free-kick. Ranieri told Chelsea TV: “Fantastic. He’s used to scoring from these free-kicks. Also this morning when we trained, he started and scored from his first shot and continued to shoot very well. It’s important for us because a lot of the matches you can score from the free-kicks, these balls are very important.”
Petit is unlikely to be fit for this evening’s game. William Gallas hopes to be available as he has yet to play this pre-season either, but he too is looking doubtful.
Ranieri hinted at the weekend that he would be partnering Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Carlton Cole up front having given Eidur Gudjohnsen and Mikael Forssell the nod on Saturday.
Neil Barnett
