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!