Expect the Chelsea machine to roll on. The home match against Sheffield Utd would be Chelsea’s 5th game in the last 15 days. With the crucial FA cup game against the Spurs on Monday, dont expect anything more than a win. The objective of this Sheffield Utd game would be: (i) to win, with any bloody score (ii) come out with no injuries (iii) not to get too tired. Chelsea would be playing in low gear only unless we go behind or there is a real urgency.

Essien is still not available. For someone who had played every minute in Premiership, to miss two matches in a row is worrying. But his injury is very minor, so he can be expected to play against Spurs. Mikel is still suspended for taking a punch on his face from Toure. This makes Ballack a certainty for this match despite his disgusting performance against Man City. Sheva is back and will start by all probabilities. I would rest Drogba, Lampard and Maka considering the more matches to come. Even without them we should cruise home with ease.

We beat them 2-0 in the reverse fixture without much difficulty. Lampard was helped with a goal and Ballack blasted this header:

In the last 14 away games, Sheffield have won only three and have never score more than one goal in a match. But Neil Warnock must be reasonably happy to see themselves No.16 and are safely 7 points ahead of the battle in the bottom. If you had told him that he would be above West Ham in March, he would have taken it with both hands. Neil Warnock likes Mourinho, ahead of the match says this:

No disrespect to Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger but it was a two-horse race before Mourinho. He has ruffled a few feathers and it has been great for English football. Yes he is a bit too good looking but other than that there is nothing much wrong with him.

Meanwhile, Jose gave an interview to a Portuguese newspaper on some controversial topics. That interview has been conveniently misquoted and misinterpreted by various papers in English media. Below is what he said in the Chesea Official Website later on about that interivew:

I conducted a small interview about 10 days ago. It was a very simple and positive interview. For me, the most positive thing was to say on one side, there is no conflict between me and Frank Arnesen. I was very explicit about that. He has his job and I have my job and because of the conditions and the people he has to do his job, I would be very silly if I didn’t use his structure to help me in my job. He has 40 to 50 scouts around the world for youth football. He is not a yes man. He does not say yes every time I want him to say yes but the relationship is positive. I have no problems working with him. That is one part of the story.

The second part of the story, I was saying in December and January, there were big problems for me because we have too many injuries. I was desperately needing at least one defensive player to give my team the balance we needed at the time. We didn’t get one and I spoke of very positive things after that. We were in a difficult moment and the team closed ranks and we fought with what we had. And because of that the team became stronger and it gave us the chance to promote kids like Mikel and Diarra. Of course if you buy players in January, almost for sure they wouldn’t get the chances they have now. I was talking about the positive side.

He is a very competitive guy, Jose, and with anyone so opinionated like him, there would be arguments and difference of opinions. The fact that he used the term ‘positive side’ twice in a paragraph shows that there was a negative side and did not or did not want to talk about it. As long as the difference of opinions do not snowball into huge ego clashes, such frictions here and there can be healthy to stay sharp and competitive in the business.

Man Utd host Bolton in a lunch time kick-off. By the time we kick-off, we’d know if we are chasing 7 points or only 4 or 5 points (we need that extra point as Man Utd have a better goal difference). Yes, Man Utd thrashed Bolton at the Reebok in the reverse fixture, but I will not rule out a surprise result at the Old Trafford. In our game, as I said the Chelsea machine will roll on and the moment we get comfortable, we would shut shop, walk around the park and save some energy for the FA Cup match. I see a 2-0.