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‘There were real, proper fights during training – Andriy Shevchenko knocked out Tal Ben Haim properly, Michael Ballack had a fight with Salomon Kalou and I went at it with Florent Malouda’: Ex-Chelsea star recalls training ground scraps with team-mates

April 10, 2025
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Chelsea were a powerful force to be reckoned with under Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and many more managers they had between 2004 and 2014, with training ground fights a regular occurence.

Though they were often winning Premier League titles, FA Cups and even the Champions League, things weren’t always harmonious between Chelsea team-mates during their successful era.

As John Obi-Mikel reveals, tensions would often boil over during training sessions as the competitive Chelsea squad constantly strived for greatness on the pitch. Mikel himself had a fight with one member of the side, while also recalling a knockout blow landed in one of the scraps.


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Chelsea players regularly had fights in training

Obi Mikel playing for Chelsea (Image credit: PA)

“There were real, proper fights during training,” Mikel told the High Performance Podcast. “I remember Michael Ballack had a fight with Salomon Kalou. Salomon Kalou was a very quiet guy, lovely boy, but Michael Ballack must have done something [to him] that day. He went off.

“We don’t know what happened but Michael Ballack must have done something that’s got Salomon Kalou to go off. Proper fight. They had to be separated, had to be pulled away.”

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 10: Florent Malouda of Chelsea celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates Michael Ballack (L) and Salomon Kalou (R) during the FA Cup sponsored by E.ON Semi Final match between Aston Villa and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on April 10, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Ballack and Kalou didn’t see eye-to-eye (Image credit: Getty Images)

The most controversial of all fights came when Andriy Shevchenko reportedly landed a knockout blow on defender Tal Ben Haim, though.

“There were so many fights,” Mikel said. “I remember one with Tal Ben Haim and Andriy Shevchenko, but I think Tal Ben Haim got knocked out properly.

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“Again, [Shevchenko was] somebody who never spoke. You would never hear Shevchenko say a word, but it just shows the competitiveness.”

Mikel himself wasn’t shy of getting involved, either, with the Nigerian recalling how players intentionally set up situations to allow a heavy challenge to fly in during rondo exercises.

Andriy Shevchenko at Chelsea in 2007

Shevchenko became Chelsea’s record signing (Image credit: PA)

“When you give a bad pass, sometimes you’re trying to set someone up to get smashed,” he added. “Florent Malouda spoke French, I think to Didier Drogba, and said ‘give him a short pass because I want to smash him’.

“So Didier laid a short pass and I went for it and got absolutely hammered. I jumped up and we both went at it. Carlo Ancelotti was standing there and he rushed in and we got separated.”



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Tags: AndriyBallackBenExChelseaFightfightsFlorentgroundHaimKalouKnockedMaloudaMichaelproperproperlyRealRecallsSalomonscrapsShevchenkoStartalTeammatestraining
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