We’re back. It’s great when your favourable predictions come good. The match kicked off at 15:00. At exactly 15:02, I dropped a one liner in BC Shout “I know it’s only two minutes but I think we are playing well and we will win”. At half time, in response to my cousin’s message about this being a nervy match, I texted him “We’re playing well . . we will win BIG”. When we went 3-1 ahead, I texted my friend that we won’t stop and we’ll score two more. At 5-1, I said we’ll score two more! We bloody did! 7 goals against the meanest defence in this league this season!

This is how I ended the last blog – “A resounding win over Aston Villa could put us right back on track. Carlo needs to choose the right team and play the right tactic. Villa at Stamford Bridge is beatable.” Exactly, this resounding win over Aston Villa has put us right back on track!

Aston Villa are a tricky team to play at this stage of the season. We’ve had inconsistent results against Villa in the last few seasons. There have been matches where we have been beaten fair and square at Villa Park and we’ve also taught them some lessons in Stamford Bridge (that 2-0 under Scolari). I’m kinda confident about the smaller teams and the real rivals. It is the likes of Villa, Spurs, Man City, Everton etc that make me nervous. Especially, Martin O Neill’s teams are always not easy to play against. And I don’t know if this was his worst ever defeat. I heard that this was the heaviest defeat for Villa in the last 45 years or something.

Credit to Ancelotti for the spirit shown by Chelsea on the pitch. It was clear that he wanted us to have a go at Aston Villa. Carlo, like us, has been waiting to see a strong reaction from Chelsea for the recents downs and also to show everyone that we’re very serious about the premier league title. It is our approach and handling of the match in the first few minutes that made me believe that we are winning this one. I was happy that he played a 4-3-3 instead of playing a 4-4-2. If we want to demolish oppositions, 4-3-3 is the way to go. If we want control, we go with 4-4-2.

Only last week I had mentioned that players like Joe Cole should get a start if we want to get the best out of them. Today, both Joe Cole and Deco started the match. And these ball players really settled to the pace of the game and they were a joy to watch when they play like that. Joe Cole was good but his performance was made to look better because of Deco and Lampard and also the fact that we got a big win. I’m yet to see a 8/10 performance from him this season.

Let’s spare a moment for Paulo Ferreira. The man’s been doing really really well both in defence as well as in attack. I must say I haven’t really missed Bosingwa as much as I have missed Ivanovic. But Paulo has done a superb job. He keeps showing what a thorough defender he is and how reliable he is. Patrick van Aanholt got his minutes again. The boy looks big and strong. With the little I’ve seen of him, he is very promising, particularly in offence.

In a match where we scored 7 goals which also included a goal by the sub Kalou, Anelka couldn’t score one for himself. But fair play to him, he played really well. His contribution as a lone striker was much better than when he plays second fiddle to Drogba. Also Lampard seemed to relish playing behind a lone striker rather than a pair. Traditionally, Lampard’s best performances for Chelsea have come when he plays in a 4-3-3 rather than 4-4-2.

The age-old debate of whether we play our best football when Drogba is away would be resumed today. In the six league games that Drogba did not start, we have scored 25 goals! This is not a ‘who is better’ discussion. This shows the kind of options that are available for me. In any big game, any game against the rivals, I absolutely love to see Drogba in the line up because I’m not keen about us scoring 4 goals. All I want is a win against the rivals. Drogba would be well rested and be raring to go against Man Utd next weekend.

I’ve already run out of superlatives for Frank Lampard. You know how big a fan I’m of Lampard. To be honest, in the middle of this season, he did produce a few off-colour performances. You can always bet on Lampard to turn it around and silence his critics. He’s done that time and again. He still get a lot of flak from the supporters of the Red clubs but deep down they would acknowledge what a fine player he is. His performance today was really a masterclass in attacking midfield play. It’s great to have Lampard is the best of spirits ahead of the Man Utd game because as we say ‘when Lampard plays well, Chelsea wins’.

I’m only getting more convinced that Florent Malouda is the ‘Chelsea player of the season’. Is the best left winger in England? A win doesn’t seem to taste as much without a goal from Flo. With their super quick feet and skills, Zhirkov and Malouda can be quite a headache for any defence. While Zhirkov was at fault for the Carew goal, he more than made up for it with the two penalty wins. He may not quite get this kind of freedom against the Reds next weekend. That’ll be a real test for him. Would be interesting to see how he copes up.

When a team can beat a champions league spot contender with a 7-1 scoreline at this stage of the season that must be the best performance of this league season. In this season, no team has dismissed any other with such authority, style and ease. Now Chelsea are the perfect frame of mind to visit Old Trafford and have about a week to rest and prepare while Man Utd will have to play Bayern in the mid-week. With this big win, we’re now miles ahead of our rivals in the goal difference column. While at one point, this season looked like crumbling in front of our eyes, it’s fair to say that we’ve not only resurrected but also put ourselves in a superb spot for a shot at the title.

If Chelsea thrashing Villa 7-1 wasn’t enough, the stoppage time equaliser by Birmingham sent me crazy! Believe, at around half time, I was telling my friend that Brum will score in the stoppage time. Not that I’ve suddenly become a master predictor, it’s just that today seems to be my day!

No heart attacks this time. The first half had everything in it to worry a Chelsea fan. Pompey were so poor that there was no way we were going to drop points. But still we had to score the second goal to ease our nerves. As soon as Chelsea scored the second goal, Pompey virtually surrendered the match. For Chelsea to win 5-0 even after numerous good saves by James shows the gulf between the teams.

Ancelotti did the right thing, finally, when he dropped Anelka to the bench. I’m glad he finally realised that Anelka does not deserve to start on current form. I don’t know if Anelka not starting and Chelsea scoring five goals in an away match are coincidences. Sturridge got a start which was good I again, on current form, I thought Kalou had a better case to make it to the starting line-up. Anyway, I was personally happy with Sturridge starting the match because I already rate him.

Lampard had a very good match. He was moving intelligently, got himself into good positions, had a few cracking shots on goal and also kept creating opportunities for others. Drogba got another brace, the first of it was a goal gift-wrapped with a note – ‘Dear Drogba. Please accept my gift. With love – David James’. The man of the show was Florent Malouda. He was everywhere. He deserved a hattrick. I think he is a great contender for the Chelsea player of the season award. He will have tough opposition but if I have to vote, I’d pick Malouda over Drogba for this season. There were many matches where Drogba was invisible and failed to show up. And there were many matches where he turned up the heat and carried us through. Whereas Malouda hardly had any poor matches this season. Whenever he was called upon, he has delivered the goods.

This is Carlo after the match:

We needed to have this performance. We needed to win, we did this and I hope the bad moment is finished. We have to wait until Saturday [against Aston Villa] because that is a very important test for us. If this test can be passed, this moment is finished. There are eight or nine games until the end of the season and we need to maintain this spirit. We have to prepare these nine games like a final.

A 5-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park does not mean that our morale and confidence is back. If anything, it has helped us match the goal difference of Man Utd. Like Carlo said, we have to see how we fare against Aston Villa this weekend. If we don’t beat Villa this weekend, this 5-0 win means nothing. After saying the right thing, Carlo drops a bomb. He’s not sure if we have eight or nine matches left!!! It’s hard to believe that he doesn’t know how many matches are left! There are SEVEN matches left Carlo! SEVEN!

The match this weekend is the conclusive test of how much Chelsea wants to win this league title. If we don’t beat Villa this weekend, we might need to have other results go our way to win the title. See, if we win these seven (not eight, nine or twenty two) matches, that would mean Man Utd would win only six matches because it includes a match at Old Trafford. That additional win for Chelsea is good enough to put us on top. Arsenal, even if they win their seven matches on hand, they would still fall short. So, if we keep winning, we win the title. If we drop points, we need help from our rivals or the opponents of our rivals. A resounding win over Aston Villa could put us right back on track. Carlo needs to choose the right team and play the right tactic. Villa at Stamford Bridge is beatable. That’s all I’d say.

When Ancelotti replaced Anelka in the last minute of the game, I couldn’t help but think ‘the man is only 90 minutes late’. I think that substitution summed up the situation for Ancelotti and for Chelsea. I still wonder what the purpose could be with that substitution. If anything, it helped Blackburn to waste some crucial seconds at the end. My way of interpreting the decision is that Carlo realized that Anelka being on the pitch is not going to help him. Otherwise, in the dying seconds, he could have got Sturridge in for a defender or a midfielder. I thought that always clear for the last few weeks. Anelka is not the man in form. If we had played Kalou or Sturridge in place of Anelka as soon as we had realized that he’s not in form (which was in early Feb), our numbers in the table could be quite different. Even in the pre-match post, I had mentioned that Anelka must NOT start. Unfortunately, he did. Quite unsurprisingly, all good chances fell for Anelka. Equally unsurprisingly, he didn’t take any of them.

I might sound like I’m blaming Anelka, that’s natural. But I’m not blaming him. Players being in or out of form is quite normal. Unlike before, Anelka is giving his all. He is working hard. If he is unable to finish chances, he is unlucky. But as a manager, Carlo Ancelotti makes the decision of who plays and who doesn’t. And that’s the reason why I won’t blame Anelka. It is Ancelotti’s decision not Anelka’s. Fair play to Carlo, he mustered his courage to drop Ballack. If he had also dropped Anelka, we would have made a good start. Of course, Anelka played a key role in our goal. I don’t discount that. Our drop from glory this season is more because of our missed opportunities that the ones we had taken.

As you have figured out by now, I give a lot of credit as well as debit for the manager in charge. If the players don’t play to their potential, I would question the manager. If the players consistently play to their potential and sometimes pull above their weight, I’d praise the manager. If players consistently play below their potential, and succumb to pressure and fail at such crucial stages, I have to ask the manager about his value to the team. Even the best teams in the world always have needed a manager. Irrespective of whether we have bunch of geniuses or ballon d’ ors playing, there is still a need for a manager to pull them together, work for the team goal, keep their motivation, keep the momentum and most importantly to help, guide and mentor them. It is because of these expectations from me I tend to get critical on Ancelotti.

Ancelotti absolutely has the pedigree. No doubts about that. But he comes from a legendary club. Being a manager in Milan, Inter, Barcelona, Juventus, Man Utd, Bayern etc are a little different than being a manager of Chelsea or Man City. The urgency is different. The patience is different. In those legendary clubs while there is pressure to win titles, it’s not so much as it’s in Chelsea or Man City. Those clubs have won enough and have a glorious past to trophyless for a few seasons and still be patient. It doesn’t quite work that way in Chelsea unfortunately.

Also, I don’t agree to this logic that this is not his team and all that. No matter who assembled the team, it is a team of top professionals with various and versatile capabilities. The Chelsea team is one of the most respected in Europe. Why would it matter if Ancelotti had the opportunity to build his own team or not. It doesn’t always happen like that in football. You get in and start delivering. The difference between a Sam Allardyce and a Carlo Ancelotti must just be that. We may not expect Big Sam to lead us to the premier league title because he is Big Sam and not Carlo Ancelotti.

Having said all this, I must say that I have seen this Chelsea team improve under Ancelotti in technical areas. Our players have become better technically. The first touch of the players improving by 100% may not and need not result in the team winning matches or coming back from adversities. As a team, we don’t seem to have the bull dog spirit. A lot has been said about Michael Essien’s absence but I think that’s a convenient excuse. Season after season, you have injuries – some minor, some major, some less crucial, some very crucial – but they’re always there. As a manager you never make a plan with an assumption that you’re best eleven would play all the 38 matches in the league. Injuries happen – they have happened to all big teams, every single season. That’s where the winter transfer window comes in handy. Carlo could have pushed the black suits to get some mid-season reinforcements. He didn’t or he was convinced that he doesn’t have to – either way it’s his decision.

To be honest, it’s still no disaster. We are still in with a great chance to win the title. We sound worried only because we don’t see the promise, we don’t have the hope. We have a tougher run-in too. More than anything, neither the manager nor the players sound or look positive. That kinda catches on to the fans very easily. But all that we need to do is to win 8 matches and we’re home. It may not be very easy but beware that the next month both Man Utd and Arsenal would be busy with their champions league fixtures too. That’s when we need to quietly overtake them.

We have Portsmouth for the mid-week. I don’t have to insist how important it is to win this match. If we don’t win this, we can officially sign off for the season. That’s not because we might fall behind in the table but because of the damage it can do to the already weak morale of the team. All that we need to do is to show up and play decently. Unlike the Blackburn game, we should not destruct ourselves. Anyway, I think we will win and win comfortably. See you after the Pompey result. Stay hopeful.

Wow! Lots of reactions for my last post. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect them. Before we go on to the bits about today’s match, let’s look at the unfinished business. It’s my opinion that Jose Mourinho ate us alive. True. I would never have to go back on this because this is my observation of the game. Some of you might want to think that Ancelotti ate Inter alive. That’s your view. The way I saw it, with a weaker team on paper, JM out-thought Carlo, just the same way Rafa did to JM himself few seasons back. It’s not because we are aging, not because we were not mentally strong etc, we were out-thought.

We were surprised from the word ‘go’. Let’s look at how Chelsea prospers – attacks from the flanks primarily from the full backs, Drogba being at his best, Lampard connecting with Drogba, some interesting runs from Malouda – this has been the story for many matches now. The weaknesses are Anelka’s form, one of the midfielders certainly being useless, our centre backs struggling in the air, our defence being shaky at set pieces – again based on the recent matches.

Now let’s look at how Jose Mourinho knocked us out. He surprised us straightaway with his team selection. As far as I know, nobody, I mean nobody, expected that Inter team to start and in that formation. I don’t know if Chelsea had trained and prepared for the possibility of facing Eto, Milito and Pandev as the front three. The full backs were not in the attack because Inter played with three strikers. Our full backs were always concerned of their positioning as they were worried about the three high quality strikers in the Inter line up. It is a risk that JM took and it paid off.

Drogba’s significance was considerably brought down by Inter’s defence. There were always many men on Drogba – some being tactical and some being physical – but getting the job done. They kept Drogba quiet. They absolutely did. If you look at which of the two Chelsea players Inter respected the most, it was Drogba and Lampard. While Lampard was not as heavily marked as Drogba was, his options were seriously cut down, making him to do only the harmless sideway passes. Malouda did escape Inter’s defensive vigilante.

The one period where Chelsea dominated was the last five minutes of the first half, because Inter played like all JM teams do. When you have won the first leg at home 2-1, and you’re 0-0 at the away match at 35-40 minutes, the one thing that you have in mind is to end the half with 0-0. That’s what Inter tried and that’s when Chelsea got stronger. That was a mistake from them. Luckily for them, they didn’t have to pay for it.

We should not have started with Anelka. That’s bloody clear and easy. The man’s mind is not on the pitch. Anelka being so out-of-form and so many chances falling to Anelka – is that a coincidence? I call it tactics. It’s an age-old tactic for God’s sake. Reducing the effectiveness of the opposition by allowing their weakness to show up and play up. Inter were all right to give the ball to Anelka. It is not a guaranteed tactic. It was a risk. It was a risk worth taking because, on current form and track record, the probability of Anelka hurting Inter is much lower than Drogba doing the same. It was a risk JM took and it paid off.

Also, Inter were trying chipped passes all night. JM knows that we’ve become weaker in the air and that could be something to be exploited. Of late, see how many times Chelsea players have come second best in aerial battles in key areas. In the second half, Inter repeatedly drew Chelsea defence forward and attempted to chip it over the defence, because our defence has been shaky in air and there’s a third choice keeper to be beaten in a one-on-one situation. Drawing Chelsea forward was a risk, one that may not always pay but JM took the risk and it paid off.

JM left Mario Balotelli at Milan because of disciplinary reasons. In a match of this kind, he is a great player to be sitting on the bench. But he was left behind. JM didn’t like his behaviour and did not want ‘anything’ to affect his preparations for this big match. He took a risk of not taking him and it didn’t hurt him. Probably, it worked in their favour as they could keep the focus on the match. He also distracted the press from a great scoop on Mario. He focused on where he should. These are little details but they make a difference. Contrast this with the fact that John Terry going out of form because of his personal issues but we continue to play him. A little break for JT would have helped him as well as the team. It takes a huge personality to tell someone like JT to sit out until he sorts out.

I still think Ballack starting the match was a blunder. It almost looked as if we had won at Milan and were trying to hold the lead. Joe Cole should have started. I know that Joe Cole did fuck all in the second half but still I’d have given more time to Joe Cole than to none to Ballack. I’m not the biggest fan of Joe Cole but he is no Lionel Messi. Joey needs some time to get his feet moving and start making an impact. The way the game was poised when he came on was not the best timing from his point of view.

Also, look how similar the Man City match and this Inter match are. Ask yourself who learnt more from the Man City match – Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti. If I look at the Inter match, it was a match that JM wanted to win and that was bloody obvious. I didn’t see anything in Carlo’s team selection or tactics that told me that we badly want to win the tie. Once Inter scored at the 78th minutes, hand on heart, how many of you thought we’d score two goals in the next 12-15 minutes? How many of the Chelsea fans gave ourselves the chance? I don’t think even the players wanted to give themselves a chance. We lost the match when Eto scored and that’s bad for a team of Chelsea’s european stature.

We could have finished Inter off back at Milan. When you have Carlo playing Malouda as the left back – he was not sending the right message and was only hurting our chances to pound them. I absolutely blame Carlo Ancelotti for this defeat. I won’t blame anyone else. He made some wrong decisions. He did not prepare our team well enough. The buck stops with him. As they say, victory has many fathers by failure has none (or one).

Some seem to think that I was suggesting we sack Ancelotti. That’s a load of bull. Either you don’t understand or you don’t want to. I never suggested that Carlo should be out. My stance with managers is always the same. I’m game for stability in management provided we see some hope of a better future. I never got it with Grant or Scolari. I believe that the team has, on the whole, improved under Ancelotti. With Carlo, I think he is a top manager. He deserves to get his time. I’d love to see him here for many seasons if the team improves under him and gives us the hope. But that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t say anything when he makes blunders and knocks us out of the champions league first round against a team that’s weaker than ourselves. While we are champions league favourites, Inter are not even favourites to reach the quarterfinals. They were to be eliminated at the group stage dammit! Rant over.

With that rant out of the way, let’s talk about the premier league match today. You might think it is stupid to have talked second time about a match that was over. The matches against Wigan, Man City and the two legs against Inter are very key. Sam Allardyce has already said that he’s looking to find patterns in these matches to find the chink in Chelsea’s armoury. I won’t be too worried about Allardyce. Anyway his team is no match to Chelsea . . on paper . . oh my God, it’s only on paper. Let’s see how it turns out on the pitch.

We travel to Ewood Park in a very interesting day of football. It’s made interesting not because of our match but because of mid-day kick off at Old Trafford. I don’t have to tell you how important the result of this match between Man Utd and Liverpool could be for Chelsea. A draw or a defeat for Man Utd is a massive boost for Chelsea. I hope Torres scores again and inflict a damage to Man Utd.

Meanwhile, our Ewood Park fixture is no less important. With just 9 matches to go and no clear favourites for the title, every match is a final (sorry for the cliche). I hear that both Cech and Hilario are back in training but Carlo may not want to risk them in this match. Plus, Turnbull did very well in the Inter game. By the way, why is that our goalkeeper injuries are always in pairs? Why is that we always have to play the first choice or the third choice goalie every time? By the way, Paul Robinson is not playing today so that’s an opportunity for us. Di Santo wouldn’t play against us because of the loan rules.

I don’t want to see Anelka start. Even if Anelka starts and scores a hattrick, the feeling that I have NOW is that Anelka should not start. The chance must go to Sturridge or Kalou. Ballack must not start as well. My team for the day would be Drogba, Kalou and Sturridge as the frotn three. Malouda in left midfield, Lampard in the right and Mikel in the centre. The defence would be Terry, Carvalho, Ivanovic and Zhirkov. Turnbull on goal. In this team I suggest, we have ball players and dribblers while we also have gritty players like Lampard, Mikel, Terry and Carvalho.

We won the last leg at the Bridge 5-0. This match today is highly winnable. We must just go at them with force and settle the issue. The last thing I want us to do is to give Blackburn too much respect than they deserve. More after the match. I expect Liverpool to hold Man Utd while Chelsea beat Blackburn by 2-0. I want no heart attacks. I just don’t have the health for nervy finishes. Please, please put Rovers out of sight by the first half. Will this be a super Sunday?!

Truly, it was a brilliant football match. I enjoyed the match but not the result. I thought Inter truly deserved their victory. Our ill-luck with the champions league continues – a penalty (which Jose himself agreed) in the first leg and two penalties in the second leg – very sad and also scandalous. But despite these incidents, over a two-legged tie, I think Inter deserved to go through. Chelsea didn’t play particularly well in either of the legs though they were marginally better in the first leg, while Inter turned up in the second leg and made use of their wild cards to win the tie.

TSO was right. He doesn’t lose at Stamford Bridge. He said he will kill Chelsea and that’s what he’s done. Not many teams do a double over Chelsea in champions league knockout stages, not even Barcelona. The team he put out against Chelsea was a surprise. Starting with three strikers, he ensured that the full backs are always busy and worried. Even the way Inter played this game must have been surprise to some. Lazy journalists were saying that Inter will park the bus but they played intelligent football. They played out the first half playing second best and came out to hit us back in the second half.

Here is the declaration from Jose Mourinho:

We were the best team by far. Chelsea is a great team, we know that and my team came here knowing very well how they play. We knew if we did not control the game by having the ball we would have no chance. We had the ball and we created the best chances and we should have scored before the goal. When we did score, Chelsea were completely out of the game. I thought everything was superior, not just our tactics but our attitude on the pitch.

Carlo Ancelotti paid the price for sticking with the out-of-form Anelka. The Frenchman has been playing poorly for three months now. Why would you start him for such an important match as this? Purely on form, Kalou deserves to play ahead of Anelka. As luck would have it, the best chances fell for Anelka, whose rustiness and lack of sharpness meant corners and goalkicks instead of goals. Ballack starting the match was also a surprise. When we need to win a match at home, I’d have started Joe Cole in place of Ballack. Carlo’s choice of Ballack over Joe Cole showed that he was under pressure.

Carlo had no choice but to admit that we were second best:

We didn’t play how we wanted. They put pressure on our midfielders so we had difficulties playing. Inter played a very good game, with strong defence and good counter-attack. We didn’t play how we wanted. We were a better team in Milan but we were not able to repeat that performance.

Why would we not play how we wanted? That’s like nearly admitting that he was outclassed and outwitted.

I thought Turnbull was very good. He was very calm and composed. His command of the area was very assuring. Not one moment I thought we’re going to concede because we have a third choice keeper. In fact, with whatever little I have seen of him, he seems to be technically far better than Hilario. I think we should continue with Turnbull even if Hilario is ready.

The pressure must be on Ancelotti. Not because Chelsea has been eliminated but more about the manner of elimination. We had an away goal to start with and had the luxury of playing the second leg at Stamford Bridge and all that we needed was a 1-0 win. It is the manner of losing and drawing that’s painful. I’m unable to say this Chelsea team gave their all to win this tie. I’m not doubting their commitment but I just feel that Carlo could have got much more from this bunch of players. You wonder what’s missing and why are we weaker since Jose left? The key thing is our hunger and desire to win. The never-say-die attitude of the players and win-or-die attitude of the manager – this is what we are missing now. With Jose driving out Carlo from Italy and Europe, questions will be asked.

As a fan of Jose Mourinho, I’m happy for him. I’m happy that he got his result. If he was trying to send a message over to Roman, I think he’s done that well enough. He didn’t stay on the pitch for the final whistle. I liked that. He does want to run around the Stamford Bridge pitch hugging his Inter players and consoling Chelsea players. There is still a part of him that’s Chelsea. I love that part.

I celebrated a lot in the dressing room once the game was over. I love Chelsea, this stadium and this people but I am a professional and who knows I could come back here in the future as the manager of an English club.

I wish that English club is Chelsea. For the rest of this season’s champions league, I’d support Inter. Hope Jose wins title and stamps Wenger along the way.

But where does this leave us? There’s a premier league title to be won with just 9 matches to go. While elimination from champions league is never a good thing, this at least means fewer matches to play. More focus + less fatigue + less injuries + the opposite for the rivals = premier league title for Chelsea. Let’s head over to Ewood Park. Reaction time . . .