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!

Manchester United will be smarting from losing their grip on the title they’ve held for 3 years and rest assured, our main rivals will do everything in their power to better us this time round. I see two big name signings heading in the direction of Manchester in this window. The Goners will also be looking to strengthen, not that anything they do is a threat to us anyway. The likes of Manchester City and Tottenham will surely push on for bigger things and want to have a say in the transfer market and make a statement of intent.

Hence, I don’t agree with Carlo Ancelotti’s belief that we can tide through and more importantly, maintain our winning momentum next season with the current squad. It’s a little easy to say such things when you’re high on the celebratory champagne and everything around you seems more pleasant than they have ever been, but I think even Carlo knows deep down that the squad needs reinforcements. In fact, I would think that he already knows what he needs and has conveyed the same to Roman. So here is my take on what we need to do this summer to keep us on top for next year, and hopefully, years to come.

Out : Hilario, Belletti, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Michael Ballack, Joe Cole.

1.  It’s time to promote a solid goalkeeper to deputise for Petr Cech when the situation presents itself. For anyone who watched our games this season, Ross Turnbull seems to be a very good backup keeper  and is much better than Hilario. The arrival of the Croatian youngster Matej Delac from Inter Z (this move had been agreed upon last season itself) will contribute to Hilario’s ouster.

2. I firmly believe Ricardo Carvalho’s time at Chelsea is well and truly up. He’s been a wonderful servant to the club but has sadly never been at is best since the last two seasons. Alex’s emergence as a quality centre-back partner for JT means the injury prone Carvalho will not get too much play time next season, and hence it will be best for both parties if he is moved on. It’s the same situation for Paulo Ferreira. Wonderful player over the years, but sadly, it’s time to make way for the younger crop of players.

3. Michael Ballack has never quite lived up to his name in a Chelsea shirt. He’s not the same player he was at Bayern Munich. Has lost his attacking flair and although he’s done well for us the last couple of months in the midfield enforcer role in Essien’s absence, his inconsistency is quite frustrating. His big game experience is the biggest strength he brings to us. The man has played in Champions league finals, title winning sides and important World Cup games. But he wants a 2 year contract which is difficult to give when you’re 34 years old.

4. Joe Cole – I, like every Chelsea fan, would hate to see him go. He’s been here 7 years now and has been such an integral part of our side over the years that it’s almost impossible to think about a Chelsea team without our loved No.10 in it. But given that we love him so much, it needs to be reciprocated at some level. I mean as good as he is, Joe Cole is not worth the 100,000 pounds a week that he wants. Unless he shows some loyalty, out he goes.

5. Belletti and Deco have both spoken about wanting to leave and going back to Brazil to see out their careers, and really, this is a no-brainer. If a player wants to leave, he should be allowed to. Period.

Players we need:

1. A playmaker : Although our best success this season has come when we’ve played the 4-3-3, I still believe there is scope for playing the 4-1-2-1-2 diamond, especially against teams which don’t play with or have very good wingers. Unless a team players wingers high up the pitch against us, we can use the diamond to good effect as it allows our fullbacks to attack a lot more. Then, the midfield playing close to each other can dominate games. But for a diamond midfield to succeed, what is needed most is a high-quality playmaker. Carlo employed this system successfully at Milan, but it couldn’t succeed here because there the system made use of Kaka as the diamond tip, but Lampard couldn’t play the same role at Chelsea. Also, with Joey and Deco possibly leaving, we badly needed a creative midfield player. Possible signings :  Kaka, Sergio Aguero, David Silva.

2. A right winger  :  The most glaring need. With the 4-3-3, Anelka is often played out wide and although he is a forward who likes to run into the channels, he doesn’t quite flourish there. Kalou as everyone knows, is terribly inconsistent, and in my opinion, he plays better as a striker than as a winger. That leaves us with just Miroslav Stock and Gael Kakuta. Not the most reliable players for that position, in this stage of their development. Possible signings : Bastian Schweinsteiger, James Milner, Adam Johnson, Franck Ribery, Jesus Navas.

3. A centre back : As stated earlier, Ricardo Carvalho could go, and with Belletti and Ferreira also on their way out, that leaves space for a young centre half. Ivanovic will likely be asked to rotate with Jose Bosingwa in the right back slot and sometimes played in the centre. Possible signings : David Luiz.

4. A midfield general : Ballack and Deco going could leave a big hole in the centre midfield position with just Lampard and Essien established players in that area. A tenacious midfielder, with a good passing range, vision and a strong tackle can be a useful addition to the first team squad. Possible signings : Daniele de Rossi, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jack Rodwell, Marouane Fellaini.

5. Finally, what we DON’T NEED is an out-and-out striker. Drogba and Anelka have done a great job this season. Don’t forget, Drogba started playing professionally only once he was in his twenties, much later than most footballers these days. Thus although he is 32, he still has atleast 3 more years of top level football in him. That throws the whole age argument out of the window. Plus, in a 4-3-3 just one striker is played. With the signing of a new winger, Anelka would not be starting too many games and he will be fresh for rotation with Drogba. Kalou and Sturridge will get more play time. In addition, Franco di Santo will return from loan, as will Scott Sinclair. Fabio Borini is there too. The signing of a striker is very glamourous news, and that’s why the media keeps linking us with the kinds of Torres, Pato and David Villa, but truth is, we don’t need a top striker, unless Anelka leaves.

My verdict on the players linked with Chelsea:

1. Kaka : Hasn’t enjoyed a good season with Real Madrid and those fools might be willing to sell him for a significantly lower amount than what they paid for him. BUY, if the price is right. We need a proven, big-name midfielder.

2.Sergio Aguero : A useful contender to play ‘in the hole’ behind the strikers. Quite young, has the big league experience, and is a starter for Argentina. Will help to lower the squad’s average age. BUY, again if the price is right.

3.Pato and Torres :  Not needed, as explained above. REJECT

4.Yossi Benayoun : Considered a replacement for Joe Cole. In my opinion, Joe Cole is a better player than Benayoun, and if he can’t get into the team consistently, what hope is there for Banyoun? REJECT.

Also, Carlo has already spoken about promoting 5 reserve and youth players in the first team squad for next season. Excellent move, in my opinion. Most probably, they’ll be Jeffery Bruma, Sam Hutchinson, Nemanja Matic, Gael Kakuta and Fabio Borini.

In my opinion, with these signings, our already formidable squad will become even more fearsome. These players have gone down in Chelsea and English football history and we’ll remember this team even 50 years down the road. But there comes along a time in every club’s life where difficult but necessary decisions have to be made in order to push the club on to even bigger and better things, and that time has come for us now. It’s likely to be the end of an era, but hopefully, the dawn of an even more glorious one. Here’s hoping for many more trophy-laden years at our beloved Stamford Bridge….KTBFFH !

Special mention to Pompey. They played well. Unlike Chelsea, for many weeks this is the only thing they had to play for. Having long been relegated, they had been preparing just to win this cup. They were many grades below Chelsea, in terms of ability but they showed real desire to win the match. Credit to Avram and Pompey.

What made it more difficult for us was also the quality of the pitch. The ball didn’t seem to roll properly. The pace and bounce of the ball was not true. Every now and then, our passes didn’t reach the destination because the weight of the pass had to be more because of the poor pitch. For a fantastic stadium such as Wembley, the pitch is such a shame. With a better pitch, we could have raced into a comfortable lead in the first half.

In the end, Chelsea were very deserving winners. In the commentary, they sounded as if a Boateng penalty would have won the cup for them. It would have given them the advantage but remember, they are playing the champions. If Boateng had scored it, you never know, a rampant Chelsea might have upped the gear and  decimated Portsmouth. Also, before Cech saved the penalty, Chelsea might have been already 4-0 up, if we had finished better. I can’t play football to save my life but I think I could slotted in the sitter that Kalou missed. It’s so hard to miss that and he did the impossible.

Lampard’s been so good all season that he has do stuff like missing a penalty just to show that the law of averages does exist. He played well enough to have got a brace by himself but he had contend only with the FA Cup trophy. I thought Malouda had a poor match and Anelka too. Alex and Ivanovic had my heart beat go up every now and then with their positioning. Drogba from that range and angle was always going to score that free kick. This weapon of his is something that his rivals don’t have. I hope Ballack’s injury is not a concern for his world cup plans. Ashley Cole, the six-time FA cup champion, is my man of the match today.

John Terry is now the captain of the team that has won the double. He is the captain of the champions. He is in fine form. Rio cannot even make the team on his form and fitness. But still, John Terry will not captain his country at the world cup. The whole affair and the subsequent world cup axe are really very difficult setbacks. I’ve my full respect for JT to have come back from these downs and have championed twice this season. If I were the coach of the England team, I wouldn’t look beyond John Terry for the role of captaincy.

What a season this has been! I’m very very very very happy! If you know me, you know that I rate the premier league much much above the champions league. Which is why I’m very very very very happy. Now I can watch the rest of the football season at peace – la liga, serie a, champions league, world cup – I can watch these at peace now. In this kind of form, how do you think Chelsea would fare in the world cup? Okay then, relax, have fun, enjoy, celebrate, run around like mad people because . . .

We are the champions – my friends!
And we’ll keep on fighting – till the end . .
We are the champions!
We are the champions!
No time for losers . .
‘Cause we are the champions – of the world!

I’ve bee saying in this blog for many weeks now that FA cup was not the priority at all when the premier league was yet to be won. Hindsight says we have managed both these pursuits very well. Now that we are in a final, against Portsmouth, you just have to go there and win it and call it a double. In terms of desire, both teams could be equally passionate about winning ‘this’ trophy. Portsmouth wants to win this trophy so they can end this wretched season on a high. Having been relegated, they have the opportunity to topple the premier league champions (oh yeah, that’s us, Chelsea!) while they’re walking out the door.

Chelsea wants to win this title so they can be 7th team ever achieving this for the 11th time in English football history. The rarity does make it a great feat but I still wonder why has it happened on only so few occasions. By winning the double, Chelsea can formally announce that Jose Mourinho’s ghosts have been exorcised. In the past few seasons, Chelsea haven’t spent much in the market. In fact, Chelsea has ended up spending less than clubs like Spurs and Sunderland. This double would also be a great re-instatement of fact that we have a great squad already. And the double means more purchasing power for Carlo Ancelotti.

I’m excited to see Carlo winning things and thereby getting a free hand on whom to buy and whom to sell. As subtly put by Ron Gourlay, Roman would still like to question and challenge transfers, not with an intention to approve or disapprove, but just to ensure that they all agree on what’s good for the club and that they are on the same page. Ancelotti winning the double in his first season in England makes him the Don here. That means more respect, more freedom and more control. So, winning the double could be a fantastic finish for an outstanding season for Carlo.

The season’s not over, the world cup has not started but the transfer rumours are all over the place – Ashley Cole to Barcelona, Essien to Real Madrid, Ibrahimovic to Chelsea, Fernando Torres to Chelsea etc. You can know my views on the transfer rumours and possibilities on www.twitter.com/bluechampion. As I’m on twitter practically all the time, I’ll also break news as soon as they are available from any source. Okay, let’s get back to the finals.

Apart from toppling the champions on their last day of a relegated season, Pompey’s other motivation could be that Grant would like his little revenge over Roman. We saw Jose Mourinho doing one over Roman in the champions league. Grant would love to do the same. What’s more satisfying for Grant than beat Roman’s champions with his relegated side in cup final? I think Pompey dream run would come to a sad end on Saturday, just like what happened to Fulham this week. I fully believe Chelsea would win and win emphatically. With Chelsea in this form, ‘cupsets’ just don’t happen. I know Grant is one lucky manager (not a snide remark but a statement of fact) but the match would not be decided on these moments. The moments of luck can only tilt the matches that are even. I think Chelsea would dominate the proceedings on the pitch and the scoreline would exactly reflect that.

Would I play the youngsters? No way, not until the match is secured. Having come this far, this is no time for experiments. We have great talents but tomorrow we’ve got a job to do. If we get to a stage of comfort like we got against Wigan last weekend, I’d surely bring in youngsters to get the feeling and experience of being at the Wembley in a cup final. These are moments that connect the young players more to the club and the team. We have a first team that can do the job in the first half so I think we’d see some young players or Carlo can sentimentally allow certain players to make their last appearance or such stuff.

So what’s the worrying thing for me this Saturday? It’s not Terry’s fitness (or his father’s confession), it’s not Chelsea’s complacency, it’s not Avram’s ass, it’s indeed the Wembley pitch. With world cup around in a few weeks, and a rain forecast for Saturday, we don’t want to lose anyone for injuries because of this bad Wembley pitch. The one good thing about Wembley is, Didier Drogba is gonna score.

Chelsea will be deemed the home team for this match and hence will wear blue while Portsmouth will play with white shirts and pink shorts (whoever thought of it!). So there’s a good news for you (while I want to hide the bad news that Chris Foy would be officiating this match). Those who are psyched out at the lovely dark away kit of ours can sleep peacefully tonight as we line up in blue. Let’s gear up for the last piece of action from the Champions (oh yeah, that’s us again). Sorry if I’m arrogant, I think we will win this one 4-0. If Drogba scores them all, he reaches the 40-goal mark for this season. Any bets on this? Let’s go do it. The Champions for The Double!

It’s about Chelsea Football Club and our day today. It’s been a hard three years, not winning the Premier League, but we’ve done it today and we deserved it. It’s been inside of me for three years, seeing Man United lift it season after season and every single one of us has sat there and watched it. And now it’s their turn to sit there and watch us today.

Carlo Ancelotti

It’s fantastic, we did our best and I did my best for this club. There’s a fantastic atmosphere at this club, with these supporters, and I think we deserved to win the championship after this season. We are very happy. There are a lot of things we’re happy about. We’re happy for this record, for Didier being the top scorer, but the most important thing is that we showed some good play. It has been right up there because of the way we’ve done it, we finished the season in style. It’s been a great Premier League season and I think in the end we deserved to come out on top.

Frank Lampard

The way we’ve finished this season in style is great. It’s been a great season and we fully deserve to come out on top. The first couple we won we did it relatively easily compared to this one, after not winning it for three years, it’s superb. We’ve got experience, we are building for the future. We all look after ourselves, the team is in tip top condition, and we’ll carry on, simple as that.

Didier Drogba

We had some difficult seasons, and you know we played some good football and we’d showed it today again. The mental strength was key. Even when we were really not playing well, like the 20 minutes after the first goal today, we kept going and trying, and the motor was strong. The team is strong mentally. For a team that is supposed to be too old, we can be proud of what we achieved today.

Ray Wilkins

Carlo is a super bloke. Everyone in the squad is a fantastic footballer but to manage a person is not easy and he does that superbly. It’s been a delight to work with him. We played some wonderful football. To score seven or more goals four times is phenomenal but when you have a group of winners like we have it does help. We had some sticky times but the players showed what they have got.

Michael Ballack

Winning against the big four twice was a big advantage for us. We dropped some points against the weaker teams but we deserved it. It was tense today We did not start well but we scored with our first chance. Now we can make history by winning the Double.

Ashley Cole

It’s been a long time since I won a league, it’s my first title at Chelsea and I’m very happy. Hopefully now everybody will get off my back and realise why I came here.

BlueChampion

We . . are . . the  . . champions! Piss off rival fans like you’ve been waiting for this day. Keep referring to Chelsea only as ‘champions’. Give this 09/10 Chelsea team an apt nick name – ‘unstoppables’ or something and use it like they’ve been awarded that title. Just enjoy and celebrate as much as you can, because WE . . ARE . . THE . . CHAMPIONS!!!

Just do it boys! We’re waiting . . .

BBC Sports:

Chelsea took a giant step towards the Premier League title with a comfortable win over Liverpool at Anfield. The visitors made a nervy start, but were gifted a 33rd-minute opener by Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool captain’s backpass was intercepted by Didier Drogba, who rounded Pepe Reina before slotting in. Nicolas Anelka set up Frank Lampard to make it 2-0 after 54 minutes, and a toothless Liverpool side never threatened a comeback.

ESPN Soccernet:

Liverpool started the game well but were stunned when Steven Gerrard played a terrible backpass to let Didier Drogba through on goal and give Chelsea the lead. Conspiracy theorists will have their thoughts as many Liverpool fans had wanted Chelsea to win in order to stop rivals Manchester United claiming the title, but on the pitch, the Blues were much the better side.

Salomon Kalou should have had a penalty when he appeared to be tripped by Lucas just before the break, but referee Alan Wiley waved away the claims, much to the annoyance of Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti.

He didn’t have to wait long for the game to be made safe though as Nicolas Anelka crossed well for Frank Lampard to bundle the ball between Pepe Reina’s legs. Liverpool offered little by way of resistance and Chelsea held their lead to move four points clear at the top of the league, with Manchester United due to play Sunderland later in the day.

Some say that it is stupid to expect Liverpool to play to lose so Man Utd don’t win the title, their 19th title. I say that too. But what I think is, no team steps on the pitch saying ‘c’mon let’s lose this match’. All teams and sportsmen want to win in whatever they participate. But how much you try to win is governed by the subconscious things. There are quite a few things that would be affecting the Liverpool players:

1. A win nearly means nothing to them
2. It’s annoying for them to directly contribute to Man Utd winning the title
3. It’s even more annoying for them to help Man Utd beat their record of 18 titles
4. If they ever do, it’s gonna take them millions of years to take that record back from Man Utd

Plus, they are fresh from yet another disappointment of the season. Atletico have just beaten them at Anfield to progress to the Europa Cup finals. Plus, they had to play for 120 minutes. Plus, they had to take the disappointment after being 2-0 ahead and giving themselves hopes. Plus, they know that they would be facing a determined Chelsea side who have just demolished Stoke 7-0. Psychologically, they must be down at the dumps and must hate the prospect of facing Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday. Rafa Benitez can be many things but a motivator is certainly not one of them. His body language and his press interviews are all wrong. If I were a player, I would never want to play under him.

This is Ancelotti, being the eternal diplomat:

Maybe they will be a little bit tired, but I know very well that at Anfield I have never seen Liverpool tired. They play a strong 90 minutes every game and I think they will do the same Sunday. I don’t know if it is better to play against a Liverpool that lost the semi-final of the Europa League or not but we have to think that we play against a strong team. We have to play against fantastic players in a very difficult atmosphere because we know how the fans of Liverpool support their team.

I’d agree with him. The best quality of Liverpool is their physical fitness on the pitch. They are always ready to put in that extra shift if needed. Their minds can let them down once in a while, but their bodies don’t. To lose a Europa cup semi final at home after 120 minutes can be really tiring to the mind and body.

Carlo also says he’s not going to play the mind games.

To do mind games is not my job. I am not able to do this. I prefer to stay focused with my players. I have a lot of things to think about because we have to prepare well the game, tactically, technically and physically, and this is our aim this week. I don’t stay too much about the other things. I don’t think this is important. What is important is to have a good feeling with the players this week to control the pressure and to maintain a good atmosphere in the squad. We have to have pressure but not too much. We have to believe that we are able to win against Liverpool on Sunday.

Actually, I’d have loved if he did play mind games. If I were him I’d have said this:

We are at an important stage at this season. History is going to be written in a few days. If Man Utd win the league they would create history and become the English club with most number of titles by winning their 19th title. And, it could be none other than Liverpool who could allow their own record to be broken. This won’t happen in Italy or Spain. If Chelsea wins the title, this would mark an end to the domination that Man Utd have had on the premier league in recent times. I wonder which of these scenarios would the die-hard Liverpool fan would love to experience. My message to the faithful Kops: ‘we will not let your great record be broken because you deserve to hold on to it. We’ll retain your honour kops, we’ll beat the Mancs for the title, for you’

Quite dramatic, isn’t it?

I can’t wait for tomorrow’s match. I truly think that the result of the match would be directly related to the desire of the players. That’s precisely why I predict a Chelsea win. We have only one thing on our minds – win. Whereas Liverpool might want to win but a draw is not a bad result while a defeat is not disastrous. They might lack focus because they could fine with anything – win, draw or lose. Consider this: no Torres, no Skrtel, no Insua, no Aurelio while Ashley Cole is back and John Terry is back for Chelsea. Almost everything – the players’ availability, the players’ quality and ability, managers’ quality and ability, form and morale – everything is in favour of Chelsea. If there is only one thing that’s in favour of Liverpool it is Anfield.

The last time we won at Anfield was in Oct 2005. That was a week after Rafa proclaimed that they have the measure of Chelsea and that Chelsea are afraid of Liverpool. Chelsea beat Liverpool 4-1, at Anfield. One of the best away wins that I had the privilege to witness. Let’s do it again. Let’s beat Liverpool and see Man Utd bottle it against the mighty Sunderland. The moment for the final push has arrived. Let’s make it a blue day!

Much has been said about Chelsea’s third 7-goal haul by Chelsea in this year, after 104 years not having scored 7 in a match. The fact that Chelsea has scored 7 goals in a match thrice in a few months shows how much this team has improved under Ancelotti. Whether Ancelotti wins the league or not, whether he wins the FA Cup or not, I cannot deny the fact that the team has certainly improved under him.

Against Stoke, we had several great performances. But the man of the match for me was Super Frankie Lampard. His performance was just sublime. He was creative, he was box-to-box and he was playing like it was some training match. His penalty was brilliant. If you’ve been following his penalties this season, his penalties have just been top class. It’s good from a world cup point of view because I don’t see England avoiding a penalty shootout if they are to progress. Even otherwise, I’m pretty pleased with the assurance with which he smashes his penalties.

And then, his second goal should contest for the goal of the season contests. Traditionally, all your goal of the season contests are heavily biased with the long range efforts. I agree these 40-yarders are pretty difficult to pull off but they are also 70:30 on luck and skills respectively while the close range finishes such as the second goal from Lampard are very high on skill. When Lampard scored a blinder against Barcelona at Nou Camp couple of years back, I had written that Lampard was not getting enough credit for his efforts. I’m saying it again. If that goal was scored by a Xavi or an Iniesta or a Messi, you’d have the whole world raving about it. But since it’s Chelsea’s Lampard, no one’s even talking about it for the second time.

The mystery of Kalou continues. He has this knack of playing like a complete novice one day and coming up with some crucial goal the other day. He manages to maintain this inconsistency so consistently. In a barrage of goals, it was strange to see that Drogba couldn’t find one but he was immense too.

Under the circumstances, it was a fantastic performance from Chelsea. If we had finished a little better, we could have had a record scoreline like 10-0 or 11-0. When Man Utd beat Tottenham, the momentum was certainly with them. While a 1-0 or 2-0 win from Chelsea would have retained our one-point lead, only a big win like the 7-0 win could have recaptured the momentum from Man Utd. That’s what happened exactly. As Chelsea demolished Stoke, the confidence of the team has absolutely skyrocketed. Also, with fewer games to go and with a smaller lead, the goal difference does have a value.

I heard some people saying that this league would not be decided on goal difference anymore. That’s wrong. There is indeed a possibility. If Chelsea draw both their matches and if Man Utd win one and lose one, the points will be tied. In this scenario, Chelsea will be champions on goal difference. There is also another possibility that’s not widely expected or even discussed.

If Man Utd lose to Sunderland on Saturday, a Chelsea win on Sunday would clinch the title for the Blues at Anfield. So, Chelsea can win the title with a game to spare if Sunderland beat Man Utd. Do I expect Sunderland to beat Man Utd? Nope. Why? Steve Bruce is from Ferguson’s school. Expect him to completely surrender to Ferguson and lay a red carpet for them to start their procession. After the match, he might probably talk about what a great manager Fergie is and that Man Utd can be deserving champions. Disgusting. There are a bunch of such british managers who love the idea of succumbing to Man Utd. Yo Steve Bruce, prove me wrong!

As I’m typing this, Inter have eliminated Barca from the champions league at the Nou Camp. Barca got their usual quota of support from the referee but still The Special One held out with a 10-man Inter against a 11-man Barca in front of 100,000 catalans. I can’t tell you how much I love this result. I take this as a sweet revenge on Barca by TSO on behalf of ‘his boys’ at Chelsea. In the recent times, when Barca won the champions league in 05-06, Shevchenko’s goal in the semi-final was atrociously ruled out and the equaliser Barca scored against Arsenal in the final in the 76th minute was offside. They won it though. In 08-09, the semi-final against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – need I say more?

Let me end this blog with the funniest picture of the night. You may not see this picture anywhere else because I had taken this picture myself by pausing the action on the TV, especially for you. That was of Sergio Busquets falling down like he was shot by a missile, rolling on the pitch clutching his face and cunningly peeping out to see what’s happening outside with a ‘has the ref sent him off’ kind of look. He is either a complete idiot or a cheeky bastard – probably both.

By the way, I remember Lionel Messi doing this to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and he got Del Horno sent off. That runs in the catalan blood probably. Hello Barca! You are NOT going to MADRID! Wow! I feel so better now

Back to Chelsea, here’s to Steve Bruce proving that he is not the step son of Fergie. Sunderland to beat Man Utd (Darren Bent! Darren Bent!) and Chelsea to beat Liverpool at Anfield. Chelsea to win the title this Sunday. Cheers!

If you look at the champions of the premier league this decade, the winners of this season would be right at the bottom. Well, you can attribute this to the improving competition levels in the premier league, the emergence of Man City, stability at Tottenham, Aston Villa’s charge etc. But if you look at the statistics of the winner this decade (below) you’ll see that the champions of this season could be one of the least imposing. For this season 09-10, I’ve just created two scenarios – one for Chelsea and one for Man Utd – assuming both win all the remaining three matches with a net goal difference of 4 goals.

Certainly, Chelsea might have been the best of the lot this season so far and that’s why they’re sitting on top both on points and on goal difference. Chelsea have been outplayed quite a few times this season and you can say that for Man Utd too. Also, Chelsea have been absolutely spectacular on many occasions. It is the contrast in these two statements that is very untypical of champions. We have not been consistent enough. Luckily, in a season where no one wants to win the title, you can afford to be inconsistent because you’re at least more consistent than the other teams. If we had taken our opportunities and had been a bit more consistent, we should have won the title by now. But still, we are the best team in England this season – so far.

To face Stoke City at home is probably one of the better fixtures you can expect at this stage. This season, very disappointingly, we have lost matches even while we were having the momentum on our side. Also, we have come back strongly from every defeat this season. It is for this reason, and that all that we need to do is to win 3 more matches, I think Chelsea would do well and beat Stoke City at home. Also, we happen to meet a side who will no specific ambitions any more for this season than trying to finish as high as possible or attempt a top half finish. They are neither fighting to save relegation nor aspiring for the europa league spot. That doesn’t mean they can be taken lightly but at least they won’t throw bodies like if they have to save their club from relegation.

In a match where long throws would be a threat, we are missing John Terry due to his one-match suspension. To our horror, our poor defending of throw-ins have cost us crucial goals this season. In fact, those throw-ins weren’t half as dangerous as the Delap ones. But we have a big reason to smile. Ashley Cole could make a come back this Sunday after his long injury break during which his wife split with him and there were rumours of Chelsea fining him and his desire to submit a transfer request. In my view, he is the best left back in Europe and we must keep him. It will be great to see him back on the pitch. While I’m thrilled about his return, I must say that our stand-in full backs have just been brilliant in the absence of the regulars. Zhirkov, while he is not Ashley Cole, has been in superb form with his attacking instincts and have played a key role is some of our wins during this period. I still want to see Zhirkov on the pitch, on the left midfield or in the left wing. To have Ashley Cole as the left back, Zhirkov as the left midfielder and Malouda as the left winger, we might have the strongest left side in the country.

Mikel won’t be playing due to a knee problem. With the news of Essien not making a return this season, Ballack have to be at his best in the next three games. You might know that I’m a fan of this man, Michael Ballack. But he has churned out some poor efforts this season and also have given some subtle performances going about his role quietly. Now that he knows that just three wins are between him and his first league champions’ medal since he left Munich, I’m sure he will give his all. Drogba is doubtful for this match. I would hope that we don’t risk him if he is half-fit or something. He is a player who can come in after 70 minutes and still make a telling contribution. And with Anelka as the lone striker, we have done rather well and the truckloads of goals are a testimony to this.

The results of last weekend have really shaken up the Chelsea team. Until last Friday, Chelsea were champions-to-be. What happened last weekend has given Chelsea probably the last wake up call needed this season. We’ve got to a stage where we just need to notch three wins without caring about what other teams do – and we can win the title. No other team is in a position to say this. The only thing that needs to stay in mind until this sunday is, ‘beat Stoke City’. Just forget about anything else. Forget about injuries, resting, suspensions etc – just beat Stoke City. While we don’t need to worry about what Man Utd does, a favourable result for us in their match against Spurs would just be the one last shift of momentum in this title race. I’m sure, in the relative current form, Spurs can certainly get a point or three from Old Trafford. They owe at least this much to a fellow London team especially after upsetting us last weekend. Here’s to a Chelsea win with a 2-0 scoreline. I expect a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford.

Ilya Zakharov, the editor-in-chief of the club’s official Russian language website, passed away last week at the age of 27. Our thoughts are with his family. May his soul his rest in peace. A league title win would be most fitting tribute we can pay to this true blue. Here is a stanza from his favourite rock band Queen:

We are the champions – my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting – till the end -
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions – of the world

Let’s give it one big final push for Ilya! Let’s keep the blue flag flying high.

It was a comfortable win to be honest. Yes, Bolton had couple of chances and shouts. But on the whole, Chelsea were comfortable and very decidedly, weren’t on top gear. Chelsea were coasting along all the 90 minutes though the match got more and more intense as time went on. The first half was not very eventful until Drogba made a lovely swerving cross that Anelka connected with grace and ease.

I thought Ancelotti not starting Malouda was a bit risky. I still think it was a mistake, and a mistake that we didn’t have to pay the price. Kalou was not impressive at all and unfortunately he is only pressing his case for just being a super sub. He lacks consistency to be considered a regular starter. A goalless first half would have been a bit nervy. Luckily for us, we scored at the stroke of half time. This is a kind of match which I would love to have wrapped up in the first half. We just can’t afford to have frustration or desperation to set in.

What made the week better was Tottenham beating Arsenal. I thought Spurs played really positive football with an intention to win. It was a great derby match which luckily did not have any controversies, leaving Wenger to admit that they can forget about the title and his team is not mature enough to win the title. That’s what I’ve been saying for years. There are champions, challengers, contenders and just pretenders. You know where they fit in.

April is turning out to be a dream month. You just have to believe that this is indeed our season. It’s funny how these supposedly old Chelsea legs are holding out while the younger ones in red jerseys are falling off. A great weekend of football is coming up with the Manchester derby and a London derby. I thought I wouldn’t be able to witness this pivotal week of football as I’m supposed to be in the flight the whole of Saturday. But this volcanic ash erupting out of Iceland has brought the airports in the UK and northern Europe to a complete standstill. I’m not sure when I’d fly back home and it appears that I’d be able to watch Chelsea beat Tottenham while Man City beat Man Utd, right here in London.

As you all know, I belong to the Jose Mourinho school of thought. As far as I’m concerned, there are only good players and bad players. There is no such thing called young or old players. The physical attributes of all professional footballers certainly fall into a range. Walcott could run 100m in 10.5 seconds. The slowest player in Chelsea is not going to take 60 seconds or something. When it comes to physical attributes, because these thorough professionals, they’re never going to fall too behind from the best and the young.

Of course, as players get older, their physical attributes will keep deteriorating but they should be making it up with something else – experience. It is up to the manager to see what each of the players can offer and make a tactic that would work for the relative strengths and weaknesses. What shined in the way Chelsea played at Old Trafford last week was the maturity and experience. The whole team played with one objective, they were all very disciplined and played as a team with a common purpose. It requires a lot of maturity to play like that. It is exactly because of this reason, Sir Alex always considers Chelsea as his biggest rival more than any other team.

Martin O Neill would be very aware of that. Yes, Chelsea have a premier league match on Tuesday. But Chelsea have the squad and the maturity to be able to win two key matches in a week. After that 7-1 mauling, the Aston Villa team must think that they owe something to their fans. They were so upset and disappointed that they must be waiting for this match to avenge that defeat. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t get to play a Chelsea team under pressure. In fact, Chelsea is sitting pretty at the top by a couple of points and a few goals in difference. The way I see it, there is no pressure on Chelsea while Aston Villa needs to prove that the last result was a once in 50-years kind of aberration.

We’ve discussed quite a bit about how Chelsea should approach this match, with the premier league in mind. My view has not changed. While there are no matches that I don’t want us to win, even if we don’t win this one, I’m not going to be overly concerned. I know we’re just one step away from the FA Cup final and probably the trophy itself. I’m not saying we should not give it a good shot, all I’m saying is, we don’t need to give it the best shot. For instance, I wouldn’t start our best possible eleven. I would rest players with options in the bench. I’m not only thinking about the Tuesday match but also about the next weekend fixture at White Hart Lane. If we play our key players for longer duration, the Spurs match would be their third match in about 8 days. When the Spurs match is the third of the three matches, I’d be very careful.

I would not start Lampard, Malouda, Drogba and Terry. But we could still have performers like Deco, Ballack, Joe Cole, Anelka etc which still makes it a team that can beat Aston Villa in a neutral venue. We have a very good squad and we must absolutely use it. Drogba has just returned from an injury so he could be in the bench that he can play about 20 minutes. I would completely rest Malouda and not even have him in the bench. Sturridge must certainly play and so should Salomon Kalou. I think we will win 2-0 from first half goals.

Before I forget, I’m loving the proceedings in the champions league since we were eliminated. Arsenal were taught a lesson in football and were thrashed out of sight. When you allow one opposition player to score 4 goals against you in a champions league quarter finals, you certainly have a loooong way to go. I thought Barcelona were not too good. They were made to look better by a poor and typical Arsenal performance. Barcelona are very unsure at the back. For that reason, they are certainly beatable. It would help Jose to see that Barca match at Stamford Bridge last season. Probably, any team that wants to beat Barcelona must see how we played them at the Bridge. In the recent times, in my opinion, that was the best big stage performance by any team against Barcelona.

I was expecting Man Utd to go out. I wasn’t just hoping, I was expecting. The moment I knew Robben is back for the second leg, I knew that Man Utd are gonna have it tough. It was great to see a Chelsea connection in the elimination of Man Utd. When Chelsea went out, I said it would help Chelsea in the premier league. When Man Utd went out, I thought it will NOT help Man Utd in the premier league. The reason is, when the draw for quarter finals and beyond was made, Man Utd must have thought that they’ve got a bye to the finals. They avoided Barcelona, Inter and Arsenal; they had only Bayern and one of the French teams to beat. From here to go out of the champions league, even after being 3-0 up by 40 minutes of the second leg, is very very morale draining. Which is why I think Man Utd’s exit must be a real heartache. They know that they have lost an easy and big opportunity.

It’s no surprise to you that I’m rooting for Jose in the champions league. I want see his Inter knock Barcelona out and win the champions league final too. He’s beaten Chelsea and CSKA, both teams that have a Roman Abramovich connection. He now has a chance to beat Barcelona with whom he has a special connection. This could just be his season. Let’s wait and watch.

Coming back to the FA Cup semi finals, I won’t be able to see the match as I’d be traveling. This afternoon, I’m leaving for the UK on a business visit for a week. So, probably no match reactions post unless Karma steps in. While I’m in the UK, I would be watching the Chelsea vs Bolton match at Stamford Bridge. I mean I’d be there is the West Upper stands to watch the match. I’d be the one wearing the dark away jersey with the name ‘BlueChampion’ on my back., provided I get this jersey in time over there. I’m extremely excited about watching the match at the Stamford Bridge. I’ll surely share my experience once I’m back. I’m carrying my new macbook with me, so I might be posting mid-week possibly. Anyways, have a great week. Let’s add three more Ws to our form, by next weekend. Catch you soon!

My luck with prediction continues! The result was as predicted while the order of goals was not. At least I was better than BBC’s Lawro who predicted a 1-1. Ahead of the game, I mentioned that Malouda vs Neville could be the key and it turned out to be so. I expected Berbatov not to pose a threat, and he just didn’t. So, while my powers of predictions last, let me say this – Chelsea will win the premier league title of season 09-10. There I said it!

Big round of applause to Carlo Ancelotti for the dominance he’s shown in the mini-league involving Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal. We haven’t seen this since the Mourinho days. It’s not often you do the double against Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool (hopefully!). Though I had my worries about the starting line-up yesterday, the way Chelsea seemed to have prepared for the match was just brilliant. Right from the word go, it was clear that Chelsea had a plan. We were always under control to do that in a place like Old Trafford does say something. We let Man Utd have the ball and play in our half only when we let them. We wanted to win the game more than they did. We played as a team more than they did. This is a thoroughly deserved victory. Over 90 minutes, we were the better team in all departments of the game.

Talking about Chelsea deserving to win, there was a lot of noise from the Red quarters (fans and press alike) about the refereeing yesterday. Was drogba offside? Hell yes! I could say that watching the action live. But so what? Haven’t Chelsea been at the wrong end consistently, especially in champions league? Even a fortnight back, when Man Utd were riding their luck against a class Milan performance, we were denied a precious away win by the referee. Last season, whole world knew how the referee favoured Barcelona. These things happen time and again. What goes round will come round.

What’s very funny is Man Utd fans talking about quality of refereeing. The whole country knows how much Man Utd are favoured by the referees. The thing about penalties in Old Trafford is an open secret. What about the stoppage time against Man City? What about all the dives that get them penalties when Ronaldo was around? There was even an alternate league table if Ronaldo hadn’t got away with his dives. They have been favoured by referees to such an obscene level that they shouldn’t even be talking about this.

Why go that far? Let’s look at this game itself. Yes, Drogba’s goal was offside. What about Macheda’s goal? I’ve seen the replays many many times. He simply pushed the ball into the net using his arm. There are no two ways about it. In fact, that goal must have been disallowed and he must have been carded. Very conveniently, they are very quiet about this fact. And yes, Park could have got a penalty and so was the case with Anelka. You can say that the refereeing was poor but he favoured neither teams.

What was disgusting was the Man Utd supporting Press writing headlines and captions like ‘Drogba’s controversial goal puts Blues ahead’. That’s a fucking lie. What put Blues ahead was a better team, better tactics and better performance. Both teams rode their luck and they evened out. At the end of it, the score read 2-1 in favour of the away team. Simple as.

In the words of Jose Mourinho, ‘you always either dominate a game or control the game’. Typically in home games you try to dominate and in away games, you try to control. Chelsea did exactly that. I thought if Drogba wasn’t fit to start, we could have started with Kalou instead of Anelka. The Frenchman continued his poor form. While against Villa at home he could get away with his current form, here at Old Trafford, he could have nearly cost us the match. It’s clear that his confidence levels are low at the moment. He is unsure and unclear many a times.

Joe Cole did well to score his most important goal of recent times. But I’d be lying if I say I wanted to see him all 90 minutes. Deco was pretty impressive with his range and accuracy of passing. He was also very cool and calm on the ball. I thought Carlo made the right substitutions. He got Drogba for Anelka and suddenly we became more threatening in our attacks. He got Kalou for Joe Cole and he started making an impact immediately. He got Ballack for Deco just to keep Man Utd at bay as they got desperate. For me, the man of the match is once again Florent Malouda. I really really want him to win the Chelsea player of the season award. He absolutely deserves the prize.

This has been a roller coaster of a season for Chelsea. We were leading by some margin, then we had a bad December, we came to the second and fiddled with the third place, we got eliminated in the champions league, we were dropping points in the league and suddenly we started spraying goals all over to regain our form and here we are. With 5 games to go, we are now 2 points and 4 goals ahead of the second place Man Utd.

5 wins is all we need to win the premier league title. We have this small matter of beating Spurs and Liverpool along the way. For now, let’s enjoy the win. Trip to Wembley ahead for the FA Cup semi finals against Aston Villa. Let me be honest with you. I have a feeling of indifference about this match. If we win, very good, if we lose so what? The matches that matter come after this Wembley game. Let’s stay grounded and see how this goes!

In Chelsea team news, it is confirmed that Drogba would start on Saturday. With Chelsea’s goal scoring form in matches that didn’t involve Drogba, his absence may not seem like a bad news after all. But none of those matches were against the likes of Man Utd, Barcelona etc. Against top teams, you need to have Drogba in the line up. He instantly creates a fear in the minds of the defence and can terrorise with just his presence. Keep in mind that Drogba’s record against Man Utd is something great. He has been prolific against a lot of top teams but not Man Utd. You can say that the Man Utd’s centre backs have got Drogba’s number. Let’s see how it goes on Saturday.

With Drogba in, Ancelotti has a decision to make in terms of the formation and tactics. I wish we go ahead with an aggressive 4-3-3 instead of a more solid, less fluent two striker formation. Which formation and tactics Ancelotti chooses depends on what he wants from this match. He has already said that a draw is not a bad result. I would never say that. With Rooney not being there, definitely not. If we go with a ‘draw is not a bad result’ mentality, we are not winning this game. We are playing the champions in their home ground in a very crucial stage of the league title. We are also playing against the mastermind that’s Alex Ferguson.

I agree that this is a match that we cannot afford to lose. Simply cannot. But ‘cannot afford to lose’ is a bit different from ‘draw is a good result’. Also this is a ‘must-win’ given our run-in to the title. To play with a ‘must-win’ attitude and a ‘cannot lose’ caution, we should have our tactics spot on. How we begin the match and play in the first half hour is very key. The last thing I want to see is a slow start from Chelsea. We should attack from the word go in both the halves. The ‘caution’ can set in for the last 20 mins of the match.

There are some obvious weak links in this Man Utd team. The most obvious is Gary Neville. With Malouda and Zhirkov on the left side of the pitch, I wouldn’t mind all our attacks are by exploiting old Gary. I would also call Berbatov a weak link. Man Utd fans can quote Rooney-less matches where Berbatov scored. Forget about the Rooney-less matches. Let’s look at all those matches where he scored: Bolton, Fulham, Everton, Portsmouth, Burnley, Wigan, Hull City, Blackburn, Sunderland and Stoke City. No Liverpool, no Man City, no Arsenal, no Tottenham, no Aston Villa and most clearly no Chelsea. Do you see a pattern? I’m sure you do. I rest my case.

Our threats could be from the improving Nani and Valencia. These two can really stretch Yuri and Paulo. While Nani and Valencia can be very effective for them, I don’t see them as the kind of players who would track back and help their full backs. I’m curious to see in what formation Man Utd will line up. Sir Alex does respect Chelsea a lot. In fact, ever since the Jose years, Chelsea is the only team that he considers a real rivals for his team. That’s why sometimes, he ends up being a bit too defensive in his team selection and formation. I won’t be suprised if Man Utd play a 4-5-1 and be content with a draw.

It’s clear that Chelsea’s morale is high and Man Utd’s morale is not so high, if not low. Chelsea must take full advantage of this and have a real go at them. If Chelsea were to beat Man Utd tomorrow, it would inflict a massive damage for Man Utd given that they also have a crucial quarterfinal match against a charged up Bayern. A win for Chelsea tomorrow can potentially derail Man Utd’s season. With this in stake, we must absolutely go for the win and goals too.

The whole of Chelsea team would have realised the golden opportunity that has presented itself once again for winning this title. For us, the opportunity keeps knocking our door. We have dropped the ball many times this season but still we seem to get opportunities again and again. We must grab this with both hands. I’m going for this result: Man Utd 1-2 Chelsea. Man Utd to take the lead and Chelsea coming back into the game to win it. For about 70 thousand-odd crowd, let’s make this the ‘theatre of nightmares’.
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