This is certainly not the best of times to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The morale of the Blues must be really at a high with 7 points from 3 fixtures which includes a difficult point at Anfield. Also add to this the Chelsea master stroke in the transfer market to kill off the Daniel Alves saga. The way I see it, Juliano Belletti = Middle finger to Sevilla.

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Juliano (or Giuliano for some) Belletti is 31 years and that fact does not excite too many fans. We should also realise that Chelsea has set firm sights on Daniel Alves and sooner or later, he would be our player. It could even be in January or next July, whenever. Sevilla has made a mess this whole Alves offer. Jose does not want Sevilla to take us for a ride and at a certain point, shows his middle finger to Sevilla and brings Belletti out of his magic hat. Jose says:

Juliano brings what we believe we need. He has played for two of the biggest teams in the world – Brazil and Barca. He is a pure right-back, not an adaption like we had so many times with Lassana Diarra, Michael Essien and Shaun Wright-Phillips playing there.

While this looks like a incredible last minute scoop, I think this deal must have been arranged quite a number of days back. Something like a derivative transaction. We’re interested in Belletti, but if we get Alves we won’t buy Belletti otherwise we would buy him for 4m pounds. Like Jose said, always the quality and price of a player (dig at Sheva?) determines his value. Belletti for 4m pounds is a fantastic deal unless Alves is 9 times the player than Belletti, in the same position. There is an age difference but that’s allright. We would surely buy Alves for the long term, but at our price, and looks like we are ready to wait.

He’s at it again! Jose talks about reducing his squad size from 27 to 26. Surely, he does not expect a repeat of 06-07 in terms of injuries.

Our squad is a very balanced one. We have two players for each position and the right-back position is a position where we have more than two. For the interest of the players, because everyone likes to play and not just be part of the squad, if clubs show a real interest in one of our players and our player shows interest in leaving for a better situation, that is okay. But it is not a drama for me to keep 27 because they are all good players, they are useful and the season is long.

His love for Paulo means, probably it would be Glen Johnson to help Jose achieve his ideal squad size:

Paulo is a player that I trust very much. Paulo is with me for six consecutive years and everything that I have won, he has won with me. From the defensive point of view he is a safe player. The reason why I wanted to bring in a different right-back is Chelsea, this season, is a different team, as everyone can feel. There is a different philosophy of playing so I felt I needed something different on the right, but no doubts, Paulo is a player that I love and I trust.

Back to our match today, Jose has a huge squad to choose this eleven from. Now we’re missing only Ballack, Ricardo and Bridge. Ashley Cole could be a doubtful starter and I dont think Jose would risk him, if it’s a 50-50. Sheva is back, Terry is fit, Alex is ready and in fact, Belletti can start too. It appears that Belletti could make his debut with Chelsea straightaway as he is already match-fit and eager to play.

I’d put Alex and Terry in the centre, with Tal moving to the left and Belletti making his debut at the most talked about position at Chelsea. As I’ve completely hooked on to the 4-4-2 with wide players, my middle four would be Essien, Lampard, Malouda and SWP. I just can’t believe that I’m picking SWP over Joe Cole, match after match. He was not particularly successful at Anfield last week but he was the man of the match against Germany in the mid-week match. Basically he is playing well and deserves his place. It should be Drogba and Pizarro starting and Sheva making a second half entry for Drogba, if we’re well placed, or for Pizarro, if we’re chasing shadows.

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Outside of Chelsea news, Fergie does not want to see Liverpool let off and Man Utd look at Berbatov. From a Man Utd point of view- with a match at Old Trafford against the Spurs, it can at least unsettle Berb even if no deal is to be done. Roy Keane keeps impressing and this time with his signing of Andy Cole. Cole won’t play against Liverpool today but here’s hoping Roy to come out with a point or is it asking for too much? The match of the day could be Arsenal vs Man City. This is a real test for Man City as they travel to the Arsenal’s Grave and would face some kind of good opposition. If Man City wins this match, I would start taking them seriously. I know they might top the table with 12 points if they win this one, but still I’d support Man City for this match, for some obvious reasons!

I’m still in Europe, in a part where I don’t get to see premier league matches on TV. I’ll have to find a nice pub today, probably one where I could find a lot of fellow-blues unlike last weekend. Hope it is a nice and enjoyable match (scoring early and taking lead types) and I think it can be a safe 2-0.

[tags]Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, Alex Ferguson, Manchester City, Belletti, Alves, Sevilla, Shevchenko, Ashley Cole, Alex, Pizarro, Drogba, Lampard, Terry, Stamford Bridge[/tags]