Feels like defeat, doesn’t it? We’re 4 under par! On a serious note, you can’t score 6 goals every match, can you? Frankly, we’re all a bit spoiled by generous goal serving by the Chelsea team. What else would you say when a comfortable 2-0 win has a tinge of disappointment, not from a performance point of view but from the goal tally. One thing’s for sure. The premier league goals record made by Chelsea last season is under serious threat from Chelsea themselves. There is no other premier league team that is as free scoring as Chelsea at the moment. In all this flurry of goals, what should not escape the attention is that we are not conceding. There’s no Carvalho but still we’re not conceding.

I must say Stoke City made it a bit difficult for us. Home or away, Stoke City are always a tough customer with their physical style of play and their determination. I think the Chelsea players would admit that breaking down Stoke City wasn’t easy. Lampard’s missed penalty only strengthened Stoke City’s resolve. Had Lamps scored that, it might have opened the floodgates, but he didn’t.

It wasn’t a good match for Lampard. I don’t know if because he wasn’t playing well he missed the penalty or because he missed the penalty he didn’t play well. Very clearly, ever since he missed the penalty, Lampard was not getting involved in the playmaking. Probably he felt guilty for missing the penalty and hence was trying hard to score a goal. He was playing almost as the second striker while he was really missed in the midfield, which didn’t help in Chelsea creating goalscoring opportunities. I was mightily pleased when Carlo subbed Lampard. It’s not a familiar sight to see Lampard being subbed off but he was in pain and had to leave the pitch in order not to aggravate it.

Lampard will undergo a hernia surgery (like Drogba did last month) this week which will mean he does not have to join the England national team. The next premier league match is only on 11-Sep against his ex-club West Ham. There’s also a possibility that he could miss that match but we’ve got Ramires up and running. He played for about 10 minutes and I think he did well. He was intelligent in his movements, he covered the spaces nicely though we didn’t really see a surging run or a crunching tackle or a deadly pass from him. Like Yossi in the match against West Brom, Ramires was just moving around on the pitch understanding how the game flows.

Nicolas Anelka, for me, was the man of the match. The man’s made a 180-degree turn since his initial days at Chelsea. It’s not often I say that Nico’s work rate on the pitch was top class. He was fighting for every ball in his vicinity. He put pressure, he tackled, he won balls and he never gave up. Two thumbs up for Nico. Brilliant performance. Malouda’s scoring spree continues and this time to the courtesy of a lovely ball from John Terry! I think the real on-the-pitch architect behind Chelsea raking up 100+ goals last season was Malouda. It was his goals, assists, manoeuvres that were a useful addition to the usual Chelsea attacks contributed and scored by Drogba and Lampard. I’d put my money on Malouda getting 20 goals this season.

International break ahead. No real football until 11-Sep. This would still be a busy period for me as I’ve just moved to Singapore on a short term basis. It’s been a couple of days now and I’m settling down nicely. New place, new work, and new people to work with is always going to be interesting. Meanwhile, we’re nearing the climax of the two football gaming titles this season. Both PES 2011 and FIFA 11 would be released in early October. You know that I’m a big Pro Evo fan though I play both these series. PES 2011 is shaping up very well. It looks and plays so good that I just simply can’t wait.

That’s it for now. Catch you later!

Carlo calls it playstation gaming. I’ve been a playstation gamer for god knows how many years. Trust me, it’s not easy even on playstation to score at the rate Chelsea is scoring. This is not just free scoring. This is insanely free scoring. The quality that’s there in the Chelsea squad is immense. Drogba is outstanding, Anelka has a role of his own, Malouda cannot stop scoring, Lampard is showing why he’s the best in premier league, Essien is back and finding his feet, Mikel is only improving, Benayoun is settling in, Kalou is finally turning into a very good player and our defence and goalkeeper hate to concede no matter how many we score. It’s all looking very bright and sunny for us.

If Carlo has brought us one thing that is turning this Chelsea team into a goal scoring machine. It will be an interesting study to research what change in mentality and tactics has made these high scoring wins a norm for Chelsea these days. Ahead of the match Carlo said that it’s not possible to win 6-0 every match and that he’d be happy with a 1-0 win too. He must have been lying. He knows fully well how he’s preparing his team and what he expects of his players. See how many Chelsea players commit themselves to attack even after going well ahead. Chelsea’s approach now is to never stop attacking moves and to score as many as possible.

For the second match running, we didn’t look like ending the match with a 6-0 score. In fact, the first half belonged to Wigan. It is understandable. Wigan had just lost heavily to Blackpool at home. They want to show a reaction to the manager, fans and the owner. They were all over us in the first half hour. I wasn’t too worried because I knew that it if we were to withstand those waves of attacks, our time will come. Wigan couldn’t play at that level for too long. They were getting tired physically and mentally, which ultimately caused the drop in concentration which led to a nice Chelsea goal.

Chelsea score 6 goals but the two men who score more than about 50% of Chelsea goals, did not score even one. Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard may not have found the net yesterday but they were just brilliant. Lampard’s passing range was very impressive but what was more valuable was his creativity. He may not probably get enough credit for his creativity in passing and attacking moves. He also made a few cracking tackles that stopped some dangerous attacking moves by Wigan.

Didier Drogba is the man of the match. When he doesn’t score goals, he creates them. For a top striker like Drogba, he is truly unselfish. He could have got a brace instead he created goals for his team mates and for the team. His run for the first goal by Kalou, was a real treat to watch. There was technique and intelligence than pace and acceleration. Is the striker with the best cross in European football today? Not just this match, overtime Drogba crosses the ball, I’m very confident that it would be a dangerous one and most probably there could be a goal too. He is a real asset. He says he can play at this level for 5 years. He’s had his surgery and he is now fully fit and can afford to play at 100% fitness finally. Rivals must be really worried at how Drogba’s shaping up this season. I think Drogba’s target this season must be to be the world player of the year.

There’s something different about Kalou this season. We’ve seen him in only three matches but he seems to have added something to his game – probably confidence or determination or intelligence or decision making – something. There is some assurance with the way he’s playing. His movements off the ball are good. When he is on the ball, he doesn’t look to walk it into the net by himself. Basically, it appears that he has finally understood his role in the team and has that clarity around the style and nature of play in this Chelsea set up. The introduction of Benayoun and the emergence of Kakuta could have made a positive contribution in him stepping up his game. Can he be the surprise package of this season?

I’m very very please for Benayoun. In the last match, you saw him strolling all over the pitch, getting some on-the-pitch orientation to the gameplan and style. In this match, he was very much part of the proceedings and he capped it all with a nice goal. It was a good cut back from Paulo for which Yossi moved in nice and easy to make what looked like an easy finish.

It’s a great sight when you see Anelka fighting for his team mates when the opponents are in possession of the ball. Yesterday, he covered so much ground that he wanted to be everywhere. It’s not his braces or hattricks that give me as much pleasure as watching Anelka playing with a Drogba mentality – not willing to give up, giving a real tough fight, making his presence felt irrespective of whether he is on or off the ball. I can tell you this much – the version of Anelka that we have now is largely bug-free and vastly upgraded from the version we downloaded from Bolton. By the way, Anelka’s stock has gone up in my books, ever since he laughed off his ban by FFF. Classic stuff. Rub it in Nico!

News is that Ramires would play in the match next weekend. As I’ve said before, I’m a bit worried that Ramires could halt Mikel’s progress. I’ve grown to love Mikel for the last couple of seasons. He’s come a long way this young man. Even yesterday, he made a divine pass for Anelka which showed the other side of Mikel. I’d like to see both Ramires and Mikel sharing the responsibilities instead of one blocking the other. That doesn’t mean we play with two defensive midfielders. It’s just that we have the luxury to rotate even the defensive midfielders.

The new black away kit looks awesome. Unlike last season, we don’t have to put up with an ‘unlucky’ away jersey. This new kit looks brilliant and we scored half a dozen goals. That should make you ‘kit-jinxed’ lot happy. So we still top the table after another round of premier league matches. We scored six goals again for which we didn’t have to be playing at home or playing against 10 men. We went there and thumped them. That’s why we’re champions. All looking well. BlueChampions blog could be experiencing some difficulties as I’m moving to Singapore for a short period. Most probably the next blog I write would be from Singapore. I’ll ensure that this is as seamless for you as possible. That’s it for now. Enjoy!

Guys! I’m down with fever. I can barely write. I’ll make this a short post and as always, leave it open for your wise, interesting discussions. I know this result deserves a longer post but I can’t strain too much. Here we go.

Roger Federer would have been proud of that score. When Blackpool finished the match at 4-0, I wasn’t sure if Chelsea would top the table after the first round of premier league season. I know the league table after the first round means nothing, just as the second, third and up to the 37th round. It is this little sentiment that I’d like Chelsea to top the table as soon as the first round ends. I know what you’re saying. It’s not over yet. Liverpool are playing today and Man Utd are playing tomorrow. Allow me to be a bit arrogant here. Neither of them is gonna score 7 goals.

Well, it was surely a flattering scoreline. I wouldn’t say West Brom deserved a goal but Chelsea’s performance didn’t deserve 6 goals. In the first 30 minutes I wouldn’t have bet even one pound on Chelsea finishing with six goals. Actually, I don’t we ever got out of the first gear. The only thing that got us half a dozen goals was the quality and the ‘let’s not stop’ mentality.

So we have just start from where we left last season. Finished the last one with 8 and have begun this one with 6 and this is the sport of football we’re talking about. I’ve been telling you pre-season results mean nothing. To make you understand and believe I even told you Arsenal won a pre-season trophy this month. I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see us start this season like champions. It’s like shouting out loud ‘it’s our title and we’re keeping it’.

The Spurs vs Man City match was a great opener for this season’s premier league. I thought this match was a great advertisement for premier league football for what there is. It was a typical high-tempo match filled with non-stop waves of attacks and counterattacks. There was a lot of heart than skill, more of determination than genius. Most importantly, it was box office stuff and full value for money and time. Ah well, despite the disappointing result, good to see Spurs destroying Man City like they were playing some promoted team. Why don’t the press put some pressure on Man City questioning Mancini’s selection or tactics or asking if Mancini is the right man for the job? Just for some entertainment.

Liverpool to maul Arsenal. Joe Cole to score the winner. Newcastle to beat Man Utd with an injury time winner on the 99th minute (suck it up sunbears!). Time to see who we got at the second place. Cheers!

P.S: For all the Indian readers out there – wish you a happy independence day! Waiting for the news about Roman buying this Indian Premier League cricket club!

The season begins tomorrow. What happened last weekend has nothing to do with the league table. Despite a 3-1 defeat in the hands of arch-rivals Man Utd, odds are in favour of Chelsea to retain the title. Most of the football pundits think that Chelsea would retain the title despite having an ageing squad with few additions to it. I too think Chelsea will win the title this season too. We still have about three weeks of transfer window left. If Chelsea can bring in one good defender, one striker, one goalkeeper – need not be stars – just good players, we’re certainly favourites.

Chelsea’s fortunes are fully dependant on two players – Didier Drogba and Petr Cech. Both are great players in their positions and it’s not easy to replace them. There’s no point in blaming their current second choices. We should have decent replacements in the same mould as these players. With Carvalho leaving for Real Madrid, we definitely need a proper defender. Alex is a good defender but he has no pace and I have by doubts about his mental and physical reflexes. Let me say it – John Terry has been waning. Yes, he still gives his best but that’s not good enough. What he lacks in tactical awareness he makes it up with his bravery and conviction.

Let’s give a big round of applause for Ricardo Carvalho. The man is finally leaving us after many seasons of fantastic service. I must say I feel very sad to see him leave. He was such a superb player for us in all these years. Many even say it is Carvalho who made Terry look better. While that’s very harsh on Terry, it’s certainly true that Carvalho was the clean-up man if things went wrong. He is technically better and was a born-centre back. He has played so many memorable matches for us. The long lasting moment that I’d have of Ricardo Carvalho is his goal at Stamford Bridge against Man Utd. That was the goal that sealed the match and the title in our favour in 05-06. That was Carvalho picking up the ball from a Man Utd corner, creating a counterattacking opportunity and coolly finishing it from left just outside the 6-yard box. That’s a finish top strikers would be proud of. And then he followed it up with this silly smoking celebration with Drogba. Lovely moments. Brilliant player. Thanks a lot, Riccy! May you have a great career ahead!

Back to the worries of Riccy-less defence at Chelsea. The centre back pairing of Alex and Terry would not make me very comfortable unless I can see Petr Cech in the goal. This being a slow centre back pair means we can’t really defend high up thereby leaving gaps and spaces between our defence and midfield. That’s a bad proposition particularly against teams with fast attackers. You might say Ivanovic is a good choice too. Very right. Ivanovic is best used as a right back. He’s got that slip-through dribble and a useful cross. If he is a centre back, you’re going to see neither. We do have some youngsters – a couple of teenage Dutch defenders in right-footed Jeffrey Bruma and left-footed Patrick van Aanholt. The Chelsea defence has not yet settled down and one more good signing would make everything all right. David Luiz?

Petr Cech is back in the starting eleven and so is Didier Drogba. Lampard seems to be doubtful to start while Essien will be raring to go. Carlo suggests that we’d play a 4-3-3 with Drogba flanked by Benayoun and Kalou. Malouda could be in the left midfield as Mikel and Essien playing in the centre and right midfield respectively. To be honest, I’m a bit worried by Ashley Cole. We all know he was a Real Madrid target. It would be hard for Ashley Cole to reject the opportunity of playing for the biggest club in the world and more importantly, joining Jose Mourinho. Carlo has since quashed these rumours but Ashley Cole has not yet spoken on this. I was expecting that his performance would speak but it didn’t. It’s not very often you’d see Ashley Cole so off colour as he was last weekend. Yuri Zhirkov better be ready. How often would you say this – Paulo Ferreira looks to be the best of our defenders. Well, that’s not meant to be an insult to Paulo. Honestly, he was warming the bench for many many months because he was not the best of the lost but credit to him – he has come out and proved with every opportunity, that he can still deliver at the big stages in football.

If you’re living in the UK, check out The Guardian paper on Monday. They’re giving away a bulk guide to the new football season. In their own words:

Don’t miss your indispensable, 84-page guide to the new football season, out on Monday 9 August. Featuring Kevin McCarra’s preview focusing on the big four; the influence of Inter, Barcelona and the World Cup on the Premier League; and Blackpool’s slim survival prospects. Missing it would be a mistake of Capello index proportions. There’s also the team-by-team guide, Barney Ronay’s ‘Rough Guide to Liverpool’ for Roy Hodgson, the original Roy of the Rovers illustrator, Paul Trevillion, and Harry Pearson’s tips for the Premier League’s tired superstars. And as if that wasn’t enough there’s breakdown of England’s Euro 2012 opponents, The Championship, League One, League Two and SPL previews.

I’m sure it’s useful.

Given the circumstances, it’s good that we are to play West Brom in the first match, at home. Being newly promoted and all, they would be really charged up for this match. A draw would be a great morale booster for West Brom. I don’t see any result other than a resounding win for Chelsea. With tougher early round ties for our rivals, it’s important that we seize the opportunity and put the pressure early on. You have a few cracking matches this weekend – Tottenham vs Man City and Liverpool vs Arsenal plus the matches involving the champions and the runners-up.

I’m predicting a victory for the home teams in all these matches. I’d be particularly happy with Man City and Arsenal get beaten. You know how much I despise all things Arsenal, so that one’s understandable. I want Man City to struggle because that would be fun, for all the money that has been spent. I want Man City to be another example of why money cannot win trophies. Chelsea spent money but it’s not just money that brought trophies. There was so much handwork by the manager, players and other staff day in and day out. Let’s see if Mancini can keep the squad happy and if they can play as a team with a common objective.

So there we go. Chelsea to win 3-0. Let’s kick off the season like how we finished the last season – in style!

P.S: The new third kit sucks!

There you have it. I would have loved to win this match but now that we haven’t I’m not gonna throw a fit. Chelsea were certainly a bit rusty and lacked sharpness. It was pretty clear that Chelsea were about a week behind Manure in terms of fitness and match readiness. For all this, I was pretty pleased with how Chelsea played in attack. It was the defence that was a bit worrisome. In attack, we played very well for the first match of the season. I kept seeing van der Saar making diving saves while I didn’t get to see Hilario so much. We had more shots than Manure but they won the game. I wouldn’t take anything away from their performance but the scoreline was not a reflection of what happened on the pitch.

Last season, it was our left side that proved crucial in many matches. Today, both Ashley Cole and Malouda were off colour with the former being at fault for the first two manure goals. Not sure if Ashley Cole is tempted about a Madrid move. He was not his usual assured self in defence. You can never doubt his commitment but I wonder if was fully focussing on the game. He was a fraction late for every ball. He strayed out of position and didn’t mark his players well enough. Hopefully it’s just that he was as rusty and no ready as the team where not even Essien was an exception.

Sturridge was our man of the match. He created so much havoc in the short time that he played. He has loads of strength as well as skill. I’m just wondering what could be his ideal position on the pitch. He is a striker but he has a good dribble but he isn’t agile enough to be a winger. Even in the last season, he created a good impression with every single opportunity he was given. Benayoun made a decent debut – confident on the ball, making typical silky-smooth movements in key areas. I was a bit disappointed not to see Kakuta in the starting line-up only to realise he was not even on the bench. Remember, he is a trump card, a secret weapon that would be unleashed on our opponents this season.

We absolutely need Petr Cech back. The good news is he could be back for the first premier league match next weekend. We surely need to have options in strike force. Anelka on his own is not going to be too much of a threat for oppositions like manure. Drogba is not getting younger. We need a top striker to can lead the Chelsea attack in his absence. A striker with a strong presence and a constant threat.

So folks, don’t worry too much about this result. We played very well, we knew were we went wrong, we know the scoreline was harsh and more importantly we know what we need. We’ll start the premier league season in style.