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No serious Chelsea fan would have believed it if he were told
that at the beginning of 2011, the Blues would be outside the Champions League
placing, especially going by the way the team started the season. In the last
10 weeks, it has gone horribly wrong for Carlo Ancelotti and his men. Chelsea
host Blackburn at Stamford Bridge on Saturday with just one need – get all
three points against Rovers. The fans will not mind the manner the victory is
procured as long as three points are secured. This will help the team leap-frog
Tottenham, which is in fourth place, at least for 24 hours.

Team captain, John Terry, has made another rallying call to the
players after describing their current form as being unacceptable. “Our recent
performances have not been good enough,” he said in the Daily Star. “We’re not
playing at the level we can and we’re slipping further behind the leaders with
every point we drop. That’s unacceptable for a club like this, where we expect
to win every game, and now we have to start to put things right. This squad
should be challenging at the top of the league, winning games and pushing hard
in every competition.” And despite the 7-0 mauling of Ipswich Town in
third-round FA Cup match-up on Sunday, the team will not be lulled into false
state of over-confidence. Ancelotti had said after the match, “I’m not going to
get carried away.

Morale booster

The result was good and we did a lot of things well in this
game. We have to give the same performance next week against Blackburn.” But
one thing the result will have done for the team is boost morale in the team.
Another plus was that young striker, Daniel Sturridge, got a chance to show the
coach that he can score goals and Salomon Kalou might be given a rest to allow
the England U-21 striker to continue his rich vein of scoring form. He scored
five goals in a reserve match against Aston Villa last week. “He played well,
scored, and is a good player and a good striker, very dangerous,” said
Ancelotti. “In the future, he’ll have opportunities. We have a lot of games in
this period coming up. I think he has to fight with the other strikers, but
everyone has to fight. There are a lot of players in competition up front.”

Though Chelsea has not completely given up on defending their
title, Terry said his side must firstly start winning games. “Even if we have
gone off course recently but, before we start thinking about silverware, we
have to concentrate on starting to win games again.” Ancelotti faces the
dilemma of dropping either Didier Drogba or Florent Malouda to accommodate
Sturridge. Drogba and Malouda have been out of sorts over the last eight
matches and Drogba has scored just one goal in eight for the Blues.

Blackburn, under caretaker manager Steve Kean, can themselves
move into the European spots with a win at Stamford Bridge though the team
selection and performance may be hampered by the absence of some key players
due to suspensions and injury. Former England goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, leads
the casualty list, joined by giant midfielder, Steven Nzonzi, centre back, Phil
Jones, who is out for the season, Keith Andrews and Vincent Grella. A piece of
good news is that Jason Roberts has returned from injury and should start in
the absence of Nikola Kalinic, who is suspended.

Basement side seek
Arsenal reprieve

There is no other way that West Ham can go but to seek to beat
Arsenal on Saturday. And with the Gunners’ coach complaining of fatigue in the
0-1 loss to Ipswich Town on Wednesday, there will not be room for excuses as
the Hammers also had to play on Tuesday. Arsene Wenger described his side’s
loss to the championship side as an act naivety. “We were too naive; I said to
them if you can’t win the game at least don’t lose it,” said Wenger on BBC. “I
was very disappointed. We had no spark, no creativity. But I’m confident we
will turn it around at home.” But his attention on Saturday will be turned to
the pursuit of the Premier League crown that has evaded the Gunners for six
years. Wenger also said after the loss at Portman Road on Wednesday that his side
had no excuse for losing and they will have no need for excuses on Saturday
afternoon as they confront Avram Grant at Upton Park.

Saturday could be Grant’s last as manager of the Hammers and that could in
itself lift the home side unless the manager has inadvertently lost the
dressing room. There is already a short-list of candidates ready to replace
him, from former Aston Villa manager, Martin O’Neill to recently sacked
Blackburn coach, Sam Allardyce. Arsenal will have to do that without the
presence of defenders, Thomas Vermaelen and Sebastien Squillaci, who are
sidelined with Achilles tendon and hamstring injuries respectively. Obinna
Nsofor is suspended for the Hammers because of the red card he picked up
against Birmingham in the first leg 2-1 win on Tuesday.