Kezman: No silverware spells disaster

Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman admits it would be disastrous for the club to finish the new season without silverware.

Jose Mourinho has splashed out nearly £65m (€98.3m) of billionaire owner Roman Abramovich’s money on new players since arriving from Porto.

And Kezman, a £5.25m (€7.9m) signing from PSV Eindhoven, who made an instant impression with a classy double in their ChampionsWorld Series victory over Celtic on Saturday, knows failure is not even worth contemplating.

“We have pressure on us because we are a fantastic team so we just have to win some trophies,” said the Serbia and Montenegro international.

“And by chance if we don’t take any trophies it would be a disaster. We want to make Chelsea a champion this season.”

Kezman clearly has big plans for the new campaign, which kicks off against Manchester United on August 15.

“It [scoring twice] is good for my self-confidence, especially when you come to a new club,” he added.

"They expect me to score goals and I do it well for sure. It’s my job.”

Blues full-back Glen Johnson has shrugged off suggestions that the pressure to deliver is too much to handle.

Claudio Ranieri lost his job after failing to bring any silverware to Stamford Bridge last season and the defender is confident of ending that trend this time.

“An owner comes in and you see what he can do for the club,” said the former West Ham defender. It’s exciting really. It’s nice for the players. Last year we came close to the Champions League and the Premiership; now this year could be the year.”

Mourinho meanwhile is still undecided about his number one goalkeeper, despite Carlo Cudicini’s poor showing in Seattle.

The Italian looked nervous, making a number of mistakes following the summer arrival of Petr Cech.

The Czech Republic international made a name for himself at Euro 2004 and looks to be in pole position to don the gloves for the big kick-off.

But the former Porto manager will change them again at half-time when they face Roma at the Heinz Field to give both the chance to stake their claim for the number one jersey.

Mourinho said: “I would like to change the goalkeepers but I am not sure because you can only make seven subs and it is better to take off outfield players.

“I want to play them both for 45 minutes. We also have Lenny Pidgeley working hard in training with the goalkeeping coach. He is one for the future.

“Petr and Carlo have to play more than him but I don’t know yet who is my number one. They are different goalkeepers with different attributes.”