Now thats CHELSEA..RIP Liverpool

Liverpool 1-3 Chelsea

Pure Chelsea..I knew it'd happen..Todays was our Best Match and Best Performance of the season so far..Incredible..Two teams at their attacking bests..well and quite obviously our best was better than theirs hence the scoreline..ok now before I go on my customary routine of praising all the players I would like to pay special tribute to Guus Hiddink..He demonstrated Tactical Brilliance which quite clearly outfoxed Rafa..now with Essien having scored twice already after his comeback many would have wanted him to play infront and influence play but Hiddink had other Ideas..he put him on Gerrard..and now except for one poor shot scuffed wide I dont remember Gerrard having any worthwhile contribution to the game..See its quite obvious that Liverpool like to play around their two main men Gerrard and Torres..Hiddink knew that he wiped off Gerrard and Liverpool were in tatters...of course Essien deserves a lot of praise too..He played his role to perfection..afterall Steven Gerrard isnt a man you can mark and keep quiet with ease..Terry could have done a little better with Torres but still the goal we conceded was the entire backlines fault not just his own..today a lot of players played near their respective potentials..Malouda was the same Florent Malouda from Lyon..Ballack was much more better..infact Ballack produced two absolutely killer balls..one of which was wasted by Drogba and the other one which led to the third goal..The guy with the Black headgear was actually Petr Cech only..coming out jumping and claiming crosses before the opposition even knew..Kalou was a little quiet but whenever he got the ball he seemed to do well enough..Lampard was a little down from his usual best..but we all know who the man was for us anyway..Brainslav Ivanovic!!..The Corner Lord..he took both his goals really well..now intially I was a bit skeptical about Mancienne not playing(instead of Alex with Ivanovic Centre Half) but Alex too like many others was much better than normal although he's still nowhere near Carvalho..Now John Terry got a yellow card..so he'll miss the second leg..but I guess its good..we're in a great position so I'd rather take the suspension now rather than the Semis..plus Carvalho should be back next week..ok now i know Drogba wasnt at his best yesterday so I'll not really say much about him..Basically I feel Liverpool had started to experience this new found self-belief after beating substandard teams like Real Madrid,Man Utd and Aston Villa..well Fulham gave them a jitter..and now I guess Rafa is already thinking of the BPL only..where he'll finish third no matter what happens..well unless Man Utd can beat even their level of low performances..

Now this simlpy means that Liverpool are out of the Champions League..not even by their standards can they score 3 goals at Stmdord Bridge..not with Hiddink at helm in any case..he's going to know perfectly what to do..this is why the home return leg has an advantage..now the intelligent will have noticed that I havent talked about Bayern vs Barcelona..and if you know what happened in the Nou Camp you wouldnt really blame me..Barca were better no doubt..and there too its more or less settled..we're getting a Chelsea Vs Barcelona Semi Final..Epic in the making..

So Near,Yet So Far

Tottenham 1 - 0 Chelsea
So it happens..Guus Hiddink's Chelsea are not invincible afterall..This was a real opportunity to put Man Utd under extreme pressure after their 9 men defeat at craven cottage..The way they *bounced back* after the 4-1 thumping was incredible..in fact thats the only reason i still feel we have a small chance of stealing this title..Now iam not worried about Liverpool as far as the title goes..They'll definitely finish below us..i can bet anything on that..but Man Utd too looked good for 2-3 more defeats so I dont think its over yet..They play Villa next..if Villa can beat Liverpool today than Iam sure they will atleast get a point against Man Utd..well nothing wrong in being wishful..
The match was poorly played..by both teams..but i must say Spurs were a bit more clever..their counters were quick and fast moving..and BOSINGWA!!!omg!!someone please go and tell him he is a Right Back..not a CF..the moment he gets the ball he starts running with it trying to beat every person in his way..and not once have i seen him do it succesfully..well Mancienne roll up your socks..and Ballack..I just dont get whats happening to him..how can my favourite player play like he is nowadays..I very dearly hope he gets back to his instrumental best..Soon..Well the end was frantic..we could have scored so many..but Gomes..well the blunder king produced his best performance..I dont really feel talking about this match..for obvious reasons...So i'll move on..
The UCL draw was made..and quite predictably we got Liverpool again..This time we're going to thump them..real bad..yes we are..Return leg at Stamford Bridge=Bye bye Liverpool..but the unfortunate thing is that we play the winner of Barca-Bayern match..now I cant get a Bayern Chelsea final..:sob:..

So it Happens..Liverpool Conquer The Bridge

Iam not yet over the trauma completely.. 86 games it had been..86..And now its happened..Ok the record goes..and so does the Unbeatable at home tag..for some i.e..for other like me..its still just one defeat in 87 matches..The Unbelievable record that Chelsea had built had a few advantages and some disadvantages too..The advantage being against the Lower and Mid-Table teams, for they seemed to approach Stamford Bridge as a mighty Fortress which noone had conquered for 4 long years, thereby demoralising them..and the disadvantage was that sometimes such records tend to weigh down a team..as it was the case tonight..
Ok now moving on to the match itself...To be fair Liverpool scored and Chelsea didnt and that is good enough to prove them worthy winners..The goals was lucky no doubt..but having had the lead once Liverpool showed the intent and spirit to keep it..Their defence was awesome..Thats what won them the game I guess..Chelsea had loads of possession..but the opportunities created by Liverpool were far more dangerous and impressive...Had the Xabi Alonso goal not have taken place it could have been a completely different story..make that would have been..because once Liverpool got in front they were filled with confidence..espcially Alonso who was particularly impressive today..Chelsea on the other hand were shocked..Why??This is where the record comes into play..the pressure of not losing at home..Taking this season I see that all the points lost by Chelsea have been at Stamford Bridge..now thats uncharateristic..and Iam sure it will change now..for the better..
The most unfortunate thing that has happened today is that we have lost the top spot..and now we need to play catch-up..3 points...not big but if Liverpool are allowed to build on it, it might be disastrous..Today I felt the dire need for Drogba and Ballack..Drogba in particular..He can do things Anelka can't dream of..but then no complaining..Liverpool didnt have Torres Either..but this is certainly the wake up call that was needed..and Iam sure Scolari is experienced enough to handle it..
Now, who would have thought this..a team which many thought would finish 16th at best is sitting joint second with Chelsea and above teams like Manchester United and Arsenal..HULL CITY!!They really have shown their worth..Special praise to Phil Brown..Hats Off Man!! and another news..Ramos has been sacked..finally some sense prevails..and his replacement?? None other than Harry Redknapp..and guess what he has already started off with a 2-0 victory..Now i think that Spurs will avoid relegation after all..
and I think i've overflown today...couldnt help it..One Final Time..Congrats Liverpool..

Chelsea VS Liverpool,Winner Takes Top

Ok first of all apologies..I couldnt write..i've been extremely busy..anyways better late than never..Ok so this is the Top of the table clash..Chelsea have to favourites given their recent manner of victories and moreover the Venue..Whoever you are you dont beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge..Liverpool are reeling from injuries..their midweek clash against Athletico has left 3 players doubtful..with the Goal scoring machine Torres Already Out..
Ok so I saw Football Forecast yesterday..Every pundit has gone for a Chelsea Victory..Iam no different..Liverpool are a great team no doubt..they have shown the character and spirit of champions..but for me it isnt going to happen..It will be close surely..2-1 chelsea for me..
Sorry for such a ridiculously short post..I am really short on time..MONDAY i promise full report..
Bye

Boro Humiliated as Chelsea Run Riot

Seriously anyone who doubts Chelsea's ability even now has to be retarded..5-0!!away..that too against Middlesbrough..The Riverside hasn't been one of Chelsea's favourites..a 3-0 loss here was the worst ever result obtained by the club while Jose Mourinho was incharge..and now Scolari has his best ever...
Chelsea were supposedly in an injury crisis..well they can produce a 5-0 in a crisis..need i say more about the depth of the squad??Chelsea were rock solid in defence..Cudicini on for Cech hardly ever touched the ball i think..wing backs..especially Bosingwa..were awesome..his attacking ability is so very good..and honestly i dont think there has been a player good enough who has tested his defence..Belletti...spare a moment for him..this guy can hit the ball alright..i think that was the third time he scored from that range..after having already hit the post once with a similar strike earlier in the season..in short great work Juliano..Lampard..the most consistent performer of the season perhaps along with Bosingwa...hardly put a foot wrong..Mikel was sloppy initially..but recovered well..Malouda has found feet..he looks more motivated than ever..Kalou..he was given a start by Scolari and he responded well with a well deserved brace..Anelka wasnt bad..but he knows he's capable of better..and it was good to see Deco back in action as well..
And now the sad news..the injury list has grown..and the latest inclusion in none other than my favourite Michael Ballack..he injured himself in Germany's midweek win over Wales and has undergone operation which will keep him out of action for atleast 3 weeks..this injury has come a real bad time..Ballack was looking in good form..nonetheless i know he'll be back better than ever..
Meanwhile elsewhere Liverpool came back from behind twice to edge out a very determined Wigan squad 3-2..The Egyptian Amr Zaki was the best player according to me..Arsenal too came back from a goal down to beat Everton 3-1..Manchester United however were much more convincing with a 4-0 victory over West Bromwhich Albion..The league table remains static at the Top with Chelsea and Liverpool joint first on points with Chelsea having a vastly superior goal difference..Hull as of now(80 mins) lead 1-0 against West Ham and if they can hang on they'll keep their third place..
and one more for Indian soccer fans..Indias highest paid football player Sunil Chhetri is being linked to Leeds United..now I really want the deal to go through..it is sure to bring some much needed interest in football in the country..o

ManuU see Red!

i guess berbatov didnt exactly have the dream debut he hoped for! (i couldnt be any happier!) though man u started superbly with a very slick goal by tevez in the third minute, they ended up digging their own grave with an own goal by Wes Brown. without gerrard and torres in the starting line up, liverpool managed to hold their own with carragher and alonso playing a major role as the experience on field. mascherano did well not to chat with the referee unecessarily (learning his lesson from last season's game!). personally, i was quite impressed by newcomer reira's game.
with about 20 minutes to go, gerrard and babel came on giving the team the extra motivation and momentum as they finally broke through with an outstanding winner by babel. the injury time saw desperate attempts at the goal by the away team...the scousers were ecstatic as the final whistle went off...the look on alex fergusons face was one to die for...the loss surely wiped that arrogant smirk off his face!

the game was surprisingly clean with tevez and nani getting yellow card and vidic being sent off after receiving two...so this means that man u play chelsea without vidic to smash people's heads in...but then chelsea dont get to play terry either!

MALVIKA

Manchester City 1-3 Chelsea

Welcome back Citizens..to the Earth i.e...The so called "Clash of the Cash" went in favour of the Blues(blacks rather)as they gave the Skyblues the blues..For me Frank Lampard was the player of the game closely followed by Carvalho..Carvalho was guilty of having given away the first freekick in which Robinho scored, but according to me that wasnt a foul..It was a perfectly legal,legitimate and brilliant tackle..The referee..oh dont let me start..first he gives this stupid freekick..then he doesnt give us a penalty when Anelka is just pushed out of the way by Richards..then he sends off captain John Terry for a professional foul completely disregarding the facts that their were two defenders close enough and Terry wasn't the last man..

Ok enough..we won and thats what matters..

The Chelsea Defence was strong as ever..with Carvalho and Terry a defence can't be weak..Bosingwa and Ashley Cole were great..Bosingwa seems to me just like another Ashley Cole but on the other side..this has now given us a lot more penetration..Midfield too was awesome..with Lampard being the Standout player,Mikel played the holding role sooo well..he was great..Up front was the problem..Malouda was completely out of sorts..Anelka too but he was unfortunate in that penalty call and moreover sort of made up by killing the ga

me off..Joe Cole was good enough..Drogba came on for the last 20 odd minutes..but all I saw him do in that period was run with the ball into opposition area once..otherwise he was invisible..

Whose Next..Its some struggling team in the bottom half of the table..That too at Stamford Bridge..With Chelsea in such a great form and Manchester United Struggling,I think they'll just want to keep the goal difference in check..

And yes Liverpool beat Manchester United at Anfield for the first time under 

Rafael Benitez..He must surely be delighted..So liverpool remain joint top at the table with Chelsea,second only on Goal Difference..I aint writing much here because I might get a special author to write on this match..another surprising development..can you guess who is in 4th place at the moment??ok clues..They lost 5-0 to Wigan last matchday..yes it HULL CITY..ok I know they won

t be staying there for a long time but this years promotions seem to be much better and much more competitive...

Premier League Round Up - Week 1

ALRIGHT!!! The league is up and running once again and what a first week we have had..I'll start with the major teams..First Chelsea..or was it actually Chelsea..The blues looked completely different from their so called unattractive play and silenced all critics with an entertaining 4-0 victory over Portsmouth..Scolari deserves the credit for this..Chelsea were looking like the Samba in blue..I guess having seen this performance noone can now deem them as boring..way to go!!!and now to the match report..
Chelsea looked so much dangerous right from the start of the match and broke the deadlock just after 12 minutes when joe cole finished Michael Ballack's superbly lifted through ball..Anelka then added the second when he headed a Deco cross into an empty net..
Chelsea's third came via a penalty from Frank Lampard when Distin handled the ball inside the area..Portsmouth seemed to show some resistance in the second half but were helpless when Deco let fly a 30 yard rocked which deflected of James and sailed into the net..and one sad news here..Michael Ballack picked up an ankle knock and was forced of in the 38th minute..but all in all a pretty convincing win for the blues..with the 4 goal win Chelsea are already topping the table.


Now coming to The defending Champions Manchester United..They were up against Newcastle..A team which they had beaten 6-0 and 5-1 last season..More of the same was expected from the Red Devilz but it wasnt to be..Newcastle very deservedly got 1 point from the encounter..In the early stages Manchester were on the top of their game and a goal was round the corner..The goal came but at the other end..Obafemi Martins shocked everyone as he put the ball past Van der Saar and gave newcastle an unexpected lead..However Manchester United struck back immedietly as Darren Fletcher scored with the outside of his boot to cancel out Obafemi Martins' opener..Newcastle's new signings looked very dangerous indeed and Jonas Gutierrez was also adjudged man of the match..This is not the start Manchester United were looking for..their performance was not as good as last season either..I guess this year noones strong enough to compete with Chelsea..or so I hope...



Arsenal and Liverpool started their campaigns with 1-0 victories over West Brom and Sunderland,but none will be too pleased with their teams performance..Liverpool never looked like the same attacking team they were and Fernando Torres rescued them all three points when he headed into the sunderland goal..Arsenal opened the game on a bright note with new start summer signing Samir Nasri opening the scoring in only the 4th minute of the match..Both teams however will have to raise their level of performance if they are to match Chelsea..
Meanwhile other big results included Spurs shock 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough and Hull's 2-1 victory over Fulham..New Blackburn manager Ince started with a 3-2 win over Everton..Aston Villa beat Manchester City 4-2 courtsey a Gabriel Agbonlahor hattrick..

Preview - Sunderland vs Liverpool

Match of the Day I guess..Make no mistake Sunderland are no weak team..Surely not at their own Stadium Of Lights..and Iam sure Rafa knows this..Keane has made some astute summer signings in the shape of ex-Tottenham trio Teemu Tainio, Pascal Chimbonda and Steed Malbranque, while El Hadji Diouf is a player who could perhaps rival his manager in desire to put one over Liverpool following a disappointing spell at Anfield..
Liverpool..Ah the team which always amazes me..18 years it has been since they last won the league...and not once did they seem incapable..They have been excellent in continental competitions..The Champions League always shows us Liverpool's class but the Premier League also shows us their lack of consistency..Liverpool were surprisingly lacklusture in their performance against Standard Leige in midweek..They surely need to improve on that or an upset is surely on the cards..Liverpool will have their captain Steven Gerrard back for this match, Keane is set to make a debut..can this be Liverpool's year..well they have all the quality..but thats the case every year isn't it..
Predicted Teams (again SKY SPORTS) -

Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, Chimbonda, Higginbotham, Collins, Malbranque, Tainio, Whitehead, Richardson, Diouf, Stokes

Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Dossena, Kuyt, Gerrard, Alonso, Benayoun, Keane, Torres

Champions League Qualification

Jose Reina saved Liverpool the blushes as he saved a first half spot kick to help Liverpool escape with a 0-0 draw against Standard Leige..Liverpool were surprisingly second best throughout the match and were lucky to have escaped with a draw..Rafael Benitez said the same thing after the match..
Arsenal however won 2-0 against Steve Mclaren's FC Twente...Willian Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor got the goals..Mclaren who is not quite popular in England due to his horror patch as England manager seems to have found some friends here..He was constantly encouraged by the crowd...

Liverpool Sign Keane

Liverpool have finally signed Robbie Keane from Tottenham for a fee of 19M..The player said the chance to move to Liverpool was too good to turn down..He has signed a 4 year contract with Liverpool..

Nice..I feel Benitez has hit the jackpot..Keane is an excellent player..