Great start to the pre-season, isn’t it? What better could have happened in this match than Michael Essien scoring a superb goal! It was a good game with an opportunity for most players to get some time on the pitch. While the world cup bunch stayed away, Essien must have been dying to step on to the pitch. That was a very well taken goal built up by Sturridge’s pass and Josh McEachran’s smart lay off to Essien. It wasn’t so easy. Essien still had to beat a man and score with his left foot with a sweet finish. Next up is Ajax.

Chelsea have still not done a great deal in the transfer market. Ancelotti has said that he doesn’t need to bolster his attack to retain the title. While it is worrying on face value, this could just be mind games behind the negotiations. Definitely, Carlo doesn’t sound like someone who’s desperate to buy. Honestly, we do have to bolster our attack to retain the title. Our attack is highly reliant on Didier Drogba. Even Man Utd is relying heavily on Rooney. The difference is Rooney is about 7 years younger than Drogba and these details determine the proneness to injury and recovery time. It’s high time we’d got an understudy who is also a fairly established player.

Jeffrey Bruma is on a year long loan to Wolfsburg. I see mixed reactions for this move. Some of us thought that Bruma would get into the Chelsea first team this season. This move also indicates that Carvalho could be staying after all, which is a good thing too. If Carvalho is going to stay here this season, Bruma’s loan to Wolfsburg could end up being a very good move for Chelsea. Wolfsburg are a good team (were champions a season back) and are now managed by Steve McLaren. I’m certain that Bruma would return to Chelsea as a much more matured defender. It is in places like Germany and Italy where you can learn your trade and sharpen your skills as a good defender.

In other news, Joe Cole joins Liverpool. I’m confident that Chelsea did the right thing by letting him go. Also, I’m happy that he didn’t join our ‘rivals’ just in case it turns out to be otherwise. Liverpool have got weaker by replacing Benayoun with Joe Cole. I have no animosity towards Joe Cole ‘the Liverpool slayer’ for joining Liverpool. It’s his career and his choice. Hope it works out well for him and not for Liverpool as such.

The Capello Index is back! I must say that this index is pretty interesting. There are a few indices and models that rate players but I think this one seems to be an improvement over the other existing models. At least it gives me such an impression. The website is not complete yet so the minute details behind each score could not be seen. The legal battle would be on between Capello/FA and the Capello Index website. The website could be removed from the web but I hope this comes with a legal-friendly version with probably no direct reference to Capello. Anyway, check it out while it lasts.

Finally, we’ve started seeing premier league clubs banning vuvuzelas in their stadiums. Some have made it clear but some are still undecided. There is still no news from Stamford Bridge yet. Personally, in Stamford Bridge, I wouldn’t want vuvuzelas. In South Africa, it would have been unfair and even foolish to have banned it there because it’s part of their football culture.. In England, it’s not. It is the chants and songs that are part of the football culture in England. I would hate if the sound of vuvuzelas drown our chants of ‘can we play you every week’ when Arsenal plays . . .

Catch you later!

The season begins tomorrow. Chelsea will play their first pre-season game against Crystal Palace tomorrow. We are not going to the US this time for the pre-season. This game would be at Selhurst Park, the home of Crystal Palace, right here in London. It’s good that the players don’t have to make long travels with longer jet-lags just for the pre-season, after a physically and mentally tiring world cup.

The new away kit has now been released while the launch would be in August. When I first saw this black away kit, I was excited because I like these kind of black kits. Our ‘unlucky’ away kit of the last season was more of a black and blue kit. This new kit is a full black kit with stuff like adidas three stripes, kit name and number in orange. When I saw this kit in action, in the kit release event on Chelsea TV, I realised that the kit looks lighter on the torso. When players are on the move, the front side doesn’t look black at all, because it isn’t. All said, this kit looks very good.

The big news about tomorrow’s match is the return of the bison. I know this is a cliche but I have to say it – Essien’s return is like a new signing for Chelsea. Our best period of the last season was when Essien started in our midfield. If he can start about 30 matches in the premier league this season, we should fly high. I’m sure Carlo would play almost all the players that are available. We won’t get to see Yossi playing for Chelsea yet as he won’t be available due to injury. This match would be telecast live on Chelsea TV. I have access only to the Chelsea TV online. I might watch this match if the internet streaming is decent. In any case, I’d watch the highlights and share my thoughts with you all.

In transfer news, there’s still nothing concrete for Chelsea. If anything, Hodgson confirms that Torres is not leaving, after his face-to-face meeting with El Nino in Spain. Papers report that Chelsea are offering £30m for Torres. It’s true that Liverpool need the cash but getting back to champions league would be the top priority for them. With Man City strengthening so much, Liverpool will have to be really worried. So, unless Torres wants out, it’s hard to see him in a Chelsea shirt this season. Despite his desire to play in the champions league, Torres does seem to love playing for Liverpool. But still, we are yet to hear from Torres on his ideas about his future.

Meanwhile, Man City are on a spree and that’s not a surprise. They have bought some really good players and are looking to buy some more. Look at their purchases so far – Yaya Toure, David Silva and Jerome Boateng – these are fantastic buys for their positions on the pitch. They are building a truly formidable squad. We still need to see how these players play together, how well they gel with each other, how the egos can be kept under check and how much ‘devotion’ they would have to their club.

Chelsea certainly has a vision and strategy. Our transfers over the last 5 seasons have shown that. Carlo seems to be keen to use the youth players that we have and he is also interested in buying players for the future than for just this season. More than ever before, I have full faith in this Chelsea management which comprises of various people from Ancelotti to Gourlay to Abramovich himself. Something tells me that we would be the European champions this season.

Let’s hope we have a great season ahead. All the very best! I’ll leave you with this great picture to kick start this football season! This is Nicolas Anelka. When has the world seen this man like this? My caption to this picture is ‘The Spirit of Chelsea’. What you see here is success + style. Let’s keep the blue flag flying high!

Okay then, Iker Casillas has lifted the world cup trophy to knock my last piece of prediction. Congratulations to Spain. I feel sorry for the Dutch. They could have won it as well but they didn’t. I thought it was a very good match. Yes, there were a lot of stoppages and yellow cards but when a match of this intensity is being played, it’s understandable. I liked the match. It was very tight, there were very few mistakes in midfield and defence. Despite this match being tight, there was certainly a lot of desire and ambition from both sides, which made it a very intriguing game.

I also feel sorry for Howard Webb. He is a good referee but on this occasion he got quite a few crucial things wrong. Netherlands should have had de Jong sent off and Spain should have had Iniesta and Puyol sent off. With just 3 minutes to go for the shootout, he got a big decision wrong at that crucial time. The free kick from Sneijder in the 116th minute should have resulted in a corner for Netherlands but he awarded a goal kick for Spain and that attacked ended the Dutch hopes. Looks like a very minor detail but at the 116th minute of a world cup, for a 10-man team, every bit of possession would have helped. Anyway, this is not meant to suggest Spain didn’t deserve or anything. It’s just that Netherlands deserved to be champions as much as Spain did.

Andres Iniesta was always on my ‘great footballer but a despicable character’ list. It’s just that he improved his ranking yesterday. I thought Robin van Persie was the most useless player on the pitch yesterday. He looked like he didn’t want to be there. His useless presence meant Netherlands were always a man down against Spain, which is not an easy proposition. I won’t blame him though. In his kind of form, he’s never going to get anything against Pique and Puyol. RvP shouldn’t have played or he should have been subbed very early.

Thomas Muller wins the golden boot of this world cup, thanks to his three assists which were the tie breaker. I’m happy for Muller to win it than the incredibly lucky David Villa. He is made out to be like the striker of the tournament or something. He’s been poor but lucky while Torres was poor and unlucky. If Villa had won the golden boot, it would have rivalled Anelka’s golden boot in the premier league. Diego Forlan wins the golden ball for being the player of the tournament. That’s a great choice, I must say. He’s not only brilliant and consistent, he’s been pulling his team along and made them punch above their weights. Truly deserved the prize. I wouldn’t have complained if Schweinsteiger got it.

The most important thing is: the world cup is over. And that means: the glorious world of club football is back!

The transfer mania would set in now. So many top players have been linked with Chelsea but you and I know that we’d buy none of them. There were some strong rumours about a Chelsea bid for Fernando Torres, who wants to play in the champions league, which is not possible with Liverpool this season and hopefully a few more seasons. I like Torres. I’d love to see him in a Chelsea shirt. Yes, he’s had a poor world cup but which Chelsea had a great world cup? The fact that he has had a poor world cup can work to our advantage as his price should be most certainly lower now. See, Torres is a top class striker and if he plays for Chelsea, he’d get great supply from everywhere and he should love playing with a selfless striker like Drogba. All this is fine, if he comes at a decent price. I happened to see a piece of news (or junk) about Liverpool slapping a £100m price tag on Liverpool. That’s beyond a bad joke.

Meanwhile, our eternal target Sergio Aguero is still on the look out for ‘a top club that would help him achieve his ambitions’. Quite expectedly, he made a reference to Chelsea and said this:

To be the strike partner of Didier Drogba is a thing many players would love to be. But it’s not just Drogba – it’s Lampard, Terry, Anelka, Essien, and maybe even Fernando Torres. They have quality players everywhere.

That’s nice – the intent and the slip. Happy that he is still intent on playing for Chelsea. He has been in this ‘come and get me’ mode for a few seasons now. And then the slip – see how he drops the name of Fernando Torres, his ex-colleague and friend at Atletico Madrid. Looks like Aguero knows something and I hope he didn’t get that from the tabloid rumours.

Torres wants to go. That’s bloody clear. But where can he go? He wants to play in the champions league, having played for Liverpool he might want to continue playing for a top club and he does get paid a handsome package. Having raised in / played for Atletico, I don’t see him going to Barcelona or Real Madrid. He may not want to join his Rafa at Inter. Out of the other clubs that can afford him, Man Utd don’t seem quite keen. Juventus? AC Milan? They’ve got Pato. I’d be happy if we end up getting either Torres or Pato. We need to wait and watch.

Ancelotti has kind of clarified that we’re not buying Kaka, though he would love that proposition. Having replaced Joe Cole with Benayoun, we’re still looking to find someone to fill the boots of Ze German. Strangely, not many midfielders get caught into these rumour stories. About three-fourth of the rumours are always about the strikers, forwards and wingers. While we are looking for a very good midfielder, Ancelotti gets some joy as Essien and Mikel return to full training. If Essien gets to start every single match next season (ala Frank Lampard), we could have a fantastic season and would help a lot in defending our title and progressing in Europe.

Happy to be back with proper football where the champion is decided over 38 matches across 10 months. Happy to be talking Chelsea.

Hello all! Quick blog today. The world cup is coming to a fantastic climax after the elimination of the Latin American superpowers both of whom I thought would be the finalists. In good news, Yossi Benayoun signs for Chelsea for which you don’t see Chelsea fans doing a song and dance about. In bad news, David Silva signs for Man City after waxing lyrical about Chelsea. In other news,

The world champion is among Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay. The quarter final matches have produced some great performances and dramatic moments of this world cup. Brazil were beaten by Netherlands which even for the Dutch, must be a surprise. Brazil dominated the first half and went to the half time with a lead that could have doubled with some luck. Even though Netherlands won the match, they did not outplay Brazil but outperformed them with their desire and determination.

As per Robinho’s comments after the match, it appears that Brazil became a bit complacent and were thinking about the margin than the result. That, for me, is one half of the explanation of what happened in the second half. The other half is explained by Sneijder’s post match comments. Netherlands had decided that they would give it all and be ready to die on the pitch. Add up Brazil’s complacency and Netherlands’ super-determination, you get a rejuvenated second half performance that turned the match. Melo’s needless red card only worsened the situation for Brazil. It’s clear to all that Brazil is a better team than Netherlands but on those 90+ minutes, Netherlands came out as deserving winners.

The Uruguay vs Ghana match is the match of this world cup, undoubtedly. Both teams having the ability to create history for their respective nations, and with somewhat evenly matched up, it was always going to be a tight affair. The football on show was brilliant. As I was watching the extra time, I felt sad there’s going to be a loser in this match. The stoppage time handball by Suarez has come under a lot of criticism. My view is this: He did what I would have done at that time. See, in such times in football, the pressure is so intense and the emotions run so high that we may not even know what it means to live that moment by ourselves. It’s not the same as Henry’s handball – that one was very intentional while this one by Suarez was instinctive. Anyway, he was punished with a red card and his team was punished with a penalty. It was there for Ghana to create history. Gyan hit a poor penalty under the circumstances. Ghana should not complain about Suarez’ handball. Having said that, I can’t feel more sorry for Ghana.

The result of the Argentina vs Germany match was probably the biggest surprise of this world cup so far. I had said that Brazil will notch an easy win against Netherlands and I was wrong. Had I said that Germany would score an easy and big win over Argentina, I would have laughed at. But see what happened. That’s football. Make predictions but don’t claim to know of what would happen though. Don’t laugh at predictions too. None of us expected Germany to play like how they are playing at the moment. Surprises, not miracles, do happen. At least I was right about Argentina not being such a good team as they’re made out to be and Messi not scoring even one goal in the world cup. One thing is sure – with this win, Germany are firmly the top favourites to be champions.

Spain beat Paraguay. I have been saying that I find Spain very boring. Their kind of football doesn’t excite or interest me at all. There is no adventure, no innovation, no cutting edge. So many goals through rebounds, lucky flicks, off sides – just like Argentina. You know what happened to Argentina – they were found out by a top German performance. Paraguay played well and should have taken the lead but I always thought Spain would go through with a moment like the one that actually happened for David Villa. I’m not impressed with David Villa’s finishing as much as I’m impressed with his intelligence to be at the right place and time. That’s it on the world cup. Blog on the semi-finals late, probably!

Let’s get the bad news out. David Silva signs for Man City. I expected him to sign for us. Now, don’t even think we were never in the race. We wouldn’t know that. Don’t think that we would not spend too much because we would. It is so clear that we need one or two good replacements for Joe Cole, Deco and Ballack. This brings us to the good news – Yossi Benayoun has joined Chelsea FC.

Yippee! I found a Benayoun pic where he’s not in a Liverpool jersey! Sadly for him, he’s not gonna get his favourite shirt number of 15. He knows, he should go with the Flo!

My view about the Yossi signing is this – great! Yossi is a player that I have always respected. Regular readers would know that whenever we face Liverpool, it is Yossi that concerns me more than a Gerrard or Torres. Yossi has a great dribble and a good shot. Plus, he can never be doubted for his dedication and effort. Also, he can be the impact sub that we always wanted to have in our bench. I think he is a highly under-rated player. He has produced some blinders in his stint with Liverpool while Stevie Me walked away with the man of the match awards because he can run faster in a straight line and fall right inside the penalty box as soon as a defender moves in.

So what if Yossi is 30? Zola was 30 when he joined Chelsea. Age is never a factor if that has no impact or influence in the outcome. He is anyway on a 3-year contract, which is pretty decent. It neither too long nor too short. He has a very useful premier league experience and a wide range of experience/exposure than Joe Cole. He is an incomparably better goal scorer than Joe Cole and I think he is a better dribbler too. If Benayoun can play as well as he has with not-so-top teams such as Maccabi Haifa, Racing Santander and Liverpool, imagine what he can do with his Chelsea colleagues. Finally, we can have a set up where Flo and Yossi can interchange and play like Robben and Duff used to. So, if Yossi comes in at £6m as a replacement for Joe Cole, I would take him without blinking my eye. Shoot me now because I’m gonna say it – Yossi Benayoun is a better footballer than Joe Cole.

The good thing about this world cup is, the prices of the popular targets such as Aguero should have fallen. None of the popular targets have made their name in this world cup. If anything, it is the German crop that should have their prices spiraling up with every match. I think we are not done with our transfers. In the next few weeks, I truly expect, not just hope, that Chelsea would make a couple of good signings. I’m not referring to the stars, suns and moons, just the good players that can become great at Chelsea.

World cup is beautifully poised, isn’t it? My predictions have been fairly decent. I’ve got quite a few things right – France got eliminated in group league stage, Japan got to the second round ahead of Denmark & Cameroon (one of you said you’ll eat your hat if this happened), Chile made it to the second round, Brazil and Argentina are going strong. I’ve got 5 out the final 8 teams right. The teams that failed me were England, Mexico and Italy. But in this topsy-turvy world cup, I thought my predictions have been pretty decent.

I had said that Brazil would beat Netherlands in the quarterfinals and it would be a fairly easy win for Brazil. Also, I had said that Argentina would beat Germany in the quarterfinals. I’m still holding on to those predictions. Anyway, let’s look at all those four quarterfinal matches to make some quick crystal balling:

Brazil vs Netherlands

Nothing’s changed. I still think Brazil would overwhelm Netherlands. Brazil are having a brilliant world cup. They have been nothing short of brilliant. There’s a widespread feeling that this Brazilian does not have flair etc. I don’t buy into that. The way I see it, they are playing brilliant football with some devastating moves. So far, in this world, they have played the best football. What makes them a very strong favourite is the fact that they have a very good and pacy defenders and a top class goal keeper at the back. Also look how they peaking at the right time in this world cup.

Netherlands have done reasonably well but they really have not been tested so far. I have my doubts about this Dutch defence coping with the quality of Brazilian attack. I don’t see them holding the Brazilian attack goalless for 90 minutes. On the other hand, the Brazilian defence can hold the Dutch attack. Arjen Robben certainly would do good to retain his respect for Lucio and Julio Cesar after the champions league final. As far as this quarterfinal match goes, I think this would be an easy win for Brazil. The joy of Brazilian football is back!

Uruguay vs Ghana

This is anybody’s match. Whoever could hold the nerves better could win it. I have a feeling that Uruguay could edge this contest. All through this tournament, I’ve seen that the African teams are bit mentally and psychologically weaker. They seem to drop their shoulders bit too early, become too desperate and deviate from their tactics. Ghana’s goals and chances have come primarily due to individual efforts rather than team work and smart open play. If Uruguay had keep the Ghana striker quiet, that would mean Uruguay winning half the battle.

Diego Forlan is the key. I can’t see him not scoring in this match. It’s for this man, Diego Forlan, I want Uruguay to win this match. He’s given it all for his team. He and Suarez together are very difficult to contain. I would be happy for Michael Essien if Ghana wins but Uruguay do have the edge on an overall basis.

Germany vs Argentina

Germany have been attacking very well. Their midfield and forwards seem to play like they all play for the same club all these years. They can test any defence and Argentina’s defence have been a bit suspect. Germany are certainly finding the net, twice or more. Probably, this is the match where Maradona would repent for not having brought Zanetti and Cambiasso along with him. On the other hand, even Germany’s defence is equally suspect. Look at the Matthew Upson goal to see how poorly Germany can defend in a world cup match.

This Argentina team has been lauded for how their ‘scintillating’ performances and they keep cutting down on the odds after every match. Honestly, I’ve not been too impressed with them. I’m yet to see one brilliant goal from team play from this Argentina team. All their goals have been from set pieces, individual efforts, off sides etc. If they can win the world cup this way, good for them. But I think the way they have played so far indicate that they aren’t so special and they are a bit overrated in this world cup. The way they have played until now, there is not enough width in their style of play and Messi is playing a bit deeper than usual. I think Germany would find this comfortable to negotiate.

Germany may not attack Argentina as freely as they did against the other teams. The Argentina forwards have got pace, skill and power in abundance. This is a cracker of a match. This would be the toughest prediction of this world cup. All said, I do think Argentina would nick this one.

Paraguay vs Spain

As per my original predictions, I expected Spain to get knocked out in the quarterfinal stage. That’s because I thought they would face Italy here. Do I still think Spain would get knocked out to Paraguay? Not really but this is not a walk over for Spain. I know that, like Argentina, Spain are being hailed as a top favourites because of the football they have played in this world cup. That puzzles me. Yes, they have made a billion passes and had a million shots but despite having David Villa and Torres, I think they lack the cutting edge. They cannot forever depend on David Villa. Even that goal against Portugal was an offside goal. No one wants to talk about that because Spain are a critics favourite.

While Spain do have lots of possession, their conversion ratio from possession to goal threats is low. When I say goal threat, I’m talking about real goal threats and not just shots on goal. Paraguay are not rabbits. I’m sure they will give it their best shot but I think Spain would still go through. But I won’t surprised if Paraguay completes the fourth South American slot in the semi finals in this world cup.

So, predictions aside, what do I want to see? I want all South American teams to progress and a classic Brazil vs Argentina final and Brazil as deserving world champions. Enjoy your world cup, it’s not gonna last too long!