The season is over. Now these guys can play as many international friendlies as they want. What do we do until July? Let’s keep talking and following football in some form or the other. In this blog, we’ll use this inter-season gap for some truly interesting debates and discussions.

In what ended as a good season after several turbulences, there were quite a lot of great moments, that you’d always want to cherish. jose-mourinho.jpg

Let’s look back at those goals which stood out from the rest in terms of:

(i) the difficulty involved
(ii) the stage of the match
(iii) the importance of the goal
(iv) the drama around the goal
(v) the sheer joy it brought us

May be I’ve missed some goals that should be in the top 25 but you can help me.I actually thought of linking all these goals to the respective videos but that seemed to take too much of my time and that would also make this post to heavy to load. Please be aware that these are not in any particular order.

1. Shevchenko vs Liverpool in the Community Shield: This goal announced the arrival of the great Shevchenko to the English scene. Things started in a very promising manner for Sheva with this high quality goal. This was a goal that deserved to win the Community Shield.

2. Drogba at Blackburn in Premiership: It’s a brand new Drogba we got this season. If it was in the last couple of seasons, Drogba would have gone down in the box and might have earned a penalty or harsh criticism or both. Here, he maintains his balance, stays on his feet despite a difficult challenge and finishes as coolly as you would like. It was my favourite Drogba goal of this season until he bettered himself many times later on.

3. Drogba vs Liverpool in Premiership: This was the first of various super-Drog goals to come this season. When Drogba scored this goal, I thought Drogba just had a great match while he went on have a great season. Drogba scored many more goals in the same pattern where he received weighted lobs and chested them to blast into the net.

4. Drogba vs FC Barcelona in UEFA Champions League: There he goes again. One of the umpteen match-winning goals from Drogba. Receives a accurately directed long pass from Ashley Cole and embarrasses Barca defence. This goal was decisive in proving that the we are not going to be the casualty of the group of death.

5. Lampard at FC Barcelona in UEFA Champions League: One of the best goals of the Champions League this season. Lampard attempted a curved shot from a very acute angle to score a crucial away equaliser. If this goal was scored by some Ronaldo or Kaka or Henry or Ronaldinho, this might have been hailed by Press forever. As it happened to be a hardworking midfielder who plays for Chelsea and scores only 20 goals per season, it was not publicised as it should have been. A truly stunning goal in all respects.

6. Drogba at FC Barcelona in UEFA Champions League: Trailing at stoppage time in Camp Nou. No problem. Chelsea’s player of the season showed Barca what we are made of. Brilliant play from Essien and Terry to feed Drogba at a range from where he’d never miss. The single point gained in Camp Nou was not going to make a difference in the progression but we didnt want to lose to Barca and we wanted to teach them a lesson. While I was going ecstatic with this goal, I was going crazy with Jose’s celebration!

7. Lampard at Everton in Premiership: This match was a true showcase of Chelsea’s spirit and never-say-die attitude. With just under 10 minutes to go, trailing 1-2 down, Lampard quickly realised that he was given the time and space from his shooting range and blasts one to the top right corner. Vintage Lampard!

8. Drogba at Everton in Premiership: A match full of drama and goals, it deserved a perfect finish which was provided by a incredible Didier Drogba. Everytime I see this goal replay, I wonder how it went in! Drogba showed tremendous skill and accuracy, a combination that he went on to show all through the season. I wonder how many players would be able to put it in the back of the net from that range even without a goalkeeper.

9. Robben at Wigan in Premiership: How late can we score? Probably the referee had the whistle on his lips, when Robben’s low-driven shot gave us three crucial points. Those were difficult times – third choice goalkeeper, missing our centre back and inspirational captain, fundamental errors and still came out with three points. Credit to Robben for hoping that it would go in. Hope is what got us the goal.

10. Carvalho at Man United in Premiership: Pride was at stake. We can’t go down to Man Utd, wherever it is. We had to send them a strong message. Carvalho rises than anyone else to equalise and thereby forcing Sir Alex to settle for a draw. Very important goal in the context of the psychological battle between Jose and Sir Alex. After this, Jose could confidently proclaim that we’d beat Man Utd at Stamford Bridge (well, we didn’t have to, finally!).

11. Kalou vs Tottenham in FA Cup: 2-3 down in a knock-out match and at home with 4 mins to go. It was pressure all over. Chelsea was not destined to go down. Kalou who has been little inconsistent, had his chance to become a hero at home. Martin Jol could hardly believe that his team blew off a 3-1 lead with 25 mins to go. Surely, Chelsea are not going down.

12. Shevchenko at Tottenham in FA Cup: Payback time. We had to avenge for the crucial loss at White Hart Lane in the premiership match. Shevchenko produces a moment of magic which was very very ‘the-Sheva-we-knew’. When he ball crossed the line, not many realised that it had really gone in – the commentators, chelsea/spurs players, fans – everyone was stunned. ‘Has Sheva found his scoring feet?’ was the talk around then.

13. Wright-Phillips at Tottenham in FA Cup: SWP was having his best season at Chelsea. He has been very consistent with his quality of shots and finishing when he gets the ball in front of the goal. This fantastic goal shut Tottenham out of the Cup. How sweet was that?

14. Kalou at Watford in Premiership: 0-0 at the 93rd minute. It is all over? Well, not yet. It’s Chelsea and it’s 1-0, thanks to Kalou. Precisely this is what Jose has given us. The undying self-belief and the hunger to go for the win as long as we are on the pitch.

15. Essien vs Arsenal in Premiership: Chelsea has been involved in some incredibly exciting matches this season despite what the biased media reporting says. Once again, from being 0-1 down after the 80th minute, we could have easily won the game 3-1. Essien scored a screamer that no goalkeeper could have stopped, to make it 1-1 and send shivers down the goners’ spine. In the last 10 minutes, we simple scared the shit out of the arses, which was pure fun to watch.

16. Wayne Bridge at Wycombe in Carling Cup: Jose tried Wayne Bridge as the left midfielder in this match. Wayne, like the other Chelsea midfielders, showed that he can score goals too. For someone who plays as a second choice left back, his finish was simply superb. Unfortunately, as he chipped the ball over the keeper, he collided with him and was stretchered off. The post match comment by Wayne Bridge saying ‘anyway we got the three points’ after the knockout tie, was legendary.

17. Drogba vs Arsenal in Carling Cup: Well, he scored twice in this match but I refer to the one where he skinned sorry Senderos for 274th time. A classic centre forward goal, as they call it. Drogba rose above from nowhere to head a superb Robben cross and showed the difference between boys and men.

18. Shevchenko at Porto in UEFA Champions League: It’s a general belief that Shevchenko’s buy was made with an eye on the champions league. He did not disappoint me, when it came to the cups. A smart pass from Robben and a super-cool finish from Sheva kept our European dream alive.

19. Ballack at Blackburn in FA Cup: Michael Ballack deserved this moment. He had the passion and the determination all along. Like Kalou and Sheva, he just had to get accustomed to a new league. This goal was very important for Chelsea and for Ballack. This was not most difficult of finishes but he was there at the right place at the right time and held his nerve to score. The shirt-swinging celeration got him a yellow card after this goal, he didn’t seem to care a bit about all that.

20. Essien at Valencia in UEFA Champions League: History did not favour us. No English team has ever won at the Mestalla. Essien wanted to re-write history at the stoppage time in the massive Mestalla. Very Chelsea-like, Essien did the unpredictable to catch the opposition unawares. From an angle where everyone expected him to cross, he thought of a little surprise gift.

21. Joe Cole vs Liverpool in UEFA Champions League: I missed Joe Cole as much as Jose would have missed him. He has this positive vibration and energy, that really lights up the game and his fellow team mates. A tired Chelsea was playing a fresh ‘holidaying’ Liverpool but that didnt stop us from winning. This was a classic counter-attack initiated by a wonder Carvalho pass that Drogba crossed to Joe Cole, after losing his markers in style. The transformed Joe Cole takes every chance he gets and makes something worthwhile with them. This goal put us in the driver seat in this tie.

22. Wright-Phillips at West Ham in Premiership: May be, our players were annoyed and angered at themselves for letting in a league goal after a gap of 3 months. We started from the kick-off after the Tevez goal and in a swift blitzkreig, we put things back into perspective. SWP’s finish was awesome and I wonder why he does not display this too often with consistency.

23. Essien at Arsenal in Premiership: Centre backs dont score those kind of goals, do they? That goal would make the centre forwards proud. Michael Essien is a centre back cum right back cum central midfielder cum right midfielder cum attacking midfielder who can score some superb goals. Talk about versatility. Sir Alex later on said that he was in agony watching the last 30 mins of this smatch. Essien’s goal started it all.

24. Drogba vs Everton in Premiership: A Premiership record was at stake. To remain unbeaten in home league matches for the third season and to equal Liverpool’s record, we needed Drogba once again. It was a goal from a man in top form. Now, all it takes is a draw in the first home league match of the next season to create history. Truly this was a very vital goal in the bigger scheme of things.

25. Drogba vs Man Utd in FA Cup: Drogba’s most important goal of the season? Well, I’d say so. It’s given our second trophy of the season, Jose’s sixth trophy and his first FA Cup. It’s gotta be the most important of the season. His wonderful season had to finish this way. On the 116th minute of the 56th match he played this season, he had enough hunger to make a precise 1-2 with Lampard and finished with the most delicate of touches.

All these are magnificent goals in their own respect. If I’ve to choose only the top 5 of these goals, it will be in this order:

1. Drogba vs Man Utd in FA Cup

2. Shevchenko at Tottenham in FA Cup

3. Essien vs Arsenal in Premiership

4. Drogba at FC Barcelona in UEFA Champions League

5. Drogba at Everton in Premiership.

Which of the above 25 goals would you rate highly and in which order? Remember, the criteria considered are (i) the difficulty involved (ii) the stage of the match (iii) the importance of the goal (iv) the drama around the goal and (v) the sheer joy it brought us. Come up with your views.