Points lost at home, again. Least points scored in an unbeaten home league run – that would be a record in itself right? In 05-06, we had so many draws at home which finally cost us the title. We didn’t have our keepers and centre backs and all that boardroom drama then.

This season we’re flying high but winning at home is no longer a habit.  Now we couldn’t score against Newcastle at home? Don’t get me wrong. We are on top of the table. Table-wise, we are better than every other team in England. We’re also tied on points with Liverpool while we should be leading them by 5 or 6 points. As I’ve always said in recent times, our attack is our achilles heel.

The attack consisting Malouda, Kalou and Anelka is not good enough. That’s simple and straight. In fact, these three players are made to look bad by each other. For instance, if Kalou were to play in the company of a couple quality forwards, he would do better. I guess that holds good for the Anelka and Malouda as well. A chain as strong as the weakest link. One bad centre back or a bad goalkeeper is what you need to undo all the great efforts at the front. Similarly, one bad apple upfront is going to reflect on the others too. In our case, we have three. It’s fair to say that we have the poorest of attacks of the top four. if our trio better than Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov – No. Are they better than Kuyt, Torres and Keane – No. Are they better than van Persie, Adebayor and Nasri – No. Still we have a huge goal difference in the league. Reason – our excellent midfield, which is the best of the top four.

I’ve been thinking all along that Drogba’s return could solve all the problems. He seems to take too much time to back to form before he gets injured again. I’m not fully convinced that he wants to be part of Chelsea FC. We know he has always been ‘misquoted’ about his relationship with Chelsea FC but his performances have always been very committed to the team’s cause. We saw only a little of Drogba last season but he was on fire that he changed matches on his own. Even when he returns from his suspension, there’s no guarantee that he would turn things around. I doubt if we would play to Drogba’s strengths. When Sheva played for us, there was a common belief that we did not play to his strengths and that’s why he never blossomed in England. Well, there were many reasons why didn’t blossom in England. I think Sheva was at the end of many of our attacks early on. When you miss attack after attack, you’d no longer be the favourite for your colleagues to play the ball to. I think that’s what happened to him.

When Drogba is back, if we don’t play to his strengths, we are not getting the best from him. Ask the opponents what they most fear about Drogba. It’s his aerial ability, physicality, strength and that powerful shot. He is not someone who will, as if through telepathy, realise and move quickly to receive a chip above the backline to slot it home. He is not Inzaghi. The way we use Anelka and the way we use Drogba should be entirely different. The kind of football that we have played thus far has probably helped Anelka but when Drogba arrives, we need to tweak the plan a bit. That also means a new dimension in our attack and more headaches for the opposition. If we play it right, our attacks will become more unpredictable and difficult to handle. Drogba’s return should relieve either Malouda or Kalou. I don’t think it should be Anelka because he must do better in Drogba’s presence.

To have Anelka as the lone striker is a complete failure. Our midfield has been papering the cracks for quite some time when our midfield has an off-day, our attack becomes invisible. when you have a great midfield, it creates chance after chance of which the attack can finish one, two or three and we win the match. When the midfield is having a bad day, we don’t have an attack that makes the best out of the few chances by converting these into goals. Nor do we have talismanic forwards who would win the match by themselves. That’s the reason why Anelka’s best days this season have been Lampard’s best days too. Forwards thrive on good midfielders but once in a while the forwards should also be capable of producing some magic from nowhere.

Anelka as a second striker or support striker would do him and Chelsea a lot of good. I hate to see him in the halfway line when Ballack, Lampard, Deco, Joe Cole are all in front of him closer to the final third. That’s really insane because of many reasons – we have no dearth in midfield talents, he is no better than those midfielders in midfield and we don’t have a striker up close if a chance is created. With Drogba on the pitch, Anelka can continue with his free role (as much as I despise it) while Drogba is ‘the’ striker in the box. If we are to play Anelka and Drogba upfront, it must ‘relieve’ one or both of Malouda and Kalou, if we were to have Joe Cole available. All the while, Scolari has been playing his 4-1-4-1 with good effect. With Drogba, I assume he would play 4-1-3-2 retaining Mikel in his place.

With January approaching, the inevitable question is if we need to boost our team further? I’d say yes. Especially if someone like a Podolski or a Schweinsteiger becomes available, there is no need for a second thought. I’d love to see Obafemi Martins too. I realise that there is not too much money to be spent in January. We need to be selling some players if we need to buy someone. Or there is also a rumour that we have 10m pounds plus the player sales for any new purchases. Paulo Ferreira must be sold. He is a good player but we don’t get anything out of him and I don’t see him in the scheme of things. Not sure if Scolari would do away with his fellow countryman before anyone else. If we are getting Podolski or Tiger, we should not think twice about selling Malouda too. On Kalou, my verdict is not out yet.

I like Kalou. He is a good player who has been played out of position more often than not. In terms of his playing minutes versus the relative contribution, he has been decent. It’s very easy to lose patience on someone like Kalou. He is young but he is not a Messi or Bojan. Not all the big name players were very good players when they were 20. What was Drogba when he was 20? There is certainly value in Kalou. I don’t think we’ll regret keeping him. But if Scolari thinks otherwise he should let him go because he can get another player in his place while Kalou can grow somewhere else. When Adebayor was dilly-dallying with Arsenal LC in the summer, Wenger had enquired Scolari about Kalou. I’m sure none of the big clubs would be after his signature because he has not set anything on fire yet. Wenger does have an eye for potential. Last thing you want to see is someone you release as useless becoming a star with your rival.

With whatever I’ve seen of Franco di Santo, I’m very impressed. He plays and moves well. He is not overawed by the occasion or the stars that surround him on the pitch. He shows a lot of promise. I hope he gets some serious time on the pitch. Otherwise, it makes sense to send him on loan to another premier league club, possibly. We should retain and play Franco di Santo as much as possible. So my verdict with respect to our forwards is buy, sell and hold. Buy Poldi/Tiger in January, sell Paulo/Malouda and hold Kalou. As always, feel free to slag my opinions. Before I sign off, I believe that the Telegraph report on Drogba meeting the Inter reps is all bull. If there’s any truth in that, we certainly need to buy a striker. I can’t imagine Malouda, Kalou and Anelka carrying us all through in the premier league and champions league.

As the title says, I’m not comfortable with the Chelsea front three. Actually, there is one more thing I’m not comfortable with. It is Scolari’s inability to influence the happenings on the pitch in difficult situations. But, that one’s for another day!