Geremi the hero as Blues earn vital win

THE ARRIVAL of Roman Abramovich saw Chelsea acquire untold new wealth, and with it came the expectation that they would be in the market every summer for the most decorated names in the game.

Mourinho duly lured Andriy Shevchencko and Michael Ballack to West London last summer, but is ever mindful of the value some of the less illustrious names have to his plans for domestic and European dominance.

In their glory years of the nineties, Manchester United had Phil Neville, Arsenal had Gilles Grimandi. Even further back Liverpool had Ronnie Whelan and Everton had Alan Harper.

Geremi, who scored a fine free-kick winner for Chelsea against West Ham on Saturday, has started just four games this season, yet he proved his worth just days ahead of the Blues’ Champions League trip to Werder Bremen by fitting in at right-back as if he had played there throughout his career.

Mourinho once suggested that the Cameroon international would ‘run through a brick wall’. Against West Ham he was thankful to be confronted only by a poorly assembled obstacle as he curled his right-footed effort into the top corner beyond Robert Green in the 21st minute. At half-time, Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz came on for the injured Ricardo Carvalho, and helped ward off a late onslaught from Alan Pardew’s side, who with a bit more luck might have snatched a point despite being second best for most of the day.

Boulahrouz may not have distinguished himself in every performance this season. He won praise for keeping Ronaldinho in check in the first leg of their Champions League double-header, even if the Brazilian exacted some revenge in the second leg at the Nou Camp.

With a long season ahead, where a side chasing honours on every front can reasonably expect to play nearly 65 games, Boulahrouz, who joined Chelsea from Hamburg in a £7m deal, may prove to be worth more than his weight in gold.

Now 24, he came through the famed Ajax youth system but his failure to see any first team action prompted him to move to RKC Waalwijk, where he developed under the tutelage of Tottenham coach Martin Jol.

“I still need more time to fully integrate into life in England and to get myself more settled living here, but that will come,” he said.

“On the football side, there isn’t time to settle because we have so many games and we have to always be at our best.

“The Premiership is much faster and much more physical than Germany. They have plenty of big players, but they are not athletes as they are here.

“In the Premier League, players are not only strong but very athletic, and the movement and skill is so much better. Playing in England is definitely making me a better player.”

West Ham, meanwhile, have now suffered back-to-back defeats following a brief revival which afforded Pardew some grace and looked like putting their season back on track.

“We set out to try to hurt Chelsea but unfortunately they don’t just have world-class flair players, they also have world-class defensive players,” said the West Ham manager.

“There was no luck about their win but we pushed them all the way and are starting to show that we can match even the best sides.

“If it weren’t for Cole’s block on Reo-Coker in the first half, which was as good as the goal in my eyes, we might have got something. We need to follow this up now against Sheffield United next week.”

Opta Fact: Chelsea have scored the opening goal in each of their 13 Premiership games this season

Opta Fact: No Premiership side has collected fewer away points than West Ham this season — one.