We take on Bolton at the Reebok stadium on Sunday and going by current form, we should count the eggs before they’re hatched (Ah, Jose!). The interesting thing is, the last time we scored in premier league was on Aug 25 against Pompey. Yes, we could not score a single goal in premier league in the month of September! How strange! Things change rapidly and all it takes is only a good win. Prayers are answered finally – Super Frank is back. Since Lampard is back, we won’t have Drogba and Mikel due to their red cards (for God’s sake, why can’t we have the complete first-choice team for once?).

First thing to discuss is Avram and his claim of independence. It appears that Avram is independent and has the freedom with regards to the transfers of his staff and players. At least he claims so. Strange that Jose never categorically said that he has this kind of freedom and in fact, had been hinting and suggesting the opposite. There are more and more stories appearing about how Jose was over-ruled in transfer decisions in the last two seasons – Jose did not want to sell Gallas, Gudjohnsen, Huth, Duff and Robben. Jose did not want to buy Sheva, Khalid, Ben Haim and Alex. Jose wanted to buy Eto’o, Villa, Dani Alves, Miguel and Milan Baros but was denied. These are still tribalfootball brand of theories but nowadays tribalfootball’s hit rate of rumours becoming news has improved tremendously, hasn’t it?

Avram says that he needs an assistant with English football knowledge and one from Europe. Steve Clarke would be the one for England but there are reasons to believe that he won’t see the end of this month in Chelsea. The Ajax man Ten Cate would most probably join us as the assistant coach for Avram. With whatever I’ve heard of Ten Cate, I believe he is a strong personality and can even overshadow Avram. Our coach confirms that he, not Ten Cate, would be head coach of Chelsea. Sounds familiar?

About Ten Cate, Avram says:

He has a good record, he is a nice person, and I’ve met him before. He knows football, and when I look for an assistant for Chelsea I want an assistant from top of the line, because he needs to work under me and to understand modern football and modern systems of training. It’s my decision, I am in charge of myself, my staff and my players. Any decision about my staff and my players is my decision.

Read that line about modern football and modern training systems? Now I can link to the rumour that Chelsea players were complaining that Avram’s methods of training is about two decades old or very modern in Israeli football but not quite so in the UK. Avram methods are primitive and Ten Cate’s are modern. They can either complement each other’s skill or end up disagreeing on virtually everything. I hope that Avram, Steve, Ten Cate and Frank Arnesen do not end up in a ego war and make things worse.

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Back to this match, Lampard is here and I can’t tell you how relieved I am. When Jose said ‘with Drogba and Lampard, we are talking about 50% of the Chelsea goals’, that was not an excuse, that was a raw fact. That’s the case with many teams. The top two goalscorers would contribute/score about half of the goals. Drogba is out this match only because of a suspension. Once he is back, with Lampard and Drogba, we should be right back on track. Oh wait, I just realised we cannot wait till the next match, we have to win this match. In fact, unless we come up with a 10-match winning streak or more, we won’t be catching those teams that whizzed past us.

Coming back from an unjury, will Lampard help us win the match? Absolutely. Out of the 100+ matches I’ve seen Lampard play, there were very very few matches where he was ineffective. Otherwise, he always comes up with his goods. His commitment and all-round dedication and spirit were the reasons why he was such a darling of Jose Mourinho. Call me whatever, I believe he would score tomorrow!

If Avram drops Sheva for this match, I’d think he has the freedom to choose his team. I don’t think Sheva merits a chance by his form and the form of the ones competing with him. Kalou has been awfully wasteful in front of the goal, but he is just 21 and I believe he can be a great player one day. Kalou at least beats defenders, creates chances and gets some free kicks in crucial areas. Sheva on the other hand, makes me feel that we are playing with one man short straightaway. I’ve been on Sheva’s side for too long hoping that his class will prevail and he’d get back to his Milan form. The cost of his settling down has been very expensive for us. As we are already trailing by a huge gap at this stage, I don’t think there is any room for experimentation or accommodation.

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Pizarro has been quite productive given the limited opportunities he has had. Unfortunately, no one considers him for a start as the only striker in a Chelsea shirt. For this match, I’d play 4-3-3 with Pizarro as the lone striker with Kalou in the bench. Sheva should be out of the squad until he really shows the sharpness in the training that makes Avram believe that he can do a good job. Until then, he can be the spokesperson or interpreter or whatever.

The back four should be Terry, Carvalho (hope that golf ball on his forehead is gone!), Ashley Cole and Belletti. In the midfield, I’d go for the rejuvenated Makelele, raring-to-go Lampard and Sidwell. The front three are Pizarro, Joe Cole and Malouda. Or alternatively Joe Cole can replace Sidwell and Kalou can play as a winger or swap places with Pizarro, moving him to the wings.

There are always some opponents that, as a fan, you’d fear, you won’t want them to play, you know they’ll getcha. In my list, I also have Anelka. The man who stood between us and an incredible ‘unbeaten’ season in 2004-05. Whenever he plays, against anyone, I feel that he’s gonna score, sooner or later. Maka feels the same way:

In the league, for me he is one of the best. He is quick, sharp in front of goal, a good player, he has everything. He’s one player Chelsea need to be careful of for 90 minutes.

Well, I believe he meant 90 minutes plus stoppage time ;-)

Bolton are struggling and languishing at the relegation zone. They have not looked the same team since their successful manager left. They still have all the key players of the previous season and still a dangerous team. I’m talking about Bolton here. The Reebok stadium has some wonderful memories for any Chelsea fan. What a place for Super Frank to make a come back!

Short expectation on the outcome: I don’t think we will concede any goals. I’m sure we’ll score as the full-strength defence and in-form Maka, give the rest the license to attack freely. If we score in the first half, we’d score in the second too. Otherwise, we may just score once. 1-0 for Chelsea, 2-0 if I wake up on the right side of my bed.

[tags]Chelsea, Bolton Wanderers, Reebok Stadium, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Obi Mikel, Avram Grant, Ten Cate, Steve Clarke, Makelele, Pizarro, Kalou, Premier League, Premiership[/tags]