All set for the big day, eh? This match has quite a lot of significance in the league. The press has recognised that Chelsea is the team to beat now and Man Utd are not same team that won the double. So if Chelsea wins this match, the message would be loud and clear – Chelsea are the firm favourites for this league and Man Utd have hell of a job to do.

If Man Utd wins, it could be the trigger that they want to spur them on. Man Utd simply can’t think of a defeat here which would put them 9 points off Chelsea. The whole of England knows Chelsea don’t give away their lead so easily, be it in a match or in the league. Now matter how the match goes, you can’t deny the fact that the Reds are fearing Chelsea this Sunday.

After the mauling of Bordeaux, when the press was going crazy, Felipe chose throw words of caution instead of jubilation. I liked that approach. We should not get too complacent or overconfident after beating a poor Bordeaux made to look poorer by our brilliance. I don’t want us to be an Arsenal who beat hapless Brom by 4 goals and think they are title contenders, only to be brought back to planet earth when the opponent plays football. I’m quite happy that Felipe is not flattered that easily. What he said was true. Though the scoreline was 4-0, we did allow them some dangerous possession at times. Look at these words on what he wants. Truly golden.

More possession, more tranquillity.

He’s won me over with this statement. That’s exactly the way I look at football. The way JM looked at, too. It’s not about the scoreline. It’s about how well we can control the game. It’s about how many chances we make and the opponents make. It’s about how much tranquillity! I’m not sure if he used that word ‘tranquillity’. I thought he was struggling with English language. Also, it is quite an interesting word to use in the football context. Football and tranquillity? I love that combination. With more tranquillity in the game, the fans can watch with peace, can be bloody assured that their team would win, never let their lead slip, never woried about the misfortunes on the pitch. And, he also knows that all this has no meaning if we don’t win! He says we made 300 passes in the first half as against their 44. If he is not happy with that performance, beware Man Utd!

There is no team news as of, it’s mostly team rumours. As I write this in the early hours of Saturday, I gather some information which can always change by the time of kick off. It’s going to be a 4-3-3. As I see it, Drogba and Ballack won’t start but both can make an appearance. In their absence, the team picks itself. It’s Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Deco, Lampard, Malouda, Joe Cole and Anelka. I can’t believe I’ve chosen Anelka for the first team. He got a lucky goal last match after missing a host of other chances. I’ve chosen him because this is a big match.

When you’re playing against big teams and experienced managers, they do consider the paper value as against the pitch value of the players. Because, one thing they would have learnt in experience is never to under-estimate the so-called ‘big players’. Anelka is certainly one of them. And these are the kind of matches where one can readily win the fans and also kick start their own form. If Anelka is to score the winner tomorrow, the fans at the Bridge could sing a song for him. He could be a different player then on. Same with Malouda. I think we’re started to see the Malouda that we’ve known at Lyon. One good match and a goal against Bordeaux, he could be a dangerous player against Man Utd.

I’d love to see Ballack and Drogba on the pitch. They were the players that dumped Man Utd last time they visited the Bridge. I’m sure you’d remember that match when Ballack was on fire. He didn’t bother getting a yellow. He post-goal celebration was legendary. That was after that goal, the Chelsea players came up with that ‘Pat Lampard RIP’ shirt to show their solidarity with the Lampards. It was one of the moments that made Lampard continue with Chelsea. It’s a wonderful group of players to work with. Who won’t want to be a part of this group?

Man Utd won’t have Vidic. He made an ‘unrescindable red card foul’, poor guy! Johnny Evans would fill in for him. Luckily for Boy Johnny, Drogba won’t be starting for Chelsea. Drogba has the very quality to demoralise the central defenders, especially the younger ones, that forces them to makes blunders. Ronaldo might start. I want him to start. He’s never made a difference against Chelsea except in the champions league final where he only had to counter a midfielder who was playing as right back. Now we have Bosingwa. Now we have a strong Mikel and a top form Lampard. I don’t think we’re going to allow him too much space or time.

Sir Alex has a confusion up front. To play Rooney or not. I would want Rooney to play because he is ineffective in the midfielder role that he has started to play of late. Berbatov again, does not worry me. He was never a problem for our defence, but then he might get better service in Man utd than what he got in Spurs. If there is one player in Man Utd who we need to be wary of, it would be Tevez. He’s got his own morale and he refuses to be bogged down by the team mentality. When the whole Man utd team has dropped its shoulders, he runs around like he’s on drugs. Irrespective of the stage of the match, the scoreline, the venue or anything, Tevez just goes on delivering with the same attitude and commitment. He’s the kind of player I’d love to have in Chelsea. He fits in to our culture and spirit so well. But Felipe pulled a fast one saying he’d love have Ronaldo in Chelsea next season. Perhaps he just wanted annoy Sir Alex.

As Sir Alex admitted, Man Utd lost to Liverpool, because Pool kept hassling Man utd. They did not allow them to play their game. They tackled them, fouled them and congested them. It was a tactical victory for Benitez over Sir Alex. The bad news for Man Utd is that, Chelsea can outfox them tactically much better than Liverpool did. We’ve got better players with better tactical awareness than Liverpool. Chelsea’s hallmark in defence and midfield has been the way with which we win the ball. In fact, Chelsea’s ball-winning skills are a pleasure to watch. In Mikel, Deco and Lampard, we have a midfield who can win the ball with ease and also make it to good use.

The one thing I’m keen to see is if our wing backs would bomb forward in this match also. If you remember, in the last match, seconds after kick off, Bosingwa, of all players, was adjudged offside. Such was the attacking intent in the wing backs. Knowing that Man Utd has the pace and skill in the counter attacks, would we still risk having wing backs instead of full backs? By surging wing backs, do you think we can really peg Man utd back like the way we have done to other teams? I’m very curious to see our tactics in this regard for this match.

BBC predicts a 2-0 win for Chelsea. Every single ESPN expert predicts a win for Chelsea, most of them saying 2-1 and some of them going for a 2-0 win. I don’t see anyone expecting a Man utd win, their own fans included.

Just over 24 hours to go for the match. I want us to win, somehow. While I’m confident that we can notch up a good win, I don’t mind a scrappy goal which we need to see a dozen replays to know who had the last touch. I don’t mind. Just get those three points. And to the Man Utd boys, just play your game on the pitch by kicking the ball, don’t go kicking around the ground staff, ladies that too. And remember, if Chelsea beats you, you’ll never catch ‘em again this season!

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Chelsea vs Man Utd








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