Chelsea - "We know what we are"

"We know what we are" is a chant that reverberates from Chelsea supporters mouth's following their Munich penalty shoot-out triumph in May after being heavily written off throughout their Champions League campaign. They came back from the dead to down Barcelona at the Nou Camp and Bayern awaited them in their home stadium - the rest as they say, is history.

The Champions League victory which came against all the odds followed an FA Cup victory which Chelsea seemed relatively comfortable in, downing Tottenham in a controversial semi-final and then beating Liverpool in the final. These victories cemented Roberto Di Matteo his job as full-time Chelsea manager after an initial spell as interim manager, in June after his trophy-winning exploits, Di Matteo signed a 2-year contract and the future looked seemingly hunky-dorey for the Italian and Chelsea, with Di Matteo being labelled the 'greatest caretaker of all-time', guiding Chelsea to the trophy which Roman Abramovich has spent over a billion pounds in investment trying to win. Chelsea then went on a typical summer spending spree, spending over £75million on the likes of Eden Hazard, Oscar, Victor Moses, Cesar Azpilicueta, Marko Marin & Thorgan Hazard. The season started off well, with Chelsea's attacking midfield trio of Oscar, Hazard and Juan Mata inter-linking like they'd been playing together for years and the season started off well for the usually mis-firing Fernando Torres, it looked like Chelsea had well and truly moved on from the loss of Didier Drogba and the twilight years of John Terry & Frank Lampard, the future was being looked at with rose-tinted spectacles.

But where did it all go wrong? John Terry's court charge with racism after last season's spat with Anton Ferdinand provided what seemed to be the launchpad for a Chelsea downfall, Ashley Cole added his unwanted two cents by calling the FA a "bunch of twats" and then the Clattenburg-Mikel incident took place, making Chelsea probably the most unfavourable club in England. The media negativity seems to have thrown Chelsea into disrepute, they haven't won in their last four Premiership games and their only win in the last six was a last-gasp victory of Shakhtar. Another catalyst in their turn in form was no doubt the contoversial 3 - 2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United, the game which famously turned referee Mark Clattenburg into the most hated man in Stamford Bridge. Chelsea's decency has been questioned in the media, with the club refusing to apologize to Clattenburg and personally I think it was a claim made purely out of Chelsea's discontent at Clattenburg's (and the officials as a whole) decision after sending off two Chelsea players and allowing a blatent off-side goal to stand.

Di Matteo's controlling of his players (similar to AVB) was questioned, with top names being lost in the dressing room and his man-management skills being tested, which managed to run parallel with the loss of form. What of the future now for Chelsea? As we've seen, after Abramovich dishes out a cheque to get rid of a manager and a new one has been brought in it has bred success. Even though he has spent £86million on paying-off sacked managers it has led him to three Premiership titles, three FA cups, two league cups and the most coveted of all - the Champions League it seems it is almost impossible to satisfy Abramovich's unquenchable thirst for glory. He has invested over £1billion on making Chelsea a football juggernaut and their achievements since his arrival have been nothing short of incredible, taking them from the doldrums of near administration to European champions in just under a decade was surely something that even Chelsea fans (both old and new) couldn't imagine in their wildest dreams. It is also common knowledge that if you double-cross Abramovich you won't last long in the job, Jose Mourinho discovered this when an argument over big-money flop Andrey Shevchenko's place in the team added fuel to a burning fire of power struggles and rifts, it managed to result in 'The Special One' seemingly losing his job overnight - despite being Chelsea's most successful manager ever.

This leaves Rafa Benitez in a worrying position while he is interim manager, Chelsea have swung from one extreme to another - the most popular caretaker of all-time to the most unpopular are two quite different sides of the spectrum and it is clear that his entrance into the Chelsea hotseat isn't the one a lot of fans would have chosen. Liverpool fans have every right to feel a bit aggrieved but he did give the Merseysiders their best team in about a decade and also their most successful spell since the turn of the century. But for Chelsea, they are getting a manager with a strong pedigree, he is not their first-choice, but that isn't his fault. The only way Benitez can win over the Chelsea fans is proving his commitment to the cause and breeding further success, but the Chelsea guillotine will forever be hanging over his head because in the Chelsea managerial position it seems that no-one is safe.

Pre-game jitters

Right, as many of you (if not all) will know, I am an Arsenal fan, and some might say a pessimistic one (I say realist). I'm not expecting much from this season, maybe an F.A or Capital One Cup, a standard get out of the Champions League group stage and get knocked out at the quarter-final & a fourth, maybe third place league finish.

Coming up on Saturday is possibly Arsenal's biggest game of the season against long time league rivals Manchester United, despite not being anywhere near Arsenal in a geographical nature, Man United have always been Arsenal's rivals in terms of silverware and league standings, apart from in the last few years where the North Londoners have slowed down somewhat while Man United have kicked on while Sir Alex carries on in the twilight of his career winning trophies left, right and centre.

Yes, I am a pessimist, both at watching Arsenal play and in life itself, but whenever Arsenal play Manchester United I never expect anything else but a loss for some reason, mainly because Man United are Arsenal's top four bogey team, when the only victories I can remember over Man United in recent years add up to a grand total of about three (since 2006-ish). There seems to be something about Sir Alex's men that Arsene Wenger & company just can't seem to suss out. It's like there's a mental barrier and lack of confidence around the team, just like the one that eminates whenever Arsenal have the sniff of a trophy in their collective nostrils.

The thing that really gets me and that I'm scared of is not that Man United will beat Arsenal, because that in itself isn't a huge blow. Arsenal were never going to challenge for the title and it's been obvious that Arsenal are not on Man United's level (as much as it pains me to say it), but if Robin Van Persie scores against Arsenal I don't think I would be able to stomach such a blow to my Arsenal heart. The man had one good season for Arsenal, after Arsenal showed all the faith in him throughout his injury-ravaged time at the Gunners and the first sniff of a move where he would get more money (and arguably a better chance at a trophy) he ups sticks and moves to a rival - the line which must not be crossed in football. He claimed that it was the 'little boy' in him that cried out for a move to Man United.. wait, the little boy in you supported Arsenal, didn't it Robin?

When Van Persie signed for Man United it was like a dagger in every Arsenal back on the planet, but he has joined a team with undoubted class. With the likes of Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez & Danny Welbeck joining him upfront it can be understood that Van Persie has joined a team with a good pedigree. Going forward is not where Man United have a problem though, it is at the back that Arsenal's misfiring frontline might actually be able to take advantage. Man United's defence has been uncharacteristically leaky this season with Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra among others have been culpable for mistakes which have cost goals, the big question is will Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud & co be able to take advantage of the Red Devils shakiness at the back? Signs so far this season can suggest not with Arsenal struggling to score in a lot of games this season, despite their build-up play and overall play being good, they simply have not been clinical enough in finding the net.

Arsenal's defence has improved notably from this time last season where they made their leakiest start to a Premiership season ever (conceding eight in this very game didn't help matters), but this will be another test on the scale of Man City and Chelsea than the tough last couple of games against the QPR's and Norwich's of this world (with all due respect). Arsenal's defence played well in the games against Chelsea & Man City but their zonal marking wall was reduced to rubble due to all three goals conceded in those two games being from set-pieces, despite Arsenal's improved defence in open play, they still look shaky at set-pieces.. which is something Sir Alex may no doubt look to exploit.

Obviously any team who go to Old Trafford see a draw as a good result because it is one of the strongest fortresses in the Premiership. But if Arsenal manage to grab any kind of result against Man United this weekend I will be ecstatic to say the least, not least due to Arsenal's staggering form lately.