I didn’t watch the live telecast of this match. Watching a recorded match is always a bit different. You know the result so you’re neither hysterical at possession lost in dangerous areas nor too nervous in the dying moments. You can look at the game much more tactically and which most probably results in you being overly critical armed with the power of hindsight. May be because of that, I wasn’t too impressed with the performance in this match. We scored two good goals, we won the match but we were shaky. A better opponent would have punished us. What do you say?

Supposedly, all our problems are in attack and in chance creation. But then, why was our defence so shaky? I need to include Petr Cech as well here. We looked like we were always only just clear of conceding. Luckily, Bolton did not have the players to cause us any damage. You saw Petr Cech passing straight to Kevin Nolan and that resulted in no damage. Picture Samuel Eto’o or Fernando Torres or Dmitar Berbatov in place of Nolan there. There were a lot of stray passes and intercepted passes which again did not come back and haunt us. I was for a moment thinking that, we play practically the same way, same style and same intensity with all teams and it’s a matter of the quality of the opposition on that day whether we win or draw or lose. I know it’s very cruel to make a statement like that but that’s what flashed across my mind. I want you guys to confirm or challenge this.

Anelka continues his scoring run. Credit to him. His movement for the goal was top class and his finish could have been a bit better as he was unmarked and also had all the time. Anyway, good goal by Anelka. Second one was a classic scissors kick by Deco. Was this Deco’s first scissors kick goal of his career? That’s for the trivia. Deco rightfully thanked Ballack for his smart header to find the unmarked Deco. Both our goals were very good but one fact that does not escape my notice is that they were very poorly defended too. I’m happy for Deco. It’s not often that one is the worst player and the best player in two consecutive matches. He surely has realised how bad he was against Arsenal and he went out to prove a point in this match.

Drogba has now served his suspension. Scolari now has the kind of player that brings something new to the team’s playing style and plan. I’m keen to see how he is going to use Drogba and Anelka and how would he line up the midfield. He may not drop Mikel for he has been the most consistent and the prime reason behind our defensive record this season. He may not drop BBC London Player of the Year 2008 for he has a hand (or foot?) in most of the goals that were scored by us this season. The next two places can be taken by any two of Ballack, Deco, Malouda and Kalou. You might be quick to say that it would be Ballack and Deco, mostly to exclude Malouda and Kalou. Trust me, that may not be the case. With Mikel, Lampard, Ballack and Deco, you don’t get pace or width. Add to that, our strikers are also on the slower side. Kalou or Malouda might get a nod.

By the way, there is a sweet little controversy. Scolari, in the Chelsea fans forum meet, has mentioned something about the need for new players and Chelsea FC has blacked out those comments in the official website. This is what Scolari said:

I think the board know it, I know it and the fans know it. We need one or two more players to put in the team and if we get them then we are in good condition to win trophies at the end of the season and, if not, there might be problems. If we have two more players in the squad, we will have a good chance.

I have a feeling that Roman won’t disappoint Scolari. He might just sanction the funds. I have a strong feeling.

For quite some time, we have been saying that we should put on a winning run. Everytime we think we have started a winning run, we have lost or drawn. We play Cluj on Tuesday. We simply need to win. Draw might also be a useful result but if we don’t top the table, we might have to play the any of the group toppers. Teams across Europe have all strengthened very well. I wouldn’t want to play teams like Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus etc when we don’t have an in-form Drogba or Essien in our team. We need to beat Cluj and if we are unable to beat a tam like Cluj under such kind of pressure, may be we have no business of playing in Champions League.

I see how this match reaction post has turned into a match preview post. Given that we’ve got just two days for the Cluj match, we should be talking about it already!