Former Chelsea midfielder Jiří Jarošík spoke about his time at the London club in an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net.
- How did your transfer from CSKA to Chelsea come about?
- When the 2004 season ended in Russia, I returned to the Czech Republic and started negotiations with English clubs. Everton were interested in me at the time, and then Chelsea showed up as well. CSKA didn't want to let me go, the club offered Chelsea a six-month lease, but Chelsea weren't satisfied with the offer and bought me out. The transfer happened very quickly and I was very sorry that I couldn't say goodbye to the team properly. I really wanted to thank CSKA and the fans of the club in person.
- Tell us more about the team, because Chelsea had young Terry, Lampard, Drogba and the whole team was managed by Jose Mourinho at that time.
- It was very easy to learn the names of my teammates (laughs) because they are top players. I would like to say that Alex Smertin helped me even more than Petr Čech. It's a shame we haven't been in touch since. He's a very nice, decent man, even though he was my rival at the position. It is a great experience to train with such great players.
- Why do you think you weren't successful at Chelsea?
- When I joined Chelsea, it seemed that I could stay there for a long time. And who would have turned down such an offer? And I said yes, but Jose chose 11 players and put them in the squad all the time, winning game after game with a 1-0 scoreline. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to prove myself at Chelsea, but you know, when I played against them for CSKA, John Terry and Frank Lampard weren't stars yet. They were just getting started in that season, and it was only after they won the English championship that people started talking about them.
Jarošík played for Chelsea from 2005 to 2006. He made 20 appearances for the London club, winning the English Premier League title in the 2004-05 season.
