KEY POINTS:
From Berkshire to Beverly Hills in the space of one summer, Steve Sidwell is just starting to learn what being a Chelsea player involves. For the moment, it is a hotel in the film stars' neighbourhood, training sessions on a pristine Californian college campus and a new manager
rather more outspoken than Steve Coppell.
During Sidwell's formal presentation as a Chelsea player last week, he was a bystander at the top table while Jose Mourinho launched into his latest thesis on the new season: that the pressure is on Manchester United after their transfer spending. Listening in silence while the manager lets rip is a position all Chelsea players find themselves in at some point and the best approach is to let Mourinho do the talking. But when Sidwell was given his chance to speak, he proved accomplished.
The 24-year-old would not have been the most obvious choice for a club who have taken their pick of the world's best players but, after leaving Reading on a free transfer, he certainly believes he can make an impression. In a city where every parking valet and waitress is dreaming of their big break, Sidwell has been handed a glorious opportunity to play for one of the Premiership's biggest teams four years after he was released by Arsenal.
"It's disappointing when people out there, so-called friends, say 'it's a fantastic move, well done, but are you going to play'?" Sidwell said. "All I can say to that is what the boss said: I'm going to get a chance. It's not worked out for others before me - Scott Parker moved on - but I couldn't have not come to Chelsea and finished my career saying 'I could have played for them'. I'd rather give it a go and if it doesn't work out, I'll hold my hands up and say 'I wasn't good enough'. At least I've got the bottle to do it."
It was a brutally honest assessment of life at a club where the centre of midfield is already a touch over-crowded. Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Claude Makelele, Jon Obi Mikel and Lassana Diarra are the direct competition and there are plenty who have come and gone - Parker, Geremi, Juan Sebastian Veron, Tiago, Alexei Smertin and Jiri Jarosik.
"I spoke to a number of clubs when it was clear I was going to be leaving on a free," he said. "I knew Chelsea was going to be a big, big challenge. There's one thing I can guarantee: when people put challenges in front of me, I'm not one to lie down. I've had a lot of knock-backs over my career - I get up and I'm still fighting. This won't change me at all. This will make me stronger.
"It's down to me to try to get into the squad. If I don't get in on a Saturday, I'll try even harder in training the next week. Competition like that is something I thrive on. As a young player, I've got a strong mentality to do well and achieve things. I want to look back at the end of my career and say I gave it a good go."
The club closest to signing Sidwell ahead of Chelsea was Newcastle but that deal fell apart when Glenn Roeder was sacked in May. There was even a possibility of him returning to Arsenal, where he played in the FA Youth Cup winning sides of 2000 and 2001. That was a formidable crop of young players but he never reached the first team. Before he signed for Reading in January 2003, he had already played for Coppell at two different teams - on loan at Brentford and Brighton.
"There's nothing for me to prove to anyone," he said. "I didn't make it at Arsenal but a lot of young kids don't make it at Arsenal. When I left, I took all the negatives and made them into a positive. Mr Wenger was honest and up front. He said I should go out and show people what I could do on the pitch. I had a great education at Arsenal and I wouldn't change that for the world. If I was doing it all again, I would go there for the coaches and training sessions."
He played for Reading in the infamous match against Chelsea last October when Stephen Hunt's collision with Petr Cech caused the goalkeeper to suffer a fractured skull and began a whole lot of bad feeling between Mourinho, his opponents, and Berkshire South Central's ambulance service.
"I didn't have to go and clear the air, not at all," Sidwell said. "I'm lucky enough to know all the English lads here. JT [John Terry] has been a big help, what with him being English and the skipper, so I've bedded in quite nicely. It's nice to come into a big club like this knowing players and not being intimidated, because everyone's a superstar here."
The No 9 shirt has been given to Sidwell and he will hope to do rather better than previous incumbent Khalid Boulahrouz.
Mourinho, he said, has told him that he is at Chelsea to play in the first team - contrary to the conspiracy theory that he will go to Manchester City in exchange for Micah Richards. In fact, it has been Mourinho's influence that seems ultimately to have swayed Sidwell.
"I like his way of going about stuff, the way he talks to the media. He sticks up for the players in his club all the time. When I first spoke to him, I had that instant respect for him. If I do get the chance to play and I play well, that will hopefully only further my England career. The whole picture was too big a thing to turn down."
- The Independent
