Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is happy to count on his senior players again.
He has benefited from being reunited with the men who remain the heartbeat of the club he left behind six years ago: goalkeeper Petr Cech, captain John Terry, Frank Lampard and England left-back Ashley Cole.
'Some managers, when they go to a new club, they like to take four or five guys they know very well," said Mourinho last week. "I didn't - they were already here. They make my life easier."
Lampard, Terry, Cech and Cole are Mourinho's biggest allies in his mission to return Chelsea to the summit of the English game, where he had taken them in successive seasons, in 2005 and 2006.
"It's a help for me, the way they communicate with other players, the way they can make them know me sooner rather than later," said Mourinho. "They help the others to analyse some of my ideas, some of my reactions.
"It's a big support, they are good guys and good professionals. They have it right in their heads that they are not 25 any more and the relationship they have with me is perfect at this stage of their careers. They know my decisions are best for them; they trust me."
