Let's be honest here. For the past couple of seasons it has comfortably been a two horse title race without question. We have seen the challenge from Arsenal fade into the distance along with the challenge from Liverpool and have been safe in the knowledge of that.
This season after seeing the first few games, I think we all can agree, Manchester City are now in the hunt for the league title and this season has become a three horse race.
Manchester City threatened to pose a threat last term but lacked two or three players from putting together a sustainable title challenge. Their aim was simply to finish in the Champions League. After doing so, finishing level on points with Chelsea and winning the FA Cup, their aspirations are to go one step further.
City have made impressive signings and will continue to do so today no doubt. They have a fantastic squad and the additions of Gael Clichy, Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and Owen Hargreaves (if he keeps fit) have bolstered their squad to make a challenge in ALL competitions they are aiming for.
They have started like a train and even the most staunch Chelsea fans have to agree, their attacking style of football has been really impressive. Of course being Chelsea fans, we all know what it's like to see the club spend big money as we set the benchmark and started the ball rolling when Roman came to the club and City are the new boys on the block, but Mancini is building a squad very very capable of winning things this season and cannot be written off.
Looking in from the outside, the problems they have at the moment is getting rid of the likes of Bellamy, Wright-Phillips and Wayne Bridge who no longer feature in their team but are on big money.
They need to make sure they can keep everyone happy. It seems that James Milner, Adam Johnson and possibly Gareth Barry could find themselves relegated to the bench and keeping them happy is important. Finally, they are shipping goals and if they continue to do so, they will find it difficult when they come up against the likes of United, Chelsea, Madrid and Barcelona this season. Check out
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City can no longer be under-estimated or rejected as non title challengers.
Then we come to United and this what seems to be, another revolution of Fergie's squad. Three big money signings in De Gea, Jones and Ashley Young have revitalised the squad replacing Van Der Saar, Neville and Scholes. In addition Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverly and Danny Welbeck have taken their chance of first team football with both hands so far. Chicarito, Berbatov and Owen are waiting in the wings, Giggs and Park the same.
Evra, Anderson, Nani, Rooney, Vidic and Ferdinand will remain the backbone of the side and they will be there or thereabouts once more. Who would have thought that facing a side who had Jones and Evans as their centre halves and Cleverly and Anderson could be as strong as they have been.
They too have started the season on fire and are scoring goals for fun. Rooney looks well on top of his game and Ashley Young has settled into the side as if he has been there for years.
United are still shipping goals, they will need Vidic and Ferdinand back and for the real big big tests ahead and they have to be worried about their keeper.
However at the moment like City, it's a case of you score one, we will score two and the way they are both playing and scoring goals is making the rest of us sit up and take notice.
So where does this all leave Chelsea and how big exactly would you say today is for us?. We have bolstered our squad with signing Romeu and Lukaku who are two young players looking to make an impression at the club. Romeu, highly rated at Barcelona, so much so they have a buy back clause in his contract, will provide Mikel with some stiff competition for places.
The man mountain that is Lukaku although young, will keep the likes of Drogba, Anelka and Torres on their toes.
The signing of
Juan Mata is and will be huge for Chelsea as we look to rejuvenate our squad and first team with the flair that City and United now have. Mata was rated more highly than David Silva at Valencia which says alot and we hope he can show us the reasons why. If his debut is anything to go by, he has made a great start in doing so.
It's the fact that we are all looking at Chelsea and feel as though we need a couple more in and to get rid of some of the dead wood that is the concerning factor in all this.
Do I believe we are now behind City AND United as far as squad depth goes? My answer is simple, "No I don't" but we aren't far off where we stand at the current time. If you were to ask me if we are behind them when it comes to playing
attacking football in the final third then I would have to admit that we are.
Fernando Torres remains a striker that needs support, needs someone to give him the service that he and all of us are crying out for. Juan Mata will be a massive part of that, but he can't do it all by himself. The simple fact remains, if Fernando Torres gets the service, scores goals and gets total confidence back, enjoying his football, he could fire Chelsea to glory this season. We HAVE TO get the best out of him if we want to do that.
Let's be honest and hold our hands up and admit that we have managed to get away with it for some time now. The days of Chelsea have natural out and out wingers disappeared when the days of Arjen Robben and Damien Duff were over.
Chelsea have stuck with the 4-3-3 formation with only one realistic winger in Florent Malouda and have had to rely on one of our strikers to occupy the position down the right hand side. I think AVB realised this in pre season and sees a need to bolster that side of our play and bring in some quality in that area.
We cannot forget, Danny Sturridge who was our best player in pre season and have missed in our three games so far as he has been banned. Will he occupy that right hand side that seems to be a problem? We will have to wait until next weekend to see..
The core of our side and the defensive options we have will keep us strong this season. Cech, Cole, Ivanovic, Luiz,
Terry, Lampard, Drogba and Torres are names some other sides would love to have on their team sheets week in week out, and while there is an element of Chelsea fans who feel that some of these have had their day, they provide experience which will help us come through difficult games.
The two fightbacks against
West Brom and
Norwich have shown the character of our side, but with no disrespect to either of those sides and their supporters, should we have even been in those positions in the first place?.
In my mind, there is no question whatsoever that Chelsea need at least two more signings and signings that will come today. These are important times at the football club as AVB looks to bring his philosophy into our play. This will take time and I am 100% convinced he will get things right but right now, the form and investment that Manchester United and Manchester City have shown has raised the bar for this season.
It just remains to be seen today if Chelsea will respond to keep up with them.
KTBFFH
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I am Chelseadaft a lifelong Chelsea Fan. Have been an avid fan for over 30 years now. Back in March 2009 I decided to Blog about the Chels!. 
