December is a very scary month. For a few seasons now, poor December performances have cost us heavily. Last season, we had three draws and two wins in December. I don’t think there has been a December where we had won all the league matches. May be, it’s a psychological thing. In a way, end of December marks the end of the first half of the league season. With Christmas and New Year around the corner, and in our case, the African Nations Cup too, this is not a month that we would play as we did in earlier months. This is a month where we just want to get over things and move on.

How did just manage to draw this match is a puzzle. Granted they opened the scoring but when Chelsea went 2-1up, it almost looked like there’s gonna be a massacre. We played like we were against a lower league opponent. Some of our attacking moves, Everton had no clue, leave alone answers. I’m sure sometime in the first half David Moyes must have thought of damage control than salvaging a point. I thought we’d end the match with a 4-1 score or something. When was the last time Drogba scored a brace and we didn’t win?

The manner in which we conceded all those three goals was appalling. There was some theme around it. Anyone with little knowledge of football would have observed that pattern. Top teams do have some weaknesses but you don’t go exhibiting in this grand fashion very often. Our set piece defending is now a very well documented weakness and expect teams to fully try to exploit that. While we score a brilliant goal at the other end, all that’s needed for the opponent, in the last minute of the game, is a dodgy free kick from 40 yards and they can be level. Sad.

I know we were also a bit unfortunate but it was evident that the misfortune was also a product of our lack of preparedness and planning (or its execution) towards set pieces. Petr Cech was livid after the third goal. I’ve never seen him react so wildly after a conceded goal. In fact, I was pretty happy to see him react like that. That needs to happen. I’m sure that after this match, the team will be forced to do more shifts in training for set piece defending. With an Italian manager, this is the least I had expected.

Nevertheless, let’s not be blind to the fact that we are playing great football. We played with such authority and a hint of arrogance that not many Evertonians would have thought they’d go home with a point. Two great finishes from Drogba and a very smart finish from Anelka. Especially, the first goal was a masterclass. Carvalho winning the ball from Saha and setting up the goal. Drogba’s finish was just exquisite. In the words of the commentator, ‘is there someone in better form in world football’?

Lampard’s form is turning into a worry. He is low in confidence and it shows. Everytime, he needs a million touches before he can do his next move. He is very unsure. That doesn’t work in premier league. He still played some brilliant passes but his rate of losing possession increases by every match. Something must happen. When I read that Tiger Woods is taking an indefinite break from golf, I was thinking how Lampard managed football alongside his break up. Tiger wants a break because he cannot concentrate on golf and not just to patch up with his family. In the last couple of years, Lampard broke up with his wife and lost his mother around the champions league semi final period. Still he’s managed to focus on football rather well. His current run of form has something to do with tactics or position or something fixable. I have a strong feeling that it’s not with Lampard alone.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa did the incredible by beating Man Utd at Old Trafford. Normally, as far as I can remember, Aston Villa at Old Trafford would end with a score 4-0 or 3-0 to Man Utd. Yesterday though, Aston Villa have managed to win at Old Trafford after 200 years. It almost feels like the last few seasons where Man Utd would drop points and Chelsea would fail to capitalise on it the next day. Now Aston Villa have beaten Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool. Most probably they’d beat Arsenal by half a dozen goals. The Villa resurgence is a very interesting twist to the already exciting league season this time. Anyway, that result makes the weekend a little better than it was. Now we are three points ahead of Man Utd. It’s Liverpool vs Arsenal tonight. Can they both lose?

First things first. Man City fully deserved their win. I’m not sure if I agree with Ancelotti when he said we deserved a draw. This is despite the fact that their first goal was through a handball. Man City were much more determined and truly wanted to win. The thing about top teams and other teams is that top teams can consistently play this way and occasionally drop the ball while the other teams mostly drop the ball and occasionally produce such a performance. Chelsea dropped the ball yesterday. For all you care, Chelsea might go a winning streak while Man City resume their drawing streak.

I was never expecting Chelsea to go unbeaten until the end of the season. You’re gonna lose a few matches along the way. This was one. Even now, we still lead Man Utd by 2 points which means another such reverse result and we’ll drop down. The mini-league among the top four would play a big role in the title chase. Chelsea have beaten Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool and have now lost to Man City. This is in fact a superb record to have by the first week of December.

So how did this happen? I think, the team selection upfront was a bit incorrect. I would have Malouda on. I’d have not taken Deco in. I might have played the good old 4-3-3 with Essien as the defensive midfielder and looked to win the match in the second half. Our team was a bit light in the middle as Lampard was off colour and Deco was too light for the challenge. Man City have a very strong front three when they get the space and time. With our narrow 4-4-2, they are certainly going to get their chances to have a go at us. Also, they were ready to put in a hell of a shift when it came to defending their goal. They may not play like this every match but the thing is, they did yesterday.

From a Chelsea point of view, it’s not worrying. We lost to a better team on that day. Not many teams nowadays play 4-3-3 and not many have the front three with quality and pace as Man City has. Arsenal now plays 4-3-3 but they are utter bullshit. Man Utd don’t play 4-3-3. Liverpool don’t play 4-3-3 because they want a million players in the midfield. Even in Europe, there are very few teams who have three pacy world class forwards all on the pitch. May be, this is the chink in our armour. We would be able to counter any other formation. A 4-3-3 with such players is what would be a trouble for us unless we gear up to that.

What’s with this new away jersey? Firstly, I love this kit and I’m planning to buy it soon. It looks great on the Chelsea players too. Though I wonder why we would have an away kit with a darker shade, I must say I like this kit. I guess, for the records, we have not yet won a game with that away kit on. It’s not very often Ballack and Lampard miss penalties in the same week. I know it might sound like a superstition but sometimes such beliefs truly get stronger. Now some idiot will come up and say that ‘so you lost because of your away kit’. No, genius. I told you we deserved to lose because Man City played better. All I’m saying is, we need to get off this away kit jinx as soon as possible.

On this match and its impact on Chelsea, Ancelotti summed it up nicely:

Today we suffered pressure by the midfield players of Manchester City and when the opposing team put pressure on, we have to have more confidence to play. We do not need to have a big reaction because the team is still in a good moment, we showed good play today, but it was difficult because Man City played very well. We have two points more than the second team and we don’t have reason to be worried.

Complacency could be our biggest challenge this season but defeats such as this keep us in check. They keep reminding us that the season is over only in May. They do tell us that we lose that famous ‘focus and concentration’ of ours, we are susceptible to any team that plays with determination. In a way, this is a wake up call. Anyway, we’re still there where we’re supposed to be.

December is a tough month. Too many matches coming in quick succession. This would be the toughest month of the season so far. I think our success this season would depend on the performance in December than in January. Being a winter champion is a great psychological boost especially with the ANC looming large. We need to hold a very good lead up the table so that any unforeseen drop in January can be withstood. The good thing about Chelsea is that we can bounce back from defeats. We lost to Wigan poorly by some margin and we came back. We lost to Villa rather convincingly and we were back. Now, we will come back strongly after this defeat.

I’m actually surprised to see the rival morons coming here and spouting nonsense. I’ve had to delete a lot of comments. Idiots! Funny to see Manures gloating despite City’s win. Yeah, we didn’t beat Man City because we didn’t bribe the ref like you did when you scored in the 15th minute of the stoppage time. Even funnier thing is, the Arsenal fans coming here and abusing. They are the joke of the league and their manager is a clown in the eyes of their own fans and they take so much pleasure in the result of a match where both teams had murdered them 3-0? Fucking shameless. Get a life when you’re not getting your trophies.

I’m going to keep this short, hopefully. I broke my glasses yesterday and am yet to get my new ones. I’ll get it only Sunday morning. Until then reading, writing, watching television and working on the laptop are all prohibited. So, you might wonder if I’d watch the match. I surely will.

So the teams that beat Arsenal 3-0 last week meet tomorrow. And boys, it’s Man City’s turn next. Oh yeah, I’m arrogant. Despite the mid-week defeat to Blackburn, everyone knows that Chelsea is in some form. In fact, it’s a pity Man City has to play us at this stage. It’s not only the form that should bother them, it’s also the fact that Chelsea has got their key players back from injury. Only Bosingwa, Kalou and Alex are out injured. Ivanovic is slowly moving from a second choice to a first choice defender, in my books. So, no worries about Bosingwa not being there, we’ve got Ivanovic. No worries about Alex not being there, we’ve got . . . Ivanovic!

Man City are a tricky opponent to play. I know Man City has beaten Arsenal but c’mon, who won’t? Robinho has returned from injury. With SWP being a doubtful starter plus Bellamy and Ireland surely missing out, Man City are going to find it hard. I don’t see Adebayor troubling us. Robinho could be a pain. But I have this little scare about Bellamy. He can be quite dangerous if you underestimate him. He’s not around though. SWP not playing is a pity. I’ve seen him play for Chelsea with the best of his commitment every single time. He was poor with his output though back then. With his form resurrected at Man City, I wanted to see him play against Chelsea. It just may not happen this time.

We’ll beat them for sure. I think we’d win 3-1 or 2-0. Drogba would continue his scoring run. Meanwhile, the world cup draw has been made. I was hoping that Drogba and Essien get kind draws. Unfortunately, both of them have really tough draws. Drogba’s Ivory Coast is with Brazil, Portugal and North Korea while Essien’s Ghana is with Germany, Australia and Serbia. To be honest, I think both Ivory Coast and Ghana would progress at the expense of Portugal and Australia. With my trackrecord at tournament predictions, you need to respect my view here!