What a thriller! I had my heart in my mouth in the last 10 minutes. All hail Didier Drogba, the perennial saviour! He absolutely deserves to go to the African Nations Cup on a high. And, what a cameo by Sturridge! I’m so so pleased that I can’t explain how much. We end the year 2009 as the league leaders. This was a superb performance by Chelsea against a very determined, organised and highly professional Fulham side. In a very ordinary month, you gotta say that the performances against Birmingham and Fulham were the best. When your best performances are also your recent, you can be happy and hopeful. Let’s enjoy this big win. A win against Fulham of this season has to be a big one.

The goal that we conceded kind of summed up our situation. There are too many observations from that goal. Firstly, why was Ferreira picked to start while Ivanovic was fit and ready? What was Ferreira thinking when drifted to the centre completely letting loose his man on the right side? How can he take his eyes off his corridor? Sometimes, as a team we have too much belief on our ability to close down, tackle and win the ball. If I’m a right back and if the ball is on the left side and the Ashley Cole is fighting to win the ball, I tend to think that Ashley would surely win it. If he does that, my positioning does not come into question. If he does not and the ball is shifted to my side, I’m completely exposed because I simply wasn’t ready for it. That’s exactly what happened yesterday.

More than 5 seconds after Konchesky made a lovely cross, Gera scored the goal. For more than 5 seconds, we just couldn’t get rid of the ball. Carvalho didn’t jump well enough because he thought it was not his ball. Terry and Mikel didn’t think this was going to end up in a goal. They didn’t really do their best. Any decent cross into the box, we seem to convert that into a goal. Sometime later, before a defensive corner was taken, Petr Cech walked up to Mikel pointed a spot and told him to ‘just go and stand THERE’. I liked it.

Our goal was very impressive. What Ivanovic did was what we had to do a lot. Getting a long cross to the far post and put Fulham under pressure. Pantsil’s substitution was very useful for us as he was pretty good at containing Drogba. That’s not to say Drogba would not have score if Pantsil was there. When Drogba is fired up, not many defenders have a hope.

Staying with team selection, just why did Kalou start? I understand that Ancelotti has gotten a permission from the respective national associations to retain Drogba, Mikel and Kalou for this match. That was a very smart decision by Ancelotti, repaid by a goal by Drogba. But why should he start Kalou when he’s at his best when he comes on in the second half? We play 4-4-2 when we have two strikers who can fit into that role. Otherwise, we don’t have to play 4-4-2, certainly not with Kalou, in his current form.

For our second goal, Kalou played a key role but not as a striker in a 4-4-2 formation. After an hour into the match, we had changed to a 4-3-3 and that’s where Kalou’s best efforts have come from. I’ve always said that Kalou is basically a striker and we’ve turned him into a winger. But I wouldn’t start him and ‘try him out’ as a striker in a 4-4-2 while we have won only one match of the last 7 matches. Ancelotti seems very open to experimentation. He is not as conservative as I had thought.

I call this a superb performance because the final 30 minutes we played like a team that wanted to win. We were all fired up. We weren’t willing to give up. Especially after the introduction of Sturridge, everytime we attacked Fulham it appeared that we might score. In the words of Ancelotti, we played with intensity in the final 30 minutes. Sometimes, you need to attack with arrogance. Leave the discipline and organisation to the defensive roles. During attacks, we should be lot more unpredictable. With Sturridge’s introduction, I thought we did that. He had the pace and he could beat his man with little tricks. Superb cameo by Sturridge.

I hope this result has turned the season around for us. We will not have Drogba, Essien and Mikel for the next 6 weeks. Sturridge gives me confidence. Kakuta may not have the experience but he does not have to play the likes of Man Utd and Liverpool. Anelka would be back for the next premier league match. It is in the defensive midfield where we don’t have a quality replacement. The FA Cup match next week should give us a fair idea of what we should expect in January. Let’s hope that the young players make a name for themselves next month.

We are the winter champions. Game in hand or game not in hand, we are topping the table and a Man Utd win today cannot change that. An indifferent month of December has ended with a win. If your most recent result is a win against a very good side, you should not be worried. Let’s see how Ancelotti manages Jan 2010. That would be a defining month for Carlo. Something tells me he’ll come good, or even better, will come out with flying colours. See you later, then!

Wish you all a very happy new year!!!

Only yesterday, I said “it’s Birmingham, not Barcelona”. What an irony! Birmingham have managed something that only Barcelona could, in the last 6 months. That is, keeping a cleansheet against Chelsea. Is draw a fair result? I’d say so. We had two or three very good chances which we fluffed. Did we play poorly? I wouldn’t say so. We didn’t play well either. Basically, we didn’t play well enough to win this match. We had the attacks going. We made some good moves. The one thing that was missing was that desire to somehow win this match. It appeared that we weren’t confident of winning.

We were decent. We had the possession. We had the attacking moves. We had the shots. We had everything except the cutting edge. I think we lacked the cutting edge because we think we are officially not in form. When a team does not exude confidence, it shows. The body language of the players was all wrong. Birmingham defended well and were deserving of their point. All that Chelsea could manage was to camp in their half with no intelligent movement from the players. We made it easy for Birmingham to mark us.

We were missing both Essien and Anelka. Essien in the midfield gives us so much with his ball holding skills and distribution skills. His absence is so very evident. You can’t also help it because he is special. When you can’t find too many players like Essien in Europe, how can we find a replacement for him from within our squad? His absence will be felt. We need to get on with it. Anelka would be back for the Hull City match next month. I have a lot of faith in younsters such as Kakuta, Sturridge, Matic and Borini. Plus you have a mercurial Yuri Zhirkov. I think they’ll see us through this January.

I find it hard to blame it on Ancelotti. Already we hear a lot of voices on how Ancelotti is version 2 of Scolari. I just don’t buy that. Under Scolari, we were struggling to play. We couldn’t create chances. There were games when we didn’t have one shot on goal in the whole half. We were clueless under him. The team under Ancelotti undoubtedly plays good football and wins matches. Even in the matches where we have drawn or lost, we have played decently well. Unlike the Scolari days, there were hardly any matches were Chelsea were outplayed.

This is traditionally a tough month. None of the teams have an all-win record this month. Our rivals are also dropping points this month. I know this is the right time for us to be picking up the wins to extend the lead. But, there’s only so much you can do. When you see Birmingham in top eight and Aston Villa in top four, you need to realise that this time the league is very competitive. Even in this tough season, we’re still on top of the table. Being at the top of the table, the last thing we must do is panic.

Let’s hope that both Man Utd and Arsenal lose today. And of course the regular prayer that Rooney and Arshavin get sent off for a direct red card. I’m not asking for too much. Am I?

Blame it on my being busy with other things in life. I know I’ve not been spending too much time on the BlueChampions space. There was once a time when I use to not only blog the pre-match, post-match and non-match opinions but also actively participate in the comments section. I’d like to do all that. I will. For now, let’s live in the comfort that I’m fully aware that I’m not spending enough time here and that I’m pissing off some of you because of that. Because I’m aware, I’ll do something about it, very soon.

Away at Birmingham tomorrow. There are a few things that are threatening Chelsea’s party tomorrow. Firstly, Birmingham are on an unbeaten run and they get to play at home tomorrow. They can be a tough opposition. If they are above Liverpool in the league table on Christmas day, you need to take them seriously. Secondly, we might play in our dark away kit. See, I’ve got nothing against this away kit. In fact, I really like it. It’s just that not having won even a single match wearing that kit could have us psyched out as soon as our players walk out on the pitch. If we play in our dark away kit, let tomorrow be the day we notch our first win in that lovely kit.

Chelsea have not yet recovered from their slight dip in form. For about half a dozen matches, we’ve been shaky, unsure and either very lucky or very unlucky. What we need at this stage is a very resounding win like a 3-0 or 4-0 where Petr Cech is hardly seen. For this expectation, it would be ideal for us to play against a team in disarray at Stamford Bridge. But we get to a play a team that’s high on confidence and also play at their own home stadium. Anyway, let’s be honest. With due respect, it’s Birmingham and not Barcelona.

We would be missing Anelka, Essien and Deco. I hope we continue with the 4-4-2 diamond instead of Carlo’s favourite away formation 4-3-2-1. Playing 4-4-2 would accommodate Sturridge. I’m never a harsh critic of Kalou. But even I think that Sturridge must get ahead of Kalou in team selection. Sturridge’s performance in the 45 mins that he got in the last match was very good. I thought he had the strength and pace that Kalou’s badly missing. With whatever I have seen of Sturridge, he also seems to be more of a team player than Kalou and also certainly has a better final ball than the Ivorian. If you didn’t know already, Ancelotti has said that Sturridge would get a start tomorrow.

I’m all too excited for Sturridge. The one observation I have about him is that he looks way too pensive. Like how Anelka was until last season. I know he is very focused and determined and all that but c’mon, you can loosen up a bit. Sport a smile, get the fans on your side, score the goal and have them sing your name.

The midfield should have Lampard and Mikel certainly. Joe Cole has not been very impressive but I’d give him another chance because he’s back from a long injury and it’s never that easy to join back your team and play in the most difficult league in Europe. I think he’s been okay. A goal or a fantasic assist would lift his spirits and form. Why don’t we play Matic and/or Kakuta too depending on the match situation? Both are very decent young players. There were superbly in control, they knew what they were doing and appeared very matured in their approach to the game. Same was the case with Borini. Let’s see if we get to see Sturridge, Kakuta, Matic and Borini at different points of time. Anyway, it appears all these players will have to play a big role until the end of first week of February.

We can still make this a decent month if we win this game and the game against Fulham, where Sturridge and Borini could start. If we beat Birmingham and Fulham, we’d have got 11 points out of possible 18 in this month, which is quite good in these circumstances and general level of consistency of top teams in this season. We must win tomorrow. At this moment, I don’t want to remind you that 13 of the 15 goals that we conceded were from set pieces. Ouch, I just did that, didn’t I? Chelsea are back to winning ways tomorrow. 2-0 for us.

I’d like to leave you with this lovely quote from Ashley Cole in his interview in the club wesbite:

If we play well we can beat anyone but we have not shown the fight and the determination that you should start the game with. That is what wins you games, it doesn’t matter how good you are otherwise, and we have to get back to that.

Sure we will. And yes, merry christmas folks! Have fun and enjoy!

Another draw. Exactly at a time we should be winning. Man Utd were thumped by a fantastic Fulham side earlier and a win would have put us really on top. All that we could get was a draw. I must say that was a fair result considering the performance we put in. Honestly, as Lampard put it, we did not turn up in the first half. The first half display by Chelsea was the most lacklustre effort from Chelsea that I’ve see this season. We knew that we had to win but the way we played in the first half was like how you play a dead rubber in a champions league group stage knowing that even a defeat would retain you in the top spot.

We missed Anelka. I don’t believe I’m saying this. I truly think we missed Anelka. It was exactly in these kind of matches his holding up skills and slow dribbling would have helped us in getting people into the attack or even winning free kicks. The reason why I missed him so much was also made up by how shite Kalou was that night. He simply didn’t cut it. I know he’s getting to play after a long time but he just did not impress.

We should have got a clear penalty from a handball in the first half. It was so unfortunate for us not to get it. On the other hand, we conceded a somewhat needless penalty. We defended rather well and we seemed very determined not to concede a goal. You could see that in Ashley Cole’s effort for that tackle that led to the penalty. In those circumstances, you could allow the ball carrier to go for the shot and hope that your world class keeper pulls it off instead of making a messy sliding tackle.

Though the first half ended 1-0 West Ham thanks to a poor display by Chelsea, I was very sure that I’d see a different Chelsea in the second half. I’d always put my money on that. Ancelotti suprised me pleasantly by making a double substitution at half time. I was happy that he subbed Kalou and I was happier that he didn’t wait too long. I was impressed. Sturridge and Zhirkov came in. Sturridge played really well. He was very physical, he held the ball well and he had some pace too. He had a very good pitch presence which Kalou was sorely lacking.

Zhirkov played like he has been playing in the premier league week in week out. We’ve all known that he is a good dribbler and we saw just that. He could get past defenders with ease. He definitely brings us a new dimension in our attacks. The inclusion of both Sturridge and Kalou definitely made a difference in our attacks.

When we got that penalty, it was a dubious one. As a fan, I’d always say that it made up for the first half handball penalty that was not awarded. I think, to take a penalty, after having missed a penalty in your last few matches, is really a big challenge. And, Lampard had to take it thrice. Man, he got three in three. Full credit to him for keeping his cool and slotting the ball. When he scored to the right of the goalie in the first chance, I was wondering what’s going on in the minds of Lampard and Green for the second shot. Would Lampard be thinking that he should go left or would Green also pre-empt that? Something must change in that rule. If the opponent players are stepping in, they must receive a yellow. Otherwise, the opponent players can always happily step in so that the penalty is re-taken. Not every player can take three successive penalties and score them all. I see an opportunity for teams that are not very keen on fair play. Anyway, I’ve concluded that taking three successive penalties is one of the most toughest thing in football.

We could have got a winner but West Ham played like their lives depended on this match. Credit to them for the way the defended. They were counting on counterattacks. Though that did not align with what Zola said before the match, it made sense for them to nick a point from a Chelsea match. It’s a big point for them.

Much has been said about John Terry and the Cobham visitors. I think this is just tabloid nonsense. The club statement is very clear. Firstly, JT is well within his authority as the captain of the team and the club’s ambassador to bring in any visitors as he deems fit. Secondly, he did not ask for or accept any money in relation to the visits. As we get closer to the world cup, you’ll see more such stories on Terry. These are just meant to dislodge him from the English captaincy which some of the scousers etc don’t stand. They just can’t stand a Chelsea man leading England to the world cup with the best opportunity to win under the best England manager.

Mark Hughes is gone. Poor chap. I’m not sure if Mancini can do better. As it is, Mark Hughes was doing a decent job. If Mark Hughes’ performance deserves a sack, what would you say of Rafa Benitez? Lucky chap, if there’s one. But for the good of Chelsea FC, I pray to God that Rafa continues to be manager of Liverpool and if any point of time he needs to move, let him take Fergie’s job.

Next up is Birmingham City. The other ‘blues’. That being an away match, we would be playing in our ‘other’ kit. Will we break our jinx? Can we beat them resoundingly in that away kit? I really hope so. Meanwhile, we will be on top of the table by Christmas time. And that’s the first time this has happened since 04-05. You know what happened in 04-05!

Let’s start with the big news – Chelsea will play FC Internazionale in the first knockout round of the champions league. FC Inter badly wants champions league success. Despite all their intra-league domination, they’ve been consistently underperforming in Europe. Unfortunately for Jose Mourinho, in the first knockout round, he had to play Man Utd last season and Chelsea this season. While Chelsea could be a bad draw for Inter, I don’t think getting past Inter would be such a difficult task. Chelsea have too much quality for Inter to progress. But, as Samuel Eto has said ‘a lot can happen in the next 2 months’. Hopefully, Ancelotti will have his last laugh against Jose. Milan vs Man Utd is also a very good match up. No matter how they play in serie A, Milan cannot be underestimated in champions leaugue. Arsene Wenger says that the tie with Porto could be tough. Oh yes, for you!

In other news, Hiddink seems set to continue with Russia. No technical directorship then. There are very strong rumours that Chelsea would sign Aguero and also that he has explicitly said that the wants to play for Chelsea. I like Kun. I think he can be a great player at Chelsea but I don’t how and where he would fit in. We already have two strikers with whom we play a two-striker formation. I just don’t see this Kun rumour coming true unless we have other plans for Anelka.

Back to premier league. After a disappointing 3-3 draw against Everton, we did come back and managed to win 2-1 against Portsmouth in the mid-week. Around the hour mark of the last game, I was just thinking I have jinxed us with my post on December games. Thankfully, Lamprd put his Man City misery apart to slot the penalty. That win has eased the pressure a little bit. Luckily, we get to play the struggling West Ham at this stage.

Drogba would be back for this game. I think we could see Essien again only in February. Bosingwa is still injured out. Carvalho and Joe Cole are available for selection. As much as possible, I’d keep the Africans out of the playing eleven. While they can be on the bench to bail us out if needed, we should see how we fare with non-Africans. Essien is anyway out. If Carlo does not use Mikel and Drogba, that would pretty much be the team that we will use during January. Oh well, I’m assuming here that we aren’t buying anyone in January.

West Ham’s three consecutive defeats have put them firmly in the drop zone. They badly need a good result. Zola says that they would continue to play attacking football despite their situation. Also, since they are at home, they need to really put on a good show. Matches involving West Ham generally hae plenty of goals in them. May be, from all those points of view, they are a very ideal opponent for Chelsea. At this stage, it is the ’11-men-behind-the-ball-all-we-need-is-a-draw’ kind of teams that would give me goosebumps. I’m happy that we’re playing West Ham. There will be some good football on the pitch and when that happens, we have a greater chance of securing three points.

Here’s expecting a 2-0 win. Hope we don’t concede. Really hoping that we defend our set pieces better. Lampard to score plus a Drogba brace. Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City Man Utd and Tottenham to lose. Chelsea to win! Have a very good weekend folks!