Salomon Kalou

Chelsea might have broken the ice with a victory over West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, but, to make sure they become the English Champions again, they have improvements to make in a lot of areas.

The Blues saw themselves getting off to a horror beginning in the ongoing Premiership as they were limited to a draw by the minnows Swansea City and then, beaten by the arch rivals Manchester City, and it didn’t get much better from there on in!

Prior to that, they had tasted defeat at the hands of the Gunners as well, that is in the Community Shield game.

In short, they have played poor Football all the time they have featured on the pitch. There is huge pressure to turn the tables around somehow, which is made even tougher now that Kalou is no longer at the club.

They did manage to walk out of the Hawthorns with a favourable result, but, their manager did not have an overly happy look on his face and he had every reason to be that way. There was no way that the game should have been that close if Chelsea had played to their ability.

The passing was awful again and finishing was not a lot better either if compared to the three games that they had played earlier, but, what would be concerning Chelsea the most at the moment is their defence which is looking alarmingly out of sorts.

Some might say there was a similar case the previous season too as they had conceded quite a few goals early on, but, tightened up as they moved ahead. Chelsea won the title last year, but at one point you could have stuck a live bet with contemporary odds at as much as 8/1 on them to win. They are at similar odds this season.

But, the thing this season is that the defenders are looking short on confidence and that’s never a good sign – and one of the main reason Chelsea are suddenly shipping goals.

Mourinho knows he has his work cut out and that’s why, he did not seem to be brimming when he addressed the press after the win, but, he would have breathed a sigh of relief with these 3 points, that’s for sure.

Salomon Kalou spent 6 years of his playing career performing with the Premier League side Chelsea. This was the largest period of time that he has spent with any club of his career and his time spent in Stamford Bridge was very successful as the Ivorian player managed to lift a number of major titles including: the Champions League and the Premier League.

The veteran attacker is now playing for the German side Hertha BSC but now that the regular season is over, he is taking a break from his usual schedule and Salomon Kalou took the chance to catch up with some of his former Chelsea teammates as met with Frank Lampard at the Yankees Stadium a few weeks ago on June 29.

Frank Lampard is a player of the MLS side, New York City FC as he joined the American team at the beginning of the year in January but he didn’t officially get into the team or start playing with New York City FC until July when the summer transfer window opened.

In Kalou’s first season as a player of Hertha BSC, he went through a campaign where had some ups and downs as the Ivorian forward kick-started his career with his new club by playing a regular spot in Hertha BSC but during his opening month in the team, he was usually offloaded from the pitch in the 2nd half as he struggled to make a real impact with his limited period of time on the playing grounds.

However, as the weeks progressed, Kalou earned his regular spot in Hertha BSC as he was consistently playing and helped out his club in their journey of avoiding the bottom relegation zone of the Bundesliga.

Former Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou says that he is eager to win back his place at Hertha Berlin after having found the motivation to win trophies once again.

The forward has been going through a barren spell in terms of titles over the last few years. He had a huge collection of medals from his time at Chelsea, but more importantly, Kalou has been focusing on regaining a starting spot in the team. After moving to Germany with Berlin, Cologne lost the starting spot towards the end of last year. After having just tasted success at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast,Kalou says that he is looking forward to the remainder of the season.

Still only 29 years old, the forward has managed only six goals in 19 appearances for the German outfit. He was part of the Golden generation of Ivory Coast that almost went without a major title before winning the Africa Cup of Nations on penalties. Kalou has been rarely starting matches and he was earlier linked with a return to the Premier League with the likes of West Brom being interested in him. However, this poor form and the lack of regular football could force the Ivory Coast international to stay at Germany for a while.

“I’m feeling really good and I’m ready. I now want to put in a great second half of the season with Hertha.It’s high time we showed what we can do. The win over Mainz was important for all of us and that gives us self-confidence for the challenges ahead.Every player will now want to prove himself to the new coach and I also get a new chance and want to play more.I’ve just won a title and I’ve really got a taste for it. I’m hungry and I want more,” said Kalou.

Salomon Kalou believes that Football is played a bit differently by the Germans and it’s not easy for a new player coming from some other part of the world to adjust to that style straightaway.

Kalou himself is very new to German Football. He has only spent 6 months playing in Bundesliga for Hertha Berlin, but, so far, it hasn’t seemed that he is facing any sort of difficulty. He has been amongst the goals in whatever few appearances that he has made.

The forward himself, however, does not feel that he is totally comfortable playing the German way.

Having played in England and Holland for a long period of time, he is used to the conventional type of Football in which the forwards don’t worry about the defence at all. They just go all out on attack.

According to Kalou, in Germany, even if you are a forward, it’s your responsibility to try and help the back line players if the ball is in the possession of the opposition team.

The Ivorian was quoted as saying, “At the start, it was all good, but, then, after some time I realized that may be, I would have to do some adjustments because they play it slightly differently over here. You have to contribute a little bit to the defence as well.”

When asked if he would have liked to have started more at Hertha during the summer, Kalou said, “Yes, for sure. But, I am happy with the fact that there are 5 goals to my name already.
I know I could have more if I had played more, but, you know you can’t blame anyone.”

Hertha is out of top 10 in the Bundesliga table right now with only 18 points in 17 games.

Salomon Kalou, the new signing of Hertha Berlin, wants to take his side to DFB-Pokal glory in the ongoing season.
Kalou, the 29-year old forward, has been going great guns for Berlin since his joining. He’s already had 3 goals under his belt in the 5 games that he has featured in the German league.
His match winning strike versus VfL Wolfsburg the previous month was sensational and then, he scored a couple more versus Stuttgart too the other day.
Kalou is presently on international break, but, he is going to return from that pretty soon after which he has to play two Bundesliga matches, but, the forward has his eyes set on the Pokal fixture versus Bielefeld.
Kalou has achieved Cup glory with his past clubs as well. He won FA Cup with Chelsea in England quite a few times. So, he has been there before and he wants to get there again with Berlin.
Speaking in an interview last evening, Kalou said, “It’s my dream to see my team in the title round and we are not too far away from that. You see if we beat Arminia, it will just be a matter of three matches. Of course, we can’t underestimate anyone, but, we are very confident with what we have got.”
When asked about him being in great form at his new club, the Ivory Coast International, who has been a European Cup winner as well, said, “I don’t think I am right up there as of now. There are things missing in my game still, but, it’s all about time when you make your way to a new place. As the days go by, you improve.”
Kalou previously used to play for the French top tier club Lille OSC.

The French side Lille signed Salomon Kalou back in 2012 and so far the former Chelsea player has made over 65 league appearances for Lille but Kalou is believed to be interested in making a return to the Premier League. A few days ago the manager of Lille, Rene Girard admitted to the media that the relationship between him and Kalou is not as healthy as it used to be some time ago as the Ivorian forward has even recently been skipping and missing out from pre-season training matches.

It still remains undecided as to what club he would prefer to join in the Premier League but it’s evident that his wish is to leave Lille. Everton, Liverpool and Arsenal are some of the English clubs which are being more associated and linked with Kalou.

Lille is interested in signing the Ghanaian attacker of Lorient Jordan Ayew and they could offload Salomon Kalou as a way to create just enough funds to sign their desired summer target. Kalou has a price tag in the region of £3m which means that just about any top club in the Premier League won’t have to break the bank to sign him.

The Italian club As.Roma has displayed their intention and desire in signing Salomon Kalou but the former Chelsea player is hoping he can receive an offer from a club in the Premier League as his wish is to make a return in England.

In the course of the January transfer window Arsenal launched a late offer hoping to sign Kalou but a deal was never completed and Arsene Wenger might still be interested in securing the services of the Ivorian forward. The Premier League is only a few weeks away from kicking off as time is ticking down for Kalou and if no offers are launched for the former Chelsea player, his desire to make a return to the Premier League might not be fulfilled.

Arsenal’s ambition to land Salomon Kalou will continue on despite already having attempted to sign the Ivorian on 2 occasions since last summer. Wenger launched an offer towards Lille during the January transfer window hoping to sign the former Chelsea player but it got rejected, however that will not stop the Frenchman on preparing another bid.

Kalou is aware of Arsenal’s interest as he revealed his intentions of returning to the Premier League and that the only reason why the initial bid of Arsenal was rejected is because the Ivorian player wants to help Lille finish the season on a positive note.

“If I have the chance to go back, I would love to, because it’s the most exciting league in the world so I would like to try it again. I have to focus on doing well here and then the World Cup is coming, so I have to focus on that, too’’.

“I’m having a great time here. We want to qualify for the Champions League; we want to win the French Cup. I need to keep fit and go to the World Cup with a lot of ambition because there is a good opportunity for the Ivory Coast there.” Kalou stated as he responded to question concerning his near future.
Salomon Kalou wants to focus on the remaining matches which are left in the French league, Ligue 1 as he wants Lille to finish in the top 3 spots.

Arsenal’s chase to secure the services of a high profile attacker is far from over as they failed to sign Luis Suarez, Alvaro Morata and Gonzalo Higuain. Kalou might be another viable option considering that Arsenal will not have to break the bank in order to sign him.

Lille is fighting for the French league title along with PSG, Monaco and Saint- Etienne as they are the clubs located at the top spots of Ligue 1 and the coach of the club Girard Rene made 1 signing during the entire January transfer window.

Sebastien Corchia from Sochaux was the signing that Lille made as they heard the news regarding the defender Franck Beria who is out injured and the French side acted responded by signing the 23 years old Sebastien Corchia.

Signing Corchia from Sochaux was a harder task to accomplish then initially expected for Lille as they had offers rejected and the player was a target of Arsenal as well. Wenger considered Corchia to be a long-term replacement for Bacary Sagna.

While it certainly is a good decision for Lille to make, it makes you wonder why would Sochaux, a club that is struggling just to survive in the league and avoid the bottom relegation zone, why would they sell one of their assets. Corchia’s performances and abilities have even attracted the interest of Arsenal and Juventus.

Arsenal failed on signing a target they had from Lille which was Salomon Kalu, the Premier League club tried on making a loan deal for the former Chelsea player but it was rejected by Lille but Arsene Wenger is still keeping close tabs on another performer of the French club.

The 23 years old defender Pape Souare is on the radar of Arsenal but they have a tough task ahead of them as the player has a contract with Lille that runs up until 2017.

Salomon Kalou has said that he can play for a Barclays Premier League side in the upcoming years.

Kalou had the opportunity to return to England this summer too as he was approached by West Ham United. But, the 28 years old Ivorian striker decided to continue playing for Lille.

When asked if there is any chance of him going back to Premier League, Kalou said, “Yes, I might go there in future. You never know. I could have moved there this summer as well, but, I rejected West Ham’s offer as I thought that staying at Lille is better for me at this point of time.”

“I am just 28 years of age at the moment. In a year or so, I will be at my peak and then, I will move on.”

“My time here at Lille has been really good. I didn’t have a great start when I had come here last year, but, slowly, I adapted to the conditions and ended up having a successful debut season.”

Kalou has already played in the top flight of English football. He was a part of the Chelsea squad for more than 6 years i.e. from May 2006 to July 2012. He had a fantastic time at Stamford Bridge. He lifted the Premier League as well as the Champions League trophy there.

After being released by Chelsea at the end of the last season, Kalou joined Lille and proved his worth for the French club in his very first season there. He featured for Lille in 28 Ligue 1 games last season and netted 14 times.

Kalou has made a decent start to this season as well. He has made 4 Ligue 1 appearances for his club so far this season and has scored 1 goal.

Former Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou has stated that the return of José Mourinho will propel Chelsea to success this season. The club recently brought the Portuguese manager back to Stamford Bridge after the two parties parted ways back in 2007.

Kalou is currently playing for French club Lille where he has experienced mixed fortunes. He spent seven seasons at the club before leaving the 2012 Champions league winners. During his time at Chelsea, Kalou won all major trophies. It started with the League cup and FA cup that the club won under José Mourinho in the 2006-07 season.

Kalou has recalled those days with fond memories and has stated that Mourinho remains as the best manager he has ever worked with. During his time at Chelsea, Kalou worked with numerous Chelsea managers as the club frequently changed their management. He is, however, not only grateful for Mourinho for bringing him to Chelsea, but also to have thought him a lot of things as well. Kalou arrived from Feyenoord in a £ 7 million deal, but left the club on a free transfer. He came to the club as a striker, but he was used as a winger by all the managers.
Despite the club being successful in the last few years, Kalou reckons that they still need the team spirit that can be brought in by Mourinho.

“We all know what Jose can do. Jose can bring team spirit into a club and I think Chelsea at this moment need that. The only one who can bring this to Chelsea is Jose. I am happy that he is back because Chelsea did amazingly well to win all of the trophies they have done but the only one who can bring [success to the club again] is Jose,” said the former Chelsea striker.