Internal troubles at Chelsea?

Chelsea's performance is not very comforting of late and if their lacklustre form persist, they could be in for a rude shock at the end of the season. Their humiliating 2-1 loss to Middlesbrough should have been a wake-up call that they must improve. Well, win they did against Charlton but it was not pretty and they are still a long way from the dominat form of last season.

The war of words between the club and William Gallas is also not endearing them to neutral fans. In a club statement, they claimed that Gallas refused to play before threatening to score an own goal, get sent off or made deliberate errors if selected. The statement also revealed that the real reson for Gallas to leave was money and he was just hawking himself to the highest bidder.

It is hard to believe that Gallas, one of their best defenders, would be so unprofessional even if he has made no secret of his desire to leave Chelsea. By the way, Ashley Cole, their most recent purchase is not exactly a saint either. Despite what Cole has indicated of the club's treatment and lack of respect for him, there are still nagging doubts that he has left Arsenal because of the high wages offered by Chelsea. Technically, Ashley Cole is not superior to Gallas and Soccer Pundit is not convinced that this exchange deal has in fact strengthened Chelsea's squad.

If Chelsea think that they will have the last word in this matter, they have to think again. Gallas has hit back at them and looks set to take legal action against his former club for these allegations. As Mourinho is not one who would back down, this looks to be drawn-out battle which will hurt Chelsea more than Gallas himself. Court case or not, the distractions from this mud-slinging will affect the team morale, especially for players like Didier Drogba and Michael Essien who have also expressed a desire to leave.

Mourinho's recent spate with the French Federation over Makelele's "slave" treatment was refuted by Makelele himself as he has expressed his willingness to continue playing for France. Looks like Mourinho is losing his plot and the 'Special One' who can do no wrong looks very shaky in his control of players at the moment. There could be more internal disputes on the way but never underestimate Mourinho as a master tactician who has the ability to turn things around.

There is one positive out of all this and it is that the Premiere League will be a much closer fight this season instead of the boring battles for second and third place...