Chelsea: The Team to Beat This Season

We may only be coming into the third game of the EPL/Barclays Premier League, but there is one team in particular that has caught my eye.

It has to be Chelsea. With two games gone they are already the only team that has taken all points from their games, and have already scored 12 goals with them both being 6-0 wins.

I will be looking at who will be the most the most important players of the season, and I'll go through the first 11 for this season and some substitutes. These are just some of the reasons why they can win.

Petr Cech—Goalkeeper

In 2009/10 Cech further enhanced his own reputation with a solid season and a major contribution towards a first Premier League and FA Cup Double.

It started in perfect fashion with two penalty saves in the shootout against Manchester United, sealing the Community Shield in Carlo Ancelloti's first game in charge. It was followed by seven straight wins.

A mistake at Stoke was highlighted, however, and was followed a fortnight later by a red card, the first of his Chelsea career that caused his team to fall to Wigan in its first defeat of the season.

He returned to the side at Villa Park but again came under scrutiny—two goals conceded at set-pieces, the second after he had missed another cross—as we suffered successive away defeats.

Cech bounced back to concede just two more in the next eight games as we entered the Christmas period on top of the league. While a calf injury at the San Siro prevented him from participating in our Champions League second leg defeat against Inter—causing him to miss five games—he returned for the run-in and had a big say in the direction of the major silverware, earning the Premier League's Golden Glove on the final day of the season with his 17th clean sheet from 34 games.

Cech kept perhaps his most important saves for last.

In the FA Cup Final with the score at 0-0, he first pulled off an amazing instinctive save to prevent Frederic Piquionne from opening the scoring, and then kept out Kevin-Prince Boateng's spot-kick with his feet just moments before Didier Drogba  went up the other end and scored a superb free-kick.

Just the reminder everyone needed about the goalkeeper's credentials that had come under question in a decidedly mixed season the year before, even though he came through it with yet another medal and his place never in question

This season he has started as he did last season. He's played the opening two games and hasn't conceded a goal yet, and has contributed some good saves already.

Hopefully Cech can maintain his form and continue to prove why he is one of the best keepers in the world.

Ashley Cole—Defender

Last season was another of unfaltering consistency for arguably the best left-back in the world, the only negative being the two months he spent sidelined with a broken ankle between February and April.

It was a season of records as he earned a sixth FA Cup winners' medal—no man has as many—and won his second Double, along with Nicholas Anelka, the first man to do so with two different clubs.

On a personal level, he scored a record four times in the same season, including the Chelsea "Goal of the Season" against Sunderland in January, a deft flick after controlling John Terry's long pass expertly and cutting inside his man.

Carlo Ancelloti's tactics certainly helped Cole's natural game, allowing him to get forward as often as possible down the left flank to support attacks.

After fracturing his ankle in a challenge with Everton's Landon Donovan in February, it was thought he could miss the rest of the season. But dedication and a fast-healing body helped him back before the end of April for the 7-0 win against Stoke, and he found the net one more time against Wigan on the final day of the league season

I'm hoping that he continues to perform at the level that he has the past few seasons.

John Terry—Defender

Chelsea to the core and a true hero to the fans, Terry is the most successful captain in Chelsea history and in many eyes he's the best central defender currently in action.

As brave as they come and a superb reader of the game, sound technique and distribution make him more than just a defenders' defender.

Headlines started to appear in January 2010 about Terry claiming that he was having an affair with the wife of a fellow England player—Wayne Bridge.

Fabio Capello felt he had no option but to strip John Terry of his role as England captain.

Defeat at Eastlands in early December would have hurt, as would the mistake that allowed Everton back in to draw at the Bridge a week later. But personal and collective form were recovered in January, when the headlines about Terry began to appear.

The response was predictable, as the 29-year-old headed home the winner at Burnley to seize three points, and then his flick-on to Drogba set us on the way against Arsenal at home. But low points would follow, as Chelsea lost to Everton and Man City.

This season he will be hoping to put all the personal issues behind him and focus on the soccer/football as he proves why he is the Chelsea captain.

Alex—Defender

The big Brazilian joined on the eve of the new Premier League season in 2007 after three years playing in Holland at PSV Eindhoven. Chelsea held the first option to sign him when he left.

The then 26-year-old defender put his signature to a three-year deal and was an important reinforcement in a rearguard that has been hurt badly by injuries.

His second Chelsea season (2008/09) was a mixed one, although prolonged injury to Carvalho provided a run in the side and forays forward continued with goals coming against Sunderland and Coventry.

A hernia injury delayed his start to the last campaign, an operation in Brazil over the summer meaning he had to wait until the end of October to make a first appearance.

When he returned to fitness he found regular central defensive pairing Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry in excellent form, and had to be patient appearing just six times before the turn of the year and only another five before March.

Alex only made 25 appearances in the 2009/10 season, and in the 25 appearances only conceded 14 goals.

With Carvalho leaving for Real Madrid this summer, it looks as if he will be the No. 1 choice to partner Terry, and has started the first two games.

Alex might have his best season yet, but only time will tell.

Branislav Ivanovic—Defender

Beginning the 2009/10 campaign as understudy to Jose Boswinga at right-back, the Serb capitalized when the Portuguese defender suffered a season-ending knee injury in October. And he has never looked back, contributing a series of assured displays with his strong defensive work and powerful attacking play.

His 41 appearances placed him as a frontrunner in voting for our Player of the Year award, and although he eventually lost out to Didier Drogba he joined the Ivorian in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season.

That was in spite of beginning the league campaign as a reserve following an uncertain Community Shield. However, injury to Alex and the manager's reluctance to play Ricardo Carvalho twice in a week allowed Ivanovic a start a centre-back in our second league game of the season. But it wasn't until Bosingwa withdrew at Aston Villa in mid-October that he became a regular.

Making 37 apperences, Ivanovic last season after being favoured over Jose Boswinga. It looks like he is being favoured over him again, as he has started the first two games this season.

Frank Lampard—Midfielder

With 27 goals from central midfield in 2009/10 and countless assists, it seems Frank Lampard is getting better with age.

If you factor in the England man's extraordinary resistance to injury and his ability not to earn one booking in the entire campaign, it is easy to see why many think it is he that makes the Blues tick.

His season began as it would continue against Manchester United at Wembley, where he contributed a goal, helped set up the other, and then buried a penalty in the shootout.

Questions were raised over his impact in games, but having returned to a deeper position from the top of the diamond, where he had been restricted, his influence grew once more.

He netted another at Sunderland as Chelsea turned around a half-time deficit, and helped create seven in as many league games that followed, despite not scoring himself.

The 31-year-old actually went 10 without a goal before four in three arrived in October, helping send Atletico back to Madrid empty-handed as we began to score freely.

It was his free-kick that John Terry nodded in against United at Stamford Bridge in November before a thigh injury on England duty while jogging ruled him out of two games.

He returned to contribute in a big 3-0 win away at Arsenal before a rare dead-ball error—his late penalty at Manchester City saved by Shay Given. 

The feat, the second time he had achieved it, took him over the 150-goal mark for Chelsea, over 100 in the Premier League, and beyond Roy Bentley to become Chelsea's third-highest scorer of all time.

After converting another against Villa at Wembley to book a place in the Cup Final, the focus shifted to league football for the next five games, and it was here where Lampard really delivered.

He'll be hoping to continue his great play this season.

Michael Essien—Midfielder

Often considered as the heartbeat of the Chelsea side, Michael Essien’s pace and power are key components in a midfield that oozes class.

The 27-year-old is also versatile—largely down to the balance between his athleticism and his comfort when in possession of the ball. With his manager Carlo Ancelotti often switching between a diamond formation and an attacking 4-3-3 system, Essien remains an important figure within the core of the team, whether it be at the defensive end of the diamond or part of a midfield trio.

Unfortunately in 2009/10 he did not play for Chelsea again after December 8. But Essien still managed to make 18 appearances, and he scored four goals.

Essien first joined Chelsea in the 2005/06 season and automatically made an impact; although he only scored two goals, he made 37 appearances.

Thanks to his impressive first season at Chelsea he continued his form going into the 2006/07 season, where he made 53 appearances and scored six goals for the club, the most important probably being against Valencia in the quaterfinal second leg.

Essien was voted 2007 Player of the Year by supporters, recognizing not just his performance in midfield but also his ability to provide solutions to a multitude of problems elsewhere on the pitch.

He followed up an outstanding performance in central defence during a clean sheet 2007 FA Cup Final display with his selection at right-back in the Champions League Final a year later, selected ahead of two specialists in the position.

He signed a two-year extension to his existing contract in June 2010 that will keep him at the club until 2015, so obviouisly he is in Ancelloti's long-term plans.

Florent Malouda—Midfielder

Florent Malouda continued to go from strength to strength in 2009/10, building on his solid finish to the previous campaign.

The Frenchman made Carlo Ancelotti's early selections and by the end of the season had cemented his place in the starting lineup. He was instrumental in a number of historic wins and netted 15 goals throughout an industrious campaign.

Signed on a three-year contract in the summer of 2007, an undisclosed fee was paid to Lyon for the then 27-year-old French international winger.

Lyon was his third club. He began his career in Paris with lower league Châteauroux, where he played two seasons before moving up the ladder to Guingamp.

In the 2009/10 season he picked up a FA Cup Winners Medal as he had done in the 2008/09 season.

This season he could prove vital as a goalscorer and as a provider.

John Obi Mikel—Midfielder

Injury to Michael Essien in 2009/10 ensured that for the second season running John Obi Mikel was the manager's primary choice as deep-lying midfielder.

On his return from the Africa Cup of Nations in February, he started every game until his own knee and ankle problems in mid-April ruled him out of the season's two-trophy climax, and the first African World Cup Finals.

In the opening games, Carlo Ancelotti accommodated both Mikel and Essien, the latter playing further forward in a diamond formation, before rotation begun. At Fulham, an uncharacteristic shot from 25 yards that flew just inches wide was as close as Mikel came to scoring all season.

At Wigan in late September, as the team's perfect start to the season ended in 3-1 defeat, the Nigerian suffered ankle damage which ruled him out for two months.

At home to Arsenal in February he played his 150th Chelsea game and by the end of the season had his first league championship winners' medal. He missed the final three league games and the FA Cup Final after he was initially injured by a Kevin Davies foul against Bolton, and broke down a week later at Tottenham

Hopefully Mikel and Essien will make excellent partners in the centre of midfield and carry on the good work.

Nicolas Anelka - Striker

In Anelka's first full season (2008/09) he managed to pick up 25 goals in all competitions .The French international finished the previous campaign with 19 league strikes to his name, one more than Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, but the next season increasingly turned provider as Didier Drogba weighed in with the lion's share of goals. Last Season he still managed to rack up 15 goals.

There was a lot of controversy in the World Cup over the summer where he got sent home after verbally insulting coach Raymond Domenech. The incident happened during their 2-0 loss to Mexico. When asked by French Football Federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes to apologise he refused and subsequently got an 18 match ban to play for France which then means he will miss the entire qualifiers of Euro 2012.

Anelka has already scored two this season and will be hoping to continue the way he is.

Didier Drogba - Striker

From the moment his two-goal salvo turned a deficit into victory versus Hull on the opening day of the 2009/10 campaign, the signs were good that Didier Drogba could pick up where he left off the previous season when a drifting Chelsea career was set firmly back on course under Guus Hiddink.

The early season formation adopted by the Dutchman's successor, Carlo Ancelotti allowed Drogba to play close to Nicolas Anelka and he locked into an incredibly consistent run of scoring. By Christmas he had found the net 18 times in 21 games with only seven blank matches among them.

During that run he scored his 100th goal on his 225th apperence. Then Drogba then signed of to play for his country the Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations.

On his early return to club duty at Hull, Drogba scored his third direct free-kick of the season but the result was a disappointing draw following five straight wins. The next game—Arsenal at home—Drogba landed another double whammy on the north Londoners. The second goal was the striker at his rampaging best and made it 12 goals in 12 games against Arsenal.

By now Drogba Was Poised to snatch the golden boot out of the grasp of Wayne Rooney.

An historic 8-0 win and a second-half hat-trick was the way to do it, even if the first 45 minutes did contain a moment of anxiety about his personal tally for our centre-forward.

His winner in the 2010 FA Cup Final meant the season had a pair of Ivorian bookends—a Drogba goal at its start and at its finish.

The Subtitutes

Salomon Kalou

Now a league champion as well as an FA Cup Final starter, the 2009/10 season saw another supporting role for the enigmatic Ivorian, who as always provided important goals and assists for his team.

In many ways it was a typical year for the Ivorian, where again he turned in a goals to games ratio of approaching one in three, but the campaign was littered with unforgettable moments from magic to mayhem and back again.

Nascimento Ramires 

Ramires Santos do Nascimento joined Chelsea in the summer of 2010 on a four-year contract after one season with Benfica, in which he helped them storm to the Liga Sagres title, five points clear of Braga in second place.

During that campaign, the 23-year-old midfielder made 26 league appearances, scoring four times including a last-minute winner against Vitoria Guimaraes on his debut.

Rio-born Ramires signed for Benfica from Cruzeiro, on the day he earned his first call-up to the full Brazil squad for the 2009 Confederations Cup

Daniel Sturridge

After his contract at Manchester City expired in the summer of 2009, the 20-year-old forward chose Chelsea and the Champions League as the place to develop his talents further.

He scored five goals in 20 apperences last season where 13 of those appearances where from of the bench.

Jose Bosingwa 

last season, 2009/10, Jose's campaign ended on October 17 with a knee injury worse than initially feared. He will be hoping to make an impact like he did in the 2008/09 season where he made 48 appearances for the club.

Yuri Zhirkov

 He signed from CSKA Moscow on a three-year contract in the summer of 2009, and the then 25-year-old spoke exclusively to chelseafc.com on his arrival.

'Any footballer would be happy to sign a contract with Chelsea, and at any time,' he said. 'I always used to watch English football on the TV and know about Dmitri Kharine and Alexey Smertin at Chelsea.'

He made 28 appearances last season where eight was form of the bench.