Very good win at home that I didn’t get to see. The match wasn’t televised in India because of the F1 and the cricket that were also going on. That was quite frustrating. I can understand Football being second to Cricket on TV but F1? Streams weren’t any good and I ended up resorting to poor old BBC live commentary. And then finally, some videos from 101 great goals. So, this is not a proper match reaction article. This will be a bit short and plain, all right?

Mixed feelings, really. Very happy with the way we are playing. Nice and fluent football with an end product. We’re getting the goals. Torres is back in form. To be honest, the day and the result was marred by the fact that Torres for got sent off and that he won’t be available for the next three league games. Plus, we once again conceded a nothing goal.

Villas Boas’ team selection: He’s got balls! For a home game, he’s dropped a fit and healthy Lampard and put him on the bench. This move has not only helped the performance of the team but also sends out a clear message that Andre Villas Boas can walk his talk. Super stuff.

Fernando Torres’ goal: Wow! The 50m man is turning out to be a regular entry into the GOOD section. What a well taken goal! See, that ball from Mata is what he wants and that’s the kind of chemistry that was non-existent for him at Chelsea before. And that ball control and finish shows two things (a) the miss against manure hasn’t affected him (b) his confidence is back. Man, the goal was such a pleasure to watch.

Didier Drogba’s come back: Just when we were worried about Torres’ absence, Didier Drogba comes back and scored a brilliant goal. Talk about timing. Such a relief that we would still have a top striker leading our attack despite Torres not being there.

Ramires’ goals: The silent killer. Along with Mata and Torres, Ramires has also had a great start to this season. He’s bit iffy in defending but what a player to have during counterattacks. His second goal was a peach. With Ramires, Mikel and Meireles playing this way, Lampard’s gonna find it hard to get back into the premier league playing eleven.

Torres’ red card: When Fernando Torres scored the opening goal of the match, I thought this was going to be a great day for El Nino. He has been in fine form and you knew that he’s gonna score against Swansea. We he did, in style, but such is his fortune, something else had to happen. His definite return to form and good work had to be undone by something so untimely and unfortunate. I back him to come back from this too.

Is that a red card? I’d say no. Yes it was a two footed lunge. But let’s keep in mind that it was a clumsy one than a malicious one. With that being such a awkward and clumsy lunge, there was no way he was going to cause harm to the player than just blocking him. At worst, it was a yellow card plus some strong words from the ref. There’s still no news of Chelsea appealing against the red card. Good thing is, he should be back for the Arsenal game at Stamford Bridge.

No clean sheet: Why? Why do we concede such soft goals through easy headers? What’s with our defence? While we are getting stronger and stronger in attack, something’s wrong with our defence. What Lampard was to our midfield, Terry is to our defence – Chelsea legend with his best behind him. Terry’s position is safer as he’s the captain of the team and he brings to the table, more than just the centre back duties. But we need to sort this out quickly.

If Torres had played all 90 minutes, he might have been. Due to credit to him to score that all important first goal which made it more comfortable for us. But the man who sealed the game for us was Ramires. Fully deserves the man of the match award.

It was a mixed day but what should stay in our minds is that it’s great result at home and Drogba is back in action. Our impressive run this season continued after the fine win against Bayer Leverkusen. A game where Josh McEachran and Oriol Romeu showed why Lampard’s hopes of getting back into the playing eleven could be slimmer. Suddenly, the squad looks stronger and deeper. I’m only waiting for Lukaku to click properly and we’ll be ready for anything.

Meanwhile, Man Utd dropped points at the Brittania stadium. It was a great game to watch. I don’t want to take anything away from a superb Stoke performance but this is Man Utd without Rooney. Keep in mind that Rooney is out for a ‘few weeks’.

Next week, we travel to the Mestalla. Expect Fernando Torres to start and score unless Boas wants Drogba to get some match time before he starts the premier league game next weekend. By the way, this is a big week in football gaming. Both PES 2012 and FIFA 12 are releasing this week. Have pre-ordered both. Excited!

Old Trafford. Man Utd in their best form. Chelsea still in a scratchy league start. Young and hot Reds versus the old and slow Blues. A referee with an anti-Chelsea agenda. Inevitable offside goals for Man Utd. Typical OT-style lucky ricochets. Disappointing 3-1 defeat. Despite all this, against all the odds, against all the expectations – this Chelsea team dominated Man Utd and had them run ragged to the point it was like we were playing at the Bridge.

This is what a Man Utd fan had said in their blog. You know manure fans are not the type that gives credit to opposition. But check this one out:

Not going to complain. But fuck me, we were lucky. The combination of getting the close calls from the linesman, Torres missing an open net, Ramirez fluffing the easiest chance ever, and Torres failing to score when gifted chance after chance, was enough for us to win. Jones was mighty. Evans too. But damn. Overall we were very, very lucky.

And I’m not going to complain about that. Chelsea were as good as I’ve seen them in recent years, they brought the fire and the fury, not to mention pace and energy. Holy crap, people been writing them off, they were amazing today. Our lads were terrific too, and it was a brilliant match, but it could easily have gone either way.

That sums up nicely, doesn’t it?

Fernando Torres: Make no mistake. El Nino is well and truly back. He’s been having some really good matches this season. In the last match, he could have got a hattrick but got a brace of assists. This time, he could have easily got a hattrick but ended with one important confidence-building goal. Yes, that was a bad miss but I don’t think it should play too much in his mind because he had a great game. And what a well taken goal that was. Great pass by Anelka and that’s exactly the kind of passes and support that Torres wants. Torres’ movement today was superb. His movement and the support he gets, have to go in tandem. I firmly think we’ve learnt how to use Torres and the man is also back in confidence. Can’t wait to see him in action next week!

Chelsea’s dominance: Look we were playing a red-hot Man Utd in Old Trafford who had just despatched Arsenal 8-2. And now, look how we played. We had them on the backfoot all through the game. Despite the offside goals and freak ricochet goal, we continued to pound them with our attacks. For about an hour, old Sir Alex must have had his heart in his mouth. In recent times, I don’t remember any other visiting team playing against them at Old Trafford like we did today.

Chelsea’s teamwork: Big positive! Chelsea’s teamwork in attack as well as in defence was brilliant. Suddenly, all Chelsea players seem to have figured out the strengths, weaknesses, styles and methods of their fellow Chelsea players. Our play showed how well we have been training and the amount of the work the manager has put in to make this possible. I said after the last match that we are clearly improving. Give us a few more matches – we are again becoming a dangerously good unit.

Andre Villas Boas: This was Boas’ first league defeat in about 18 months but what a game his team played! And for that, he should get the credit. He chose an attacking playing eleven and set up his team and tactics to attack Man Utd at Old Trafford. Hats off to Boas for subbing Lampard at half time. He shouldn’t have started Lamps but anyway he was quick to act as soon as he realised that. AVB is indeed looks to be a bold manager – on and off the pitch. Like we are saying, I’ve never ever felt so confident under a manager after Jose Mourinho. AVB looks to be the real deal. I have full confidence in him that he’s the right guy and that he needs all the support from us and from the board.

4-2-3-1: With the right tactic and with our squad, 4-2-3-1 looks like the most productive formation. In the second half when we changed to 4-2-3-1, we had Mata play behind Torres with Anelka and Sturridge on either sides of Mata. This also proved to be the ideal set up for unleashing Fernando Torres.

Chelsea’s attitude: I loved it. We were 3-0 down but we still gave a fight. We fought like real men. We had them on the rocks. We reduced their involvement in the game to counters. I could hear Fergie’s heart beat. The team’s attitude was well matched by the travelling Chelsea fans could be heard throught the match.

Manure’s luck: Never deserts them. Always lucky, especially at Old Trafford. They’re a very good team and I won’t take anything away from them but they are also a very very lucky team. Today, against the run of play, they took a lead from an offside goal. About two or three manures were offside there. To not disallow that goal was like a knife in the back for Chelsea who started very brightly. Then came the Nani thunderbolt, again helped with an unflagged offside along the set up. Finally, they had their cherry of lucky cake with a fortunate rebound falling at the feet of their prolific scorer about 6 yards in front of the goal. Call me whatever – all their three goals were against the run of play.

Phil Dowd: My most hated referee in the world of football. I always find him to be a Chelsea hater. I also think he is an attention seeker – a negative quality for any referee. Poor refereeing doesn’t always hit us through penalties and free kick in dangerous areas. Like today, a number of fouls went against us in our build up and as well as theirs. I hate to complain about referees in general but you gotta despite someone like Phil Dowd – a man that will always find himself under my BAD section every time officiates in our match.

Lampard: I’ve been saying that he doesn’t deserve a starting place, purely based on form. Even today, his performance in the first half was poor. He needed too much time and too many touches on the ball while the rest of the attack is moving forward swiftly. He is surely not in the kind of form to make the piercing passes that Mata, Anelka and Ramires made today. I’m sorry to say that we looked a much better team after he was subbed off. His days of being a sure-starter should definitely be over.

Daniel Sturridge: This wasn’t Sturridge’s day, clearly. Too many pointless shots and frequent losses of possession. Sadly for Sturridge, when he’s not in his spirits it shows quite clearly. His body language becomes very negative and defeatist. More than anything, his decision making goes awful. Should have got subbed at half time. Lukaku replaced Sturridge after the hour mark. Unfortunately, Lukaku was invisible mostly and when he was visible, I saw him committing an error. In his defence, he’s not the kind of player who can play in the right attacking midfield in the 4-2-3-1. He looks like an out and out striker. With the form that Torres is in, if Lukaku plays as a striker alongside Torres, he can draw some defenders to make space for Torres.

It’s gotta be Fernando Torres. His best performance in a Chelsea shirt. Torres proved two things (a) his class and supreme quality (b) his confidence is back. He reminded us what a fantastic player he is and why we bought him. What he’s also managed is to cement his place in the playing eleven. He was right all along after all – with the right kind of playing style and supply of ball, he can be very dangerous indeed. If he can run rings around Man Utd defenders at Old Trafford, you’ve to agree that he’s back!

Andre Villas Boas’ comments in the post-match were quite impressive. I like his communication style. He is respectful but at the same time, he gets his feelings across.

Normally when you create 21 opportunities at Old Trafford you should come away with at least a point and a couple were very good opportunities so I think 3-0 at half-time is crazy, If the 1-1 [from Ramires] goes in it is a different story. Before 1-0 we had a good chance as well. It was a chaotic game and to be fair a very open game. I am very happy with how our team reacted to such a negative half-time result and we showed commitment and desire to turn things around. We did everything within our power to try to find the second goal, which is difficult because you are always exposed and it was because of that that eventually United found the penalty that they missed, but we continued to attack and try to create opportunities but it just didn’t fall our way.

If it does and a little bit of luck comes in the game, then the result is different. It didn’t fall our way in every kind of the word, not only in goalscoring opportunities but referee or linesman decisions, not that I am looking for any excuse but it is the reality and they influenced the game. It’s a 2-0 instead of a 0-0 or whatever. I am pretty unhappy with how the linesman performed but these things happen in the game.

They are in a good position now but it is very, very early. Nothing that would happen here will mean anything in the Premier League table, and today, not that I want to overemphasise it, you had Man City going to Fulham and Fulham getting a point. Arsenal lost and Liverpool lost, so all five contenders for there and anything can happen. The most regular has been United but we showed we are up to the levels of the champions – it is just this time this game didn’t go our way but we will be up there competing for the title and I am glad sir Alex corroborates in this opinion.

This league season has yet to see the best of Boas’ Chelsea. On the other hand, I can say, we have seen the best of Man Utd. We are still putting the pieces together. We will settle down, consolidate and most probably peak when it matters. Most important thing is, we seem to have solved the Torres puzzle. That in itself would make us quite dangerous.

We’re 5 points off Man Utd. The season is still very young. We still need to play Man Utd at Stamford Bridge. Mata, Meireles, Lukaku and Romeu will settle down. Josh McE will emerge to prominence. All these things and the progress under Andre Villas Boas leaves me with a lot of hope and promise for this season. Not very often would you feel this way after a defeat. But I do feel this will be a great season for Chelsea. KTBFFH!

The date was Sep 25, 2010. Chelsea were on 15 points after 5 games. We had scored 21 goals and conceded 1. And we were 4 points clear at the top. Odds were being cut. Chelsea were expected to run away with the league. And then . . . we lost against Man City and that started the famous decline. We appeared to recover only to lose another crucial match against Liverpool few weeks later to enter into a ‘bad moment’. And that ‘bad moment’ lasted an eternity.

Man Utd are on a similar run now. The traditional slow starters now have 12 points from 4 games with a goal difference of 15 goals. That does not guarantee a win against Chelsea on Sunday. Yes, Man Utd dismantled Arsenal but Wenger’s team was hardly a threat. Yeah Man Utd played brilliantly well but Arsenal produced one of their worst displays in their history. It was a freak result.

Chelsea were lucky to play some bottom half opponents early in the situation. While we have not really blown them away, I think those games have helped us settle down with the line-up, roles and tactics. Not sure if I’m alone here – I see this Chelsea team improving. It’s not just because Mata and Meireles are playing. But they are a big part of Boas’ plan for improvement.

No matter how Chelsea and Man Utd have played in their last four games, I think this match still starts even. The only advantage for Man Utd I see is that they are playing at the theatre of screams. Rest everything shouldn’t matter so much.

From a team selection point of view, I want this to be a line-up with fast and attacking players. Here’s my team: Cech, Terry, Luiz, Ivanovic and Ashley Cole in defence. Ramires, Mikel and Meireles in midfield. Torres, Mata and Sturridge upfront.

See I do agree that Bosingwa has done brilliantly well of late. I was half-tempted to pick him over Ivanovic at right back. If it was not against Man Utd, I’d have picked him over Ivanovic. Bosingwa has an edge over Ivanovic in attacks and I think vice versa is true in defence. Knowing how quick and dangerous the interchanging Man Utd wingers are, I’d pick Ivanovic.

I wasn’t a fan of having both Mikel and Ramires in the midfield. I see that Mikel’s role is changing. He’s still our defensive midfielder. He’s the one covering the back, when our defenders are on attacking duty. But I see Mikel making attacking runs and getting involved in the exchange of possession and passes in the attack with the other 3Ms – Mata, Meireles and Malouda. If Mikel could contribute to the attacks, his value to the team could be very high. In the hope that he can do this, I’d pick him along with Ramires.

Meireles over Lampard is actually a no-brainer. If it’s down to form, it’s a no-brainer. Meireles has come in and played like he belongs here in this midfield. As of today, he could contribute to our team’s success better than Super Frank.

Upfront, Mata picks himself. Torres should definitely start. After his brace of assists that’s the least he should expect. Torres has got a decent record against Man Utd and he has always been a handful for the Man Utd defence. On the right wing though, I’m unsure if I should go for Anelka or Sturridge. I don’t see AVB springing a surprise by giving a start for Lukaku. He’s not that much of a maverick, as far as we’ve seen. I picked Sturridge because I wanted us to have players that cause them problems and not their young defence and young keeper to settle down. Sturridge will do that role much better than Anelka.

So, my team is Cech, Terry, Luiz, Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Ramires, Mikel, Meireles, Torres, Mata and Sturridge. All said, let me see if I can predict Boas’ starting eleven. Here we go: Cech, Terry, Alex, Ashley Cole, Bosingwa, Mikel, Ramires, Lampard, Anelka, Torres and Mata.

Good thing is, the pressure is really on Man Utd. Firstly, they are super-favourites after their great start to the season. Secondly, they don’t want to see Man City sitting above them in the league table. Man Utd needs to match or improve City’s result. Now the drama is all about the Manchester teams in premier league and the Spanish superteams in champions league. Chelsea are off the radar. Chelsea can get beaten on Sunday and still continue to mount a title challenge and win it. If Man Utd get beaten, it puts a big question mark over their young team and the city rivalry will put more pressure on them.

Many seem to think that Man Utd will demolish Chelsea tomorrow. I tend to disagree. Chelsea can match and better Man Utd. Of course, Man Utd are the more settled team under a more seasoned manager. Boas’ Chelsea are still work in progress. In fact, it looks more like AVB has his sights on 2012-13 rather than 2011-12. But then, Man Utd never take Chelsea lightly. Fergie’s cautious approach against Chelsea, even at Old Trafford, explains this.

This time though, I don’t think Man Utd play the cautious game against Chelsea. I expect them to go gung-ho at us early in the game. I think Man Utd might want to settle the game in the first 30 minutes. They might give their all in the first half hour with all their pace and youth. If we withstand their onslaught in the first half hour and stay 0-0, we will have a match on our hands.

Andre Villas Boas wasn’t even born when Fergie started his managerial career. Boas was in his nappies when Fergie won his first league title. Boas is less than half of Fergie’s age. Wouldn’t it be some story if he Boas beats him like young Jose did with his Porto team at Old Trafford? Something like the youngest manager to defeat Fergie at Old Trafford? Wonder how Andre would react to a win? I’m loving his dug out antics. It’s like he’s controlling all the eleven players with playstation move attached to his limbs. Would be great to see his reaction if Chelsea do well!

Like I tweeted this morning, my head says 2-2 and my heart says a 2-1 win for Chelsea. What’s your prediction for this game?

What would happen this Sunday?

• Chelsea will win by 2-goal margin or more


• Chelsea will win by 1-goal margin


• Match will end in a score draw


• Match will end in a goalless draw


• Man Utd will win by 1-goal margin


• Man Utd will win by 2-goal margin or more



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