Formation: Chelsea being Chelsea, can line-up in one of many possible formations. The versatility of Chelsea with various systems is a real hallmark of this Chelsea team. It’s for this reason, you can predict Bayern’s starting eleven and the formation much easier than that of Chelsea.

The formations possible are (a) 4-3-3 (b) 4-3-2-1 and (c) 4-3-1-2. While not in possession, 4-3-3 will be a 4-5-1 that will try to constrain Bayern’s dangerous wide men. But this would need very hardworking wide midfielders. With Ramires and Meireles not in, Essien being so out of form, we are already short of midfielders that can play in a champions league final. Knowing how dangerous Robben and Ribery are, we can’t expect our full backs to attack too much. Without their active involvement, 4-3-3 is not going to help much.

Even 4-3-2-1 is a long shot without Ramires and Meireles. I don’t really consider Meireles so important. He’s been too inconsistent and has been a hit and miss. On the contrary, Romeu has had better games for us despite the recent forgettable games. But when it comes to playing a champions league final, I’d rate Meireles’ presence over Romeu’s. I won’t pick 4-3-2-1 as we don’t have 5 midfielders that can start for us in a champions league final.

4-3-1-2 is my pick. First reason is we have the players for this system. Two world class strikers with our player of the season behind them works just fine. Remember, even Bayern is missing their first choice backline. Playing two strikers upfront, that too a Drogba and a Torres, is going to keep them on their toes or even force some mistakes from them. Moreover, this is a formation that should help us with our opportunistic instincts.

Goalkeeper: If there’s one untouchable in the Chelsea squad, that’s Petr Cech. You can’t say that about anyone else. He’s brilliant under RDM and he’s someone I wouldn’t want to swap for any keeper in the world. He’s the first name on our team sheet in Munich.

Defence: Who we choose to play in defence will determine the outcome of the game. In the absence of John Terry, Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Ivanovic – it’s an understatement to say our defence is depleted. Cahill and Luiz are still in the race to make a surprise return to the finals and we hear that both could be available for the final. They both have started training and the players, physios, managers and everyone else concerned is ready to take a risk and start both of them.

If those two are playing, the selection is fairly straightforward. Ashley Cole on the left, David Luiz and Gray Cahill in the centre and Bosingwa on the right. There’s a temptation to swap the positions of Luiz and Bosingwa but I wouldn’t. Credit to Bosingwa for his centre back performances against Barca but that was a special case. He hasn’t now become a centre back. Also I tend to think Luiz is a much better bet to deal with Gomez than Bos.

Midfield: We need a mature midfield that’s not overrun by the super-attacking Bayern midfield. Mikel should start. He is our best defensive midfielder bar none. We need Mikel in the eleven and he should have a great game for us to have one. Lampard too should start. He’s been particularly brilliant in the champions league games and we need him to unleash the Drog or slip in a clever pass for Torres.

I’d expect Malouda to start. He’s not the most popular choice due to his recent performances. But he adds a lot of strength and muscle to our midfield. If he’s on assist-mode, he’s a very useful player to have in our midfield. I hear that FloMo could be a doubt and that might mean a place for Essien. I’ve been the biggest fan and critic of Essien. He has been deteriorating since Carlo’s second season. Of course the injury has taken a toll on his body but he started losing form even before that.

I’m a bit skeptical about Essien. He’s gone and made a 180° turn. Now he’s our lightest midfielder. It’s easy to take the ball off him. It’s easy to push him off. Not able to withstand even the regulation shoulder barge and body check. If he can play at 75% of what he used to play, I’d start him happily. If RDM doesn’t want to play Essien, he can pull Mata back to midfield and play an additional attacker in Kalou. See, I don’t want to see Sturridge ok the pitch. He wants to be a hero even in a meaningless match. There’s no way we should start him.

Forward: On the attack, it’s gotta be Drogba, Torres and Mata. It’s been sometime since Drogba and Torres played together. Also they aren’t considered to be a successful partnership. I’m keen to play both primarily because Bayern will play a much depleted defence in the final.

Most probably. I think RDM will play 4-3-3 with Torres on the left and Mata on the right, with Drogba in the middle. I think this game will be decided based on which team takes advantage of the second choice defensive line-ups on both sides. The formation and the line-up we choose should test the Bayern defence. Plus this is the mother of all away games. We should approach this game like a high profile away game. We should e patient and take our chances when they present themselves, which they will.

So I see two possibilities, depending on where Mata would play. If he’s playing forward, it would be: Cech in goal, Cole, Cahill, Luiz, Bosingwa in defence, Lampard, Mikel, Essien in midfield, Mata, Torres and Drogba playing forward. If Mata is playing in midfield, it would be: Cech in goal, Cole, Cahill, Luiz, Bosingwa in defence, Lampard, Mikel, Mata in midfield, Kalou, Torres and Drogba playing forward.

Whoever RDM chooses, we need 11 warriors on the pitch, who should want to put a win in front of any damn thing.

We always say that history counts for nothing in a 90 minute match but you can’t deny that stats fRom the past is always interesting. It shows how big a task you have and after you achieve it shows how big an achievement it was.

By ChelseaVsBayernMunich.com

Nevertheless, this is the last home game of the season. No matter how much RDM says that we want to finish on a high, you can expect him to field a lot of youngsters and protect his final prospects. They do need much deserved rest and preparation for the final. Bayern Munich, on the other hand, are playing in the DFB Pokal final against newly crowned Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund. That’s a very important game where Bayern can’t afford to rest their players. RDM will take advantage of this and allow that extra bit of rest and preparation for his players ahead of the champions league final.

You can expect to see a lot of youngsters play in this game. By the way, our youth team has won the FA Cup too. In fact, our youth team has been fairly successful in the recent times. Despite that, it needs a dead, pointless match for some youngsters to play. So now even if they were to produce a good or a bad performance, you can’t really conclude on them. In a season as long as we’ve had, given how aged our players are, you’d expect to see a lot of youngsters chipping in over the period of a season. But this season has never allowed us to do that. We had turned every game into a final and just couldn’t afford take some very necessary risks.

Earlier this week, the Chelsea end of season awards were announced. Juan Mata was the Chelsea player of the season. Totally deserved. I think he’s been the single biggest influence in the Chelsea results this season. He had scored or assisted nearly half of the goals we had scored this season. I was expecting him to have a better european season than a premier league season. I think it turned out to be the opposite for him.

Ramires and Ivanovic were the other close contenders. To be fair, it had to be Mata, Ramires and Ivanovic – in that order. Ramires did get the players’ player of the year which is a big compliment for him from his colleagues in Chelsea. Also Ramires bagged the Chelsea goal of the year for the second time in succession. After winning it last season for that beautiful goal against Man City, this season, his lovely chip over Vicotr Valdes has rightfully been chosen as the goal of the year. In the context of our european adventure this season, you can say that was the most important goal of the season too.

Isn’t it strange that the top three players shortlisted for the awards of the club that won the FA Cup and are in the champions league final, are not even in the shortlist for the PFA team of the year?

Lucas Piazon won the young player of the season award. Juan Mata, in his interview later,
had mentioned that the 18-year old Brazilian will break into the first team next season. That will one exciting moment. I’ve had several false promises at Chelsea – Di Santo, Sinclair, Sahar, Kakuta, Matic, McEachran, Lukaku and the list goes on. Young players look like they have made the break through and then slowly fade and disappear – mostly not their fault.

Probably they have not faded away. Probably they are our future. Despite the fact that we are buying players in their similar positions from the transfer market, I’d continue to believe that they are our future and some time soon, we would see a Chelsea team whose attack is led by Lukaku and Piazon and supported by Kevin de Bruyne and Marko Marin with the creative engine from Mata and McEachran with midfield generals in Ramires and Mikel ably supported by the defence that contains Bertrand and Chalobah and to find Courtois in goal. I know this doesn’t add up to eleven but you get the point.

Though ours is a meaningless game, the premier league is still live and vibrant even on the last day. I really hope that Man City bottle it and Man Utd win it. I don’t like either of them to win it but I don’t want a new entrant to the elite club of premier league champions. Just as people hated to see the emergence of Chelsea as a key challenger and champion, I hate to see Man City winning the league. But if they win it, it would be thoroughly deserved anyway. Man City have been the best team in the premier league this season. There’s no tie here. They had left Man Utd behind long back. Man City are a cut above the rest and they look to get stronger and stronger. For premier league football, it’s a great thing. For a long time, we were talking about premier league being a two-horse race (it still is, some might argue) but if Chelsea get their act together and Tottenham manages to get champions league football, the next season could be the best ever in premier league.

The third relegation place could belong to Bolton or QPR. I want QPR to give a hard game to Man City (I know it’s at Etihad) and nick a point off them which will move them to safety and hand the title to Man Utd, I think.

The battle for the champions league spot is not over yet. Everyone’s vying for the third spot, thanks to Chelsea. No one’s going to celebrate or feel relieved after getting the fourth spot, thanks to Chelsea. I’m hoping that Newcastle do make it to the champions league. They’ve had a great season and it will be shame for them to miss out having come this close. If Arsenal finishing fifth will be such a remarkable end to this season. It’s a must-win game for Arsenal. I’d love to see the live tables as we watch the games tomorrow. News will be travelling to the stands, thanks to twitter and stuff. It’s going to be a great finish to the season. I only hope that all these places are decided only in the last 5 mins of the games. I’m not wishing heartattacks for the fans of those clubs but that’s what I’d ask for as a neutral.

Meanwhile, Roberto di Matteo has travelled to Germany to watch Bayern Munich take on Borussia Dortmund in their DFB Pokal final. Confirms our expectations on the final home game. Honestly, all that we need to do is to show up against a relegated side who played with no belief and passion even when they were fighting to stay up. So just show up, play youngsters, notch a good win, say thanks and good bye to the home fans, start focusing on the champions league final. That’s all there is.

Don’t forget! Exactly at the 11th minute of the Chelsea vs Blackburn game , Chelsea fans all over the world and particularly the ones there at Stamford Bridge will pay tribute to the Chelsea Didier Drogba as this could probably his last game at Stamford Bridge. How can we pay tribute? Stand up, applaud, sing a song, chant, tweet or just go mad. KTBFFH!

RDM chose to rest some of our key players. This also meant a very well deserved rest for Petr Cech. No Drogba. No Mata. No Mikel. No Kalou (yeah he’s grown in utility since RDM took over). You would expect the second string to put on a show to make their mark. Or the whole Chelsea FC knows what’s going to be starting eleven at Munich and hence performance in the last couple of league games is not going to have any impact.

Chelsea were listless right from the word go. Losing shape and losing possession very cheaply. Liverpool forwards did a fine job of destroying our shape and organisation at the back and we played into their hands nicely. For the first goal, Suarez had it too easy on the wings. No real trouble or challenge. We knew he could dive but he danced through our defenders effortlessly many times during the game.

Second goal confirmed that it was not going to be our night. Simple cover from John Terry wasn’t possible as got wrong footed and slipped which allowed midfield maestro Henderson to go around a fallen Terry to knock past Turnbull. It was a sweet finish it must be said.

The third goal was another mess. Really don’t know what Turnbull was thinking there. He misread the flight of the ball and went for it only to realise late that he was never going to catch. He couldn’t get back in position in time and fell flat to make it all too easy for Liverpool.

We got one back in the second half when Ramires thought it serves Liverpool right that he scores with his dick. Reina couldn’t stop that shot from Ramires’ dick. A proud moment for any Chelsea fan. And only he was keen to pick the ball up and run up to the centre of the pitch and asked for a quick restart from Liverpool. Rambo doesn’t take any game lightly.

Any hopes of a comeback was put to bed with the fourth Liverpool goal (man, how often do we use this phrase?). This goal summed up the night. Turnbull’s night got from bad to worse and was in the ‘terrible’ zone. Felt sorry for him as he messed up his rare chance in grand fashion. But then I can sympathise if he was unlucky. But he was simply poor.

What was sad was we couldn’t even complain about the poor refereeing last night. Few Liverpool players could have gone with direct reds and double yellows. Liverpool players went scotfree with every damn offence and I’m hopeful that FA charges Suarez and Shelvey with video evidence.

Actually 4-1 flatters our performance. It could have been worse. Apart from the four goals, they missed a penalty and Suarez should have a had couple and we were always ready to concede. The scoreline reminds of that superb afternoon at Anfield in 2005 where Chelsea beat Liverpool 4-1 with a brilliant performance. Lampard was cautioned for his ”finger on lips’ sign to the Anfield crowd. Great game, exactly in contrast with what we saw last night – from scoreline to performance to significance.

When you gift away four goals in an away game like that (and a missed penalty), you don’t deserve anything but a bad defeat. We just didn’t care about this game. I can understand that but try saying this to those travelling away fans who went to Liverpool in this bad weather on a Tuesday night. Felt really sorry for them. Liverpool being really up for this game made things worse for us. They had a point to prove. They wanted to win their last home game. They wanted to make amends for the FA Cup final. We supported them nicely.

Roberto di Matteo, as ever, was super graceful with the media while he got his point across:

I thought Liverpool were the better side. They looked inspired and they scored at the right times as well. It wasn’t the team selection. We have to give credit to them (Liverpool). We have played with these players the whole season and they have carried us so far and we still had a chance with two games to qualify for fourth spot. We were depending on other results (to make the top four) but we have needed everyone to come so far.

We have played 37 games in the Premier League and I don’t think the points we lost today which made the difference. We have lost many points in the whole season. You need to be objective over 37 games. By utilising the strength we had I thought we would be able to reach the final and still have a chance (of the top four) with two games to go. But you know how demanding it has been for us – we have played every three days in the last eight weeks – and I thought tonight I thought a team which was energetic and fresh mentally would give us a chance.

I can’t disagree with a single word he said there but does that justify such a bad performance? Were trying out a new system or approach ahead of the Munich game? I don’t think so. Liverpool are so unlike Bayern to make such experiments and draw conclusions. I don’t want to rate and assess any individual performance on a bad and inconsequential night like this but certain poor efforts stood out. Turnbull was disaster with gloves. Essien will never be what he was. Romeu can be so careless. Sturridge can be selfish, ineffective, pointless and invisible in one game. The ones that cared were Ivanovic, Bertrand and Ramires. Rest wanted to go home.

We have secured the sixth place and made it our own. This would be the lowest points tally and the lowest league table finish since Roman took over. In the season which saw the lowest point in the league might also see the highest point in champions league. And that’s our only hope for playing in the champions league next season.

I can only confirm one thing. This Chelsea team is preparing to give their very best at Munich. And when they do that, there can be only one winner. KTBFFH!

One thing however it seems young fans will never experience is the collective anticipation and nationwide excitement that used to precede Cup-Final day. Not so long ago, hundreds of thousands of families would sit down together, switch on what was still called ‘the television set’, and enjoy the full-day preview to a match which in the majority of cases, would have had nothing to do with their team at all. This Saturday however, no such enthusiasm existed – not even it seems from the fans of the participating teams! Personally, that morning I just woke up, examined the concupiscent yet tasteful calendar on my bedroom wall and thought, “Huh… Its Cup-Final day today, we’re probably gonna win”. A few hours later – we did, and we did it with all the seamless uniformity of mid-week home league game against mid-table opposition.

(Does anyone else remember, back in the days of Mourinho and Benitez, when our matches against Liverpool used to be tense, gritty, nerve-wrangling games of football? This Saturday we completely dominated them, and quickly put the game beyond reach at a walking pace before sitting back and soaking up the pressure from their attacks that were so routine and unimaginative, that Andy Carroll was actually their key creative player!)

From a tactical perspective, I thought the game was quite interesting and extremely revealing with regards to the gap in quality that exists between the two sides now. Considering we both lined up with the same formation (4-2-3-1), it looked like two entirely different systems were being played. No doubt the most important factors being we had two world-class holding midfielders in Mikel Obi and Lampard, whilst they had inexperienced and unprepared boys in Jay Spearing and Jordan Henderson. Their inability to keep/use the ball in midfield meant Gerrard and their wingers constantly had to drop deep to help compete in the middle of the pitch. Juan Mata meanwhile was able to deliver another MOTM performance, holding his position as a #10 to distribute the ball perfectly to one the front three, time and time again.

Anyway, in spite of the depressingly low amount of interest it raised, Saturday’s game was extremely important and it saw a much-deserved Chelsea win. The victory was our fourth in FA Cup victory in just six years! (I love that stat) It represents a level of dominance that the Cup hasn’t witnessed since the 1870’s – which has to raise the question, ‘Is this group of Chelsea players the greatest FA Cup team of all time’? I think it may well be, especially when considering the individuals of whom it compromises:

-           John Terry is the first captain to ever lift the trophy four times at Wembley Stadium, and is the first do it anywhere since Victorian times

-           Ashley Cole is only man in history to have won the competition SEVEN times (something he’s done in just 11 years)

-          Petr Cech has actually never once lost a match in the competition, over eight seasons!

-          Didier Drogba (aka the King of New Wembley) is the only man to have scored in four separate FA Cups finals (i.e. every FA Cup final he’s played in). Three of which also were match winning goals

As a team, excluding defeat by penalty shoot-out, we hold the record of 23 games without defeat in the FA Cup between Jan 2009 and May 2012 – scoring 63 goals and conceding only 14 as we did it. Going back even further, during the past six seasons, our performances in the Cup have remained a real constant for us, even with all the change occurring and new methods being tried out, and with the standard of domestic football in England unquestionably rising. We’ve just developed this knack for progressing quietly and quickly all the way to Wembley without any troubles, and then delivering the big performances when it counts the most.

The consistency and the character we’ve shown over this period, in my opinion makes this squad of players the greatest FA Cup team of all time. The system we use, in conjunction with the character of team and quality of leadership when it matters, almost makes me wish that every competition was one-leg knockout football – we might just be the best in the world.

FA Cup champions in what was the worst year for Chelsea in Roman era. Don’t you think this is out destiny? When Chelsea beat Napoli at Stamford Bridge, I concluded that there’s going to be something special. When we drew Barca, I was still saying this could happen, referees permitting. For how this seasons has progressed, I’ve been extremely confident since April. There’s Thai newfound dose of cockiness that’s come from somewhere – probably from the boot of Didier Drogba.

I ‘knew’ we would win this game. We had to become FA Cup champions. There’s no way this Liverpool team was going to nick this away from this Chelsea team in this season in a cup final. Our name was written on the cup. But we still had to go out there and do the job at Wembley.

I thought RDM once again made a perfect choice of first eleven. I should say that it’s great to have a manager whose logic in starting players and subbing players is very similar to your own. The last time I had such a feeling in Chelsea was when Jose was managing. It’s as if Jose and I had a telepathic connection. RDM’s selections and substitutions have been just like that.

No matter how much I wanted to see Torres on the pitch, I must say it was the right decision not to start him. Drogba is the big boss. Player for all the big occasions. And Kalou keeps the ball better in the wide areas and adds a little bit to our defence. It also was a great decision not to start Malouda or let Sturridge play. They want to be heroes even in the less significant games.

I expected Chelsea to make a strong start and we did. In the first half, it was just Chelsea trying to take the initiative and the lead. The breakthrough came from the two contenders for the Chelsea player of the season – Mata & Ramires. This was coming. Liverpool’s defence was poor all along the first half and it was only a matter of time before Chelsea would take advantage of that.

Mata’s pass was beautifully weighted and placed for Ramires who made his customary run to the box. Actually, just when a micro second when I thought Ramires had fluffed his chance, be ball hit the back of the net. Just ahead of kick off, I tweeted about how certain I was that Pepe Reine will let in an easy near post shot. That’s been his weakness. That’s exactly what happened. It was a very good run but a poor shot from Ramires. Pepe Reine let in a goal in the near post from what should have been a customary save for any decent keeper.

Chelsea were well in control of the game all through the first half. The lead was thoroughly deserved and a two goal lead was also deserved but it would only come in the second half. That smart pass by Lampard to well-marked Drogba at the box might have put everybody on alert to witness the Drogba moment of another important match. Drogba tool the pass nicely, didn’t lose his marker, had an acute angle on sight but finished it with superb precision.

After Chelsea took the 2-0 lead, Liverpool started showing some ambition. And that was the time, Chelsea took the foot off the gas and let Liverpool have the ball. As soon as Carroll came in, the momentum started to shift. Liverpool’s plan was to hoof it up to Carroll (like we would do to Drogba). And it worked perfectly well for them. Carroll, tall and strong, kept us in our toes. For their late efforts, Liverpool had to score one and that was fair and deserved. And Carroll took that goal brilliantly well. For big man, he had quick feet to lose Terry in that little space and fire home a super shot.

At this point, Chelsea could have gone for the third goal and made this a no-contest. Instead Chelsea opted to soak all the pressure and hit them on the break. It works well when you defend flawlessly but the Chelsea defence was very very shaky and we were careless when we had the ball. I was a bit concerned at that stage. But as we reached the 85th minute, Chelsea were back in cruise control and saw the match through.

Amidst all this there was this excellent save by Petr Cech (who was on God mode all game) instinctively cleared by Ivanovic which was misunderstood to be goal. Replays showed clearly that the ball did not cross the line. There was no need for phony graphics from ITV to show Liverpool were robbed or something. It was clearly not a goal.

In all fairness, Chelsea did not have to play on top gear and were still able to win this final. This is after Liverpool rested their players for weeks when Chelsea were busy beating Barcelona in the champions league. If Liverpool had taken the lead yesterday, they would have seen Chelsea in top gear. Chelsea were playing within their zone of comfort and didn’t have to throw everything at Liverpool.

Anyone who’s been observing our success rate in finals, in FA Cup competition, in Wembley – were not surprised by the outcome. We ended up winning our fourth FA Cup trophy in the last six years. Several other records were broken and created.

Few words on Roberto di Matteo. This man deserves all the compliments he’s getting. He’s achieved something in 3 months that Arsene Wenger has not been able to do for 7 years – he’s won a trophy! He’s been brilliant (di Matteo, it just can’t be Wenger) all along and richly deserves all the praise he gets. He’d taken on the job at the most difficult times and he’s rallied his troops around magnificently. It was such a tight rope balancing act in April to juggle between the premier league, champions league and the FA Cup and he’s done a great job with some maturity and pragmatism. Will he get the job? That’s a bigger question. That’s for another day.

FA Cup Champions! Another trophy. Another great recovery by this remarkable Chelsea team. And it’s not over yet. The countdown for the big night starts today. But until then, let’s enjoy and celebrate this win and the tag of ‘BlueChampions’.

It was quite clear that premier league was not really our priority and I must say it was a smart strategy in the larger scheme of things. We did not play our strongest eleven in the Arsenal game between the two games against Barcelona. In fact, we had used that game to try out some defensive methods and tactics in preparation for the colossal match at Camp Nou. Even the game against Newcastle was played with one eye on the FA Cup final. You can’t take anything away from Newcastle and those brilliant goals but Chelsea weren’t really on top gear. Liverpool, on the other hand, must be resting players ever since the semi finals. That’s how long they had nothing to play for.

This game is really important for both the clubs. That’s true for any cup final and any team but this one’s a bit special for both. For Liverpool, it turned out to be yet another season of disappointment. Even the talismanic presence of Dalglish is not helping them. He’s probably facing the sack. The league cup was a consolation. But if he wins the FA Cup too, that strengthens his position. With the rise of Man City and the re-emergence of Spurs and Newcastle, Liverpool are being dismissed to be being a mid-table team unless there’s a revolution. Two domestic trophies will only paper the cracks.

The Chelsea situation is not too different. Roberto di Matteo is not probably facing the sack but his tenure as a caretaker coach could come to an end. An FA Cup win is only going to make Chelsea stronger in confidence and will have the right mindset and momentum to take to Munich. Chelsea’s dependence on the senior and older players is well and truly back. I thought they had an easy life under Carlo. Under AVB, it was quite the opposite. Under RDM though, they have been back to their best and credit should also go to Roman who was supposed to have had a tough talk with the players at the time of AVB exit.

Both Chelsea and Liverpool need to do some rebuilding to do. Both are not keeping up with the landscape of football in England and in Europe. Both need to go back to the drawing board to counter the harsh realities. Today’s game is going to be a mouth-watering affair. I used to love the Chelsea vs Liverpool rivalry back in the days of Mourinho & Benitez. We used to play them way too oftend and those games were very intense and high on drama. I’m sure today’s game won’t be any different.

Chelsea should start as favourites. I predict Chelsea to win 2-1 by full time. Suarez to give the lead to Liverpool. Lampard to equalise and Drogba to grab the winner in the second half! As usual, I’ll be on Twitter doing my twitathon during the game. KTBFFH!

The only place where this seems to be available nowadays, is on the morning chat show, ‘The Sunday Supplement’ although which in my opinion is sadly becoming more hit-and-miss. Usually, the punditry is excellent but more and more often now; it’s starting to become a platform for the embarrassingly obvious and clichéd opinions of The Sun’s Shaun Custis, and the evident lies of liars like Martin Lipton. This Sunday however, a point was raised about Chelsea by the brilliant Oliver Holt, which was so simple I almost felt ashamed that the idea had never seriously crossed my mind before.

What he pointed out was how the tactics of Alex Ferguson’s Manchester Utd have remained constant for almost his entire tenure at the club. Utd have always used fast wingers and have always had a front two in attack and whenever a group of players came to the end of their careers, they would just go out and find some direct replacements and carry on. The logic behind this philosophy is flawless, so then why is it when we think of potential replacements for our current squad, we look towards flashy and tricky wingers and small midfielders who create things from deep positions? In other words, why are we looking to players who are nothing like the ones we’ve had for the past 10 years, and the ones that have led us through the greatest period in the club’s history?

For some reason, the fan base and the hierarchy of Chelsea seem obsessed with changing the club completely; we’re demanding a revolution that will see a new squad, with different principles and an entirely different way of playing, to the established and proven methods that have given us invariable success for so long. The stupidity of this is only starting to become apparent. Our recent ties against Barcelona showed how we can still ‘park the bus’ and grind out a result like no other team in the world. Why then, when we look at the list of players we’re linked to this summer, are there no real rough central midfielders and big front men that can kill a game and then defend a lead like it’s the easiest thing in the world; like how Drogba, Terry and Lampard have being doing for so long?

I wish our situation was simple enough to be described as ‘putting square pegs in round holes’, however I think it’s more along the lines of: taking a square peg out a square hole, trying to make it a round hole without adequate tools or geometrical knowledge,  then trying to hammer the round peg into the messed up hole, like a jigsaw piece that you know isn’t the right bit but you insist on trying anyway, and then nine months later you decide that you don’t actually think circles are good idea anymore and revert back to using squares. Only the square will be fed up about being left out for so long and is nine months older.

Our current situation is really starting to beg the question that the exiting and attacking philosophy we all seem to want instilled at the club, and what Andre Villas-Boas tried to provide, is really what would be best for us in the long and short term. Given the option now what sort of player do we really think would be best for us to pursue this summer, the Hazards and Neymars of the world, or some bigger/more industrious players with a view to continue with the ideas that Mourinho bought in 2004? To continue with ideas that we all know can work, and as our recent games against Barca showed, look like they can continue to work for a while to come. I’m starting to lean towards the latter.

Let us know what you think.
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So after a good few weeks now of holding an admittedly optimistic though not entirely untenable aspirations of a top four finish, we are finally in a position where it looks to be pretty much out of reach. I found it quite strange actually that a humbling home loss to a rival, could be so void of bitterness. There wasn’t really anything we did wrong; Newcastle were just solid and Papiss Cisse was exceptional, sealing the result with one of the best away goals at Stamford Bridge since the Premier League began.

I haven’t noticed any real complaints either about team selection, with everyone seeming to be of the consensus that Di Matteo was right to rest players for Saturday.What yesterday showed though for me was that with this 4-2-3-1 system, we need a atleast one of Lampard or Essien as a holding midfielder, as neither Mikel nor Meireles it seems are really capable of influencing the game from deep positions. Also given the choice from now on, I think Ivanovic should be considered to play right back over Bosingwa, with the latter as centre half. He didn’t do much wrong to be fair, but the way he let Santon square the ball to Cisse so easily for the first goal was quite poor. I’m fairly sure Ivanovic wouldn’t have let that happen. Also one other slightly less intricate observation: Florent Malouda is just not a #10. I’ve got a feeling he won’t be a Chelsea player for much longer either.

So with 4th place no longer a possibility, I guess we’re left with no option but to win the UEFA Champions League. Simple as that. We’ve failed in our attempt to scrap what would’ve been at the start of the season a dismal and embarrassing fourth place finish, so instead, we’re going to have make history, beating one of Europe’s all time greatest club sides in their home stadium and without our captain. It may be slightly risky but as back up plans go, I’d say it’s a fairly good one.

This specific London derby carried extra significance because of what happened in the reverse fixture. We had two players sent off, almost all of our team on yellow, and of course the racial allegations surrounding John Terry and Anton Ferdinand. It was set to be a fiery encounter, but thankfully the only fire we saw was the one in Chelsea’s belly as they thrashed QPR 6-1.

Before the start of the game, it was clear that Di Matteo was going to rotate his squad after that exhausting trip to Barcelona. The only area of concern for me was in the center of defense as we were without the injured Cahill and Luiz, and the suspended Ivanovic. I actually thought Essien might slot into center back reminiscent of the Mourinho days, but Di Matteo had other plans. It was Bosingwa, who did a great defensive job against Barcelona, starting next to John Terry, with Paulo Ferreira coming into right back. Ashley Cole completed the back four, with Essien, Lampard, and Mata in midfield. The front three comprised of Sturridge, Kalou, and Torres.

It was a rainy day at Stamford Bridge, but the wet conditions did not slow down Chelsea one bit as they opened up the scoring inside one minute thanks to a delightful right footed strike from Daniel Sturridge. At that point it was all downhill for QPR. Terry made it 2-0 shortly after, heading home from a Mata delivery from a corner, and his celebration looked of a man apologizing for his midweek actions. What massive character shown by Terry to continue to bounce back from any set backs and give it his all on the pitch.

Then came goal number 3, which was one of our more intricately created goals of the season. Torres collects the ball at the half way line, plays it to Mata, who passes in to Kalou, who plays a perfectly weighted one-time pass to Torres who continued his run, beat the keeper and slotted home. You could sense that the Chelsea crowd celebrated Torres scoring a little more than the rest, rightfully so, as it is great to see a player of his caliber get back into form. A few minutes later, Torres made it 4-0 after pouncing on a miscommunication between the defender Onuoha and his keeper. This was 4-0 inside 25 minutes and at this rate, there was no telling what kind of scoreline we would see.

However Chelsea took their foot off the pedal and the 5th goal didn’t come till the 64th minute, when Mata played Torres through, and you knew he would just gobble up that chance, and he did, signalling his first ever Chelsea hat-trick! Malouda made it 6-0 shortly after coming on, and Cisse would peg one back, but the game would end 6-1.

A different type of highlight occurred in the 81st minute when Sam Hutchinson came on for Bosingwa. Sam, who retired from an injury that ended his career was back in the first team, a monumental moment for his personal triumph.

So the game was over, we had our London derby win, and things seem to be going from good to better for Chelsea at the moment. We have a big game against Newcastle coming up, in our bid for fourth spot, and would overtake them in the table if we were to win. It’s astonishing seeing how frantic of an end to the season we are witnessing with the fight for the title, the fight for a top four spot, and the battle of relegation still all in the balance. What is reassuring is that Chelsea seem to have peaked at a crucial time of the season, and with two cup finals coming up, and the race for the top four, the momentum is surely with Chelsea.

In the end I leave you with the man of the hour, Fernando Torres!