As Steve McManaman found at Real Madrid there can be significant fringe benefits on the fringes

As Steve McManaman found at Real Madrid, there can be significant fringe benefits on the fringes.. The team are still settling down and the inevitable injuries and suspensions should ensure most will be given opportunities.Eventually those players passed over for crucial fixtures will be faced with the same dilemma experienced by the likes of Nicky Butt and Phil Neville at Old Trafford. “I pick a team for each game, and every game is different,” he said.In time those players who regularly miss out on the big occasions are likely to make their dissatisfaction known, but it is premature to suggest there is dressing-room unrest. Prague was a case of wait and see.”On this occasion Lampard was omitted.

He admitted he was unhappy but added: “The manager would not want me at the club if I was happy at not playing.” In the event, he came on at half-time and played well. Whether he did well enough to be reassured that Ranieri sees him as a Champions’ League regular is another matter. Early indications suggest the coach views the more physical, less technically accomplished players like Lampard, John Terry and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, as primarily domestic competitors Ranieri himself denies any such verdict. Sometimes you have an idea as to who will be playing, sometimes you have to wait and see. Frank Lampard said: “We usually have a team meeting about two hours before the match when we talk about the opposition and study videos The manager then writes the team on a board.

At Chelsea they are often as clueless as the punters and press. They need to know where they stand in the manager’s pecking order Then they can either relax, or moan. Though William Gallas did not score the decisive goal until late on, Chelsea were always the more likely winners. As the manager said: “I am lucky to have so many good players.”The players themselves have taken longer to adjust to the new situation Many footballers are both egotistical and insecure.