Yesterday's afternoon stroll saw Chelsea put four past a hapless Wolves, yet never get – or need to get - out of first gear. Essien was the driving force at the core of the Chelsea machine, but his fine showing was rivalled by the 30 minute outing for wonderkid Gael Kakuta.
The first five minutes of the ninety suggested we would witness a spirited performance from Wolves, and Mick McCarthy's men did carve out two or three reasonable chances.

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Taken by me at M&T Bank Stadium. Jealous?

Alright people. Back from what felt like the longest international break in....well, ever, Chelsea will take on Wolves at the Bridge tomorrow, and will do so with what would have to be called a diminished lineup.

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The following list of elite midfield players in the world will exclude the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka since they sometimes play as forwards or as support strikers depending on the strategy deployed by their team. Kaka has previously played as a second striker during his spell with Milan while both Messi and Ronaldo have played in various attacking positions for their club (mostly on the wing though).

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This is what an allergy to water would look like, I presume. This is how years of therapy start. (Water Cooler Offside) The mathematics of a statistic. (Uli Hesse) The truthiness behind Lampard's plane injury. (Studs Up) Samuel Eto'o dishes out some expensive watches for his Cameroonian teammates. (The Spoiler) FIFA wages war against Iraq. Click to continue reading...

Lampard injury update from my earlier post/news about Frank. From Chelseafc.com,
"It has been confirmed that Frank Lampard suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh while away with the England national team. The midfielder reported back at Cobham this morning (Friday) having flown back from the Middle East. Click to continue reading...

How many international breaks have there been this season already? It seems like time and again the Premiership season has been disturbed by a string of international fixtures this year, many of which have been friendlies. The latest England jolly to Doha for a friendly with Brazil may have cost Chelsea a high price.

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How many international breaks have there been this season already? It seems like time and again the Premiership season has been disturbed by a string of international fixtures this year, many of which have been friendlies. The latest England jolly to Doha for a friendly with Brazil may have cost Chelsea a high price.

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Worrying news for all of us yesterday with the news that Frank Lampard has picked up a thigh injury while training on England duty, ahead of the England game this weekend in Doha against Brazil.
Now the Chelsea website posted a short and sweet statement to say:
"Frank Lampardwill not take part in England's friendly international against Brazil in Qatar this weekend. Click to continue reading...

For all you football fans out there, Saturday will be an important date to mark on your calendars. Once again it will be a remake of the mouth-watering 2002 world cup quaterfinal match between England and Brazil.

That day Brazil prevailed 2-1 thanks to the ingenuity of Ronaldinho and company.

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Chelsea fans will already know that, last Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) granted Chelsea a stay in relation to the transfer ban FIFA imposed back in September. Since then, the papers have been full of wild and wonderful reports on who Gourlay, Arnesen and Abramovich are plotting to bring to Stamford Bridge when the transfer window reopens in January.

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Chelsea fans will already know that, last Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) granted Chelsea a stay in relation to the transfer ban FIFA imposed back in September. Since then, the papers have been full of wild and wonderful reports on who Gourlay, Arnesen and Abramovich are plotting to bring to Stamford Bridge when the transfer window reopens in January.

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Frank Lampard today hailed Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba as the best in the world!. Lampard said: "Nico has been fantastic all season. Along with Didier they are a great partnership," Lampard said. "He (Anelka) has tremendous pace and balance, particularly when he runs at defenders. "He is so cool, so we have two players who for me are the best at what they do in the world. Click to continue reading...

Well it is arguably the greatest rivalry in all of league football, so you knew when Manchester United faced off against Chelsea that it would go right down to wire and the two powerhouse clubs did not disappoint over the weekend. The match would have many of the staples to any classic match between the two squads: many near goal scoring chances, a tight match throughout the competition, the late winner, and a perturbed Fergie who once again has screamed foul at the officials.

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I've made it clear in recent weeks that Chelsea's November fixtures against Man Utd and Arsenal will give the clearest indication so far of the strength of Chelsea's challenge this season. As it was, Chelsea came through the first of those tests yesterday – but without flying colours.
To have expected flying colours would have been wishful thinking however.

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I've made it clear in recent weeks that Chelsea's November fixtures against Man Utd and Arsenal will give the clearest indication so far of the strength of Chelsea's challenge this season. As it was, Chelsea came through the first of those tests yesterday – but without flying colours.
To have expected flying colours would have been wishful thinking however.

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"He picked me again." "Should have picked me though." "Idiot."
So here it is, I'm putting myself out on the line. More vulnerable than ever. Almost 12 weeks down, 26 to go. While we still have 70% of the Premier League season remaining, I'm in the midst of my worst "Captaining" stretch in 5 years, and I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing a similar misfortune or has in the past? Click to continue reading...

Last week, I asked you to vote for you favourite 20 players of the decade, here in this very post, are the Top 100 players of the last 10 years, voted for by you, the readers and bloggers of the offside. First thing I want to say is thank you, everyone for the absolutely amazing response [...] Click to continue reading...

Forget Haye v Valuev, this is the big one Chelsea v Manchester United. This year's favourites take on the Premier League champions. But while Chelsea and Drogba are in top form, United's injury problems mount.

And it is Didier Drogba who pundits alike are talking about. He is in the best form of his life, and if there was a better time to face United for the Ivory Coast forward, it would have to be now as he will be up against a rather depleted looking back line.

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Chelsea sealed qualification into the Champions League knockout stages with a 2-2 draw at Atletico with goals from Didier Drogba. FC Porto beat Apoel as they also clinched qualification and its now down to our game at their place to see who wins the group for the favourable draw when its made by UEFA. Click to continue reading...

Frank Lampard today hailed Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba as the best in the world!. Lampard said: "Nico has been fantastic all season. Along with Didier they are a great partnership," Lampard said. "He (Anelka) has tremendous pace and balance, particularly when he runs at defenders. "He is so cool, so we have two players who for me are the best at what they do in the world" Nico gives

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Frank Lampard today hailed Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba as the best in the world!.
Lampard said:
"Nico has been fantastic all season. Along with Didier they are a great partnership," Lampard said. "He (Anelka) has tremendous pace and balance, particularly when he runs at defenders. Click to continue reading...

It was a Super Saturday treat for Premier League fans as all the top names in the game came out to the fields. Chelsea went to Bolton and won 5-0 in an emphatic show of their reign at the top. Lampard got the proceedings going through a freekick in the fag end of the first [...] Click to continue reading...

Bolton managed well in their match against Chelsea, until the dying minutes of the first half but Jlloyd Samuels challenge earned him a red card and a penalty for Chelsea and Lampard made no mistake converting it before the break. The Blues dominance continued with an extra player and pure quality all over and goals [. Click to continue reading...

Apart from being the lionheart that every team needs a lesser known fact about Lampard is that he has an IQ of 150 which puts him right up there with other Bill Gates and other such geniuses.Really.

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Chelsea cruised to victory last night as they beat Bolton 4-0. Goals from Kalou (yes he scored again), Malouda, Deco and Drogba sealed an easy win as Chelsea progress to the League Cup quarter finals. To be honest it could of been a hat full and apart from the odd attack on goal (which Hilario will remember from the game more than anything) it was pretty much one sided. Click to continue reading...

Here's another monthly look at what at what the stats tell us about Chelsea's progress: this time with revelations about Lampard's scoring rate, Chelsea's deceptively good defence and a continuing reliance on Drogba. My obsession with football stats continues...
At this rate Lampard won't score 20
Such is the quality of Frank Lampard that scoring just one goal in 12 games was a crisis.

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Here's another monthly look at what at what the stats tell us about Chelsea's progress: this time with revelations about Lampard's scoring rate, Chelsea's deceptively good defence and a continuing reliance on Drogba. My obsession with football stats continues...
At this rate Lampard won't score 20
Such is the quality of Frank Lampard that scoring just one goal in 12 games was a crisis.

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Despite a woeful recent record away from home, you might have expected Allardyce's Blackburn to have put up more of a fight against Chelsea yesterday. But this was a masterclass performance from the Ancelotti's men who unleashed a second half blue-coloured blitzkrieg to put five past a hapless Blackburn Rovers.

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Despite a woeful recent record away from home, you might have expected Allardyce's Blackburn to have put up more of a fight against Chelsea yesterday. But this was a masterclass performance from the Ancelotti's men who unleashed a second half blue-coloured blitzkrieg to put five past a hapless Blackburn Rovers.

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Chelsea sent a major warning to title rivals Liverpool and Manchester United ahead of today's massive clash at Anfield by demolishing a poor Blackburn Rovers side at The Bridge. The Blues never moved out of third gear in their 5 - 0 victory over Rovers who saw their dreadful away form continue. A dominant performance from Chelsea hitman Didier Drogba and a continuation of England midfield star Frank Lampard's return to form swept aside a Blackburn outfit that must now face a further daunting away trip to Old Trafford next weekend. Click to continue reading...

There's been a lot of debate in the media regarding Rafael Benitez's position as manager as Liverpool football club and we would like to know what you think? Should he be sacked?
Liverpool have now lost 4 games in a row and are heading into a crunch derby game with Manchester United at the weekend, with Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres both struggling to be fit in time for the match.

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Atletico Madrid were no match for Chelsea.A dismal 4 - 0 loss is what they came up with.Two goals from Salomon Kalou and one each from Lampard and Luis Perea.

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With the Ballon d'Or nominations finally releasing this weekend, the headlines have mostly been devoted to the fact that world champions Italy have no representation whatsoever. But why blame the press for paying excessive attention to an irrelevant detail? After all, the award itself is destined to be heading Lionel Messi's way, which means very little is there to be talked about in terms of debating the winner, right?

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Another away match, another defeat. Overall, in losing to a good Aston Villa side, Chelsea didn't actually put in a bad performance. But errors both in defence and attack, and a worrying lack of leadership from Ancelotti, were enough to get me concerned.
Even in deserved defeat, there were some positives.

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Another away match, another defeat. Overall, in losing to a good Aston Villa side, Chelsea didn't actually put in a bad performance. But errors both in defence and attack, and a worrying lack of leadership from Ancelotti, were enough to get me concerned.
Even in deserved defeat, there were some positives.

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