Our game against Portsmouth was fantastic. While it has sent shivers to our rivals, it has only created more expectations for the fans and the press, more for the latter. With just one match having been played, we are the team in form. After a sensational 4-0, what can follow up to that? This is an away game but against a weaker opponent than Pompey. The press expects us to maul them, thrash them and put Wigan out of sight. They have hyped our first match so much that they can drop us on the free fall, if we have an indifferent match tomorrow.

That said, I don’t think we’ll have an indifferent match and in fact, I think we will maul them, thrash them and put them out of sight. The only difference is, if we don’t do this, I won’t drop them on the free fall. As always, I need a win, first and foremost. If you outplay and outclass the opponent, that’s a bonus. You can outplay the opponent but that may not reflect in the scoreline. I’m mature enough to understand that. So, when the press expects a 21-0 from Chelsea this match, I’ll be quite ok with an 1-0. My primary expectation is that we should be on a winning spree that should leave all the other contenders fighting among themselves and not for our place.

Before we go any further about tomorrow’s match, it’s Robinho time. I think it’s only a matter of hours before Robinho is announced as a Chelsea player. Real got Robben and we get Robinho, so it’s even. I’d rate Robben better than Robinho, but if you also bring fitness factor into the equation, you’d better off with Robinho than Robben.

Robinho did himself a great service by announcing his Chelsea desire once again. This time, he made it so clear that Real Madrid had to publish an official response to Robinho’s statements.

I want to leave. I’ve told the president, the directors and the coach. I want to play in the Premier League. Chelsea have a great squad, a great team and their offer is good for me and for the team. I’m telling the truth. I want to leave and I have got the character to tell the press that I’m not aiming to stay at Real. It isn’t because of money, it is simply because I want to leave. My personal aim is to be the best player in the world and that isn’t going to be possible at Real Madrid. I’ve played three seasons at Real Madrid and have given everything. I think my period at Real Madrid has come to an end. I hope the directors reach an agreement with Chelsea to resolve my situation as quickly as possible.

The above comments from Robinho forced Real Madrid to publish this official announcement in their official website:

Real Madrid knows about the comments made by Robinho and deeply regrets them given the high personal and professional esteem that the Club has always held the player in, as he deserves. Real Madrid would never retain a player on the team against his wishes and would have no choice but to call for a unilateral resolution of the contract if the player willed it so.

High personal and professional esteem? LOL. Without even checking with Robinho, they thought he would be a make weight in the Ronaldo deal and now ‘personal and professional esteem’? Certainly, it’s got to a stage beyond which he cannot stay with Real Madrid. The choice of words in the official announcement above shows how annoyed they club is, and mostly they’d let him go. By rubbing the club on the wrong side, he might have made himself more expensive for Chelsea. Otherwise, this would be the second defeat in this transfer summer for Real Madrid, after their biting the dust in their Ronaldo affair. In short, it would mean they could not get whom they wanted to, and also they could not retain who they wanted to. These things matter politically for Ramon Calderon. These will come back to haunt him in the next elections.

I think we’re getting Robinho, no matter the price is. See how particular Scolari is, about Robinho.

I don’t train Robinho, never trained Robinho, but I like him because his style is different. And if he tries to dribble several times, he is a different player, and we need one player inside the pitch who can make a difference. We have one team who can play one system, and to change this system we need different players. Now we have one player who maybe doesn’t play on the wing, but when he plays on the wing it is good, Deco, he is good on the wing because it is different. Stop the ball, cross, that’s his style and the one I want in Chelsea for many games, because if we have one system only, it is easy for the other teams.

Guess what, he could be in our starting line-up against Tottenham. SWP must then count his Chelsea days. With this we come to the end of today’s edition of ‘The Robinho Show’. I’ll see you tomorrow with more updates.

Back to our match against Wigan. Team news first. Essien and Ballack ‘could’ play in this match. They might even play one half each. After rumours that Drogba will be out until October, we have some clarity that he could be back in the first half of September. I’ll be very keen to see him play against Man Utd. Sheva is still unavailable. Sad. Kalou is back and is available for selection. With Anelka in his ‘best’ form since he joined us, Kalou has to be on the bench.

In terms of the formation, I think Scolari would keep the same one that we had last week. It was a 4-3-2-1 disguised as a 4-3-3. I think Scolari hit the sweet spot with that formation. Very quickly since his arrival, he’s found ‘that’ formation that not only accommodates the key players but also brings the best out of them. I expect to see the same system and the same playing eleven to the extent possible. Yeah, that means Anelka upfront. Not sure, if it’s because of Scolari, Anelka now seems to gel with the team better. Smiles more, participates more, looks more sure of himself. Quoting his own words, ‘without confidence, a striker is nothing’, and he seems have got back his confidence.

I expect to see a couple of specific changes in this match. One is not playing the guys that may not feature in our long term plans. A big no to bringing on SWP or Ferreira and the like. Let’s have guys like Franco and Fabio step on the pitch at some point of time in the game. Two is some solid central defending. In the last match, we weren’t very convincing in our defending box. Also I remember the injury time goal last season by Emile Heskey. Terrible moment. With attacking wing backs, when there is a sudden counter attack, our midfielders should be quick enough to cover the ground. Also, defending by throwing bodies is not my idea of good defending. We should be positioning ourselves tactically and tackling smartly, instead of allowing those half chances in the box.

I guess our result would depend largely on how well we can defend counterattacks. Wigan may well be playing a 7-0-3 waiting for those opportunities for counters. Watch out for the Palacios guy. Was impressive when he played us last time. I hope you remember that amazing goal by Belletti at the JJB last season. If I have one gripe against Scolari, it is about how he weighs Belletti. It’s a pity that Belleti does not seem to be firm in Scolari’s plans. But I can safely say that Scolari know better and he knows what he’s doing.

Today, Arsenal and Liverpool play Fulham and Boro respectively. Man Utd play Pompey on bank holiday Monday. Arsenal might hammer Fulham but Liverpool could find it tough against Boro. Man Utd at Fratton Park could be an interesting match (BBC predicts a draw!). If we win and win by a 2 goal margin, we can remain on top of the table. Am I allowed to expect a 3-0 in our favour?