Gudjohnsen feels Blues catching Arsenal

07/07/2004 - 19:03:41
Eidur Gudjohnsen insists Chelsea are closing in on English champions Arsenal and believes the arrival of new manager Jose Mourinho may even have shifted the balance of power to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea, under the guidance of Claudio Ranieri, dumped their London rivals out of the Champions League quarter-finals last season but finished a distant 11 points behind the Gunners in the Premiership.

Iceland striker Gudjohnsen feels the tide may have turned, however, and suspects Chelsea now possess the firepower needed to dethrone Arsene Wenger’s “immortals”.

He said: “To bridge the gap we just need to gel as a team that little bit more. The squad was already capable of challenging for trophies and it is only a matter of time before we win something.

“I thought we bridged the gap with Arsenal to a certain extent last season.

“We finished second to them and reached the Champions League semi-finals, which was a great achievement for us.

“Full credit to Arsenal, they had an extraordinary year and it was brilliant to go a whole season without losing a game.

“No team will repeat that but hopefully we’ll get as close to it as possible.”