"Poor Old Gazza"

Two great games in one week (the other being the 4-3 victory at Blackburn on Monday night) is usually too much to ask from Chelsea, (motto: "Inconsistency") but, for once, that's what we got. Some of the football on Saturday against Boro was breathtaking, with fluid, one-touch passing and deft control of the ball superbly counterpointed by aggressive running and tackling.

Chelsea are at last beginning to show that they have got the spirit and character to grind out a result, which is the only thing that's been separating them from the likes of Moan U and Bumnal during the last two seasons. I would give a lot of the credit for that to Luca Vialli, who, in spite of repeated attempts to stir up trouble by the press, has shown a good grasp of tactics and the ability to motivate players, not easy with a large squad to keep happy. Luca consistently shows that being a Premiership manager is not completely incompatible with being a thoughtful, intelligent and articulate person.

On this occasion, Vialli had chosen to stay with Casiraghi in the starting lineup, in spite of the form showed by Tore Andre Flo against Blackburn. That shows great strength of character in my book, because as everyone knows, Gigi hasn't scored yet, whereas Flo, spectacularly, has. Vialli left himself open to criticism for it, but you can imagine how Casiraghi must have appreciated being given the time he obviously needs to settle in.

The fact that Gigi hasn't yet scored has tended to obscure the fact that his contribution to each game he's played in has been huge. He works harder for the other players than most forwards I've seen in the Premiership: like Hughesy, he holds the ball up well, and draws defenders off the other players with his intelligent running. His work rate generally is stupendous. He's also a brave player, never afraid to stick his head (or foot) into the line of fire.

I'm sure any defender that has played against Casiraghi this season will confirm that he's a quality player, and worth his place in any squad. Once he gets a couple of goals there'll be no stopping him, so the twats who started chanting for Flo after six minutes and 13 seconds of the match (I was counting) should try widening their criteria to include actually watching how the player is doing in the context of the game before they start.

It was good to see Laudrup getting a start, he must be approaching full fitness by now. He certainly seemed to take on more responsibility in the game, and he added an extra dimension to the attack. The Boro defenders looked distinctly nervous when he ran at them with the ball, none more so than Pallister, who spectacularly headed into his own net from a fairly innocuous-looking cross from the Great Dane just after the break. How we laughed. Boro's Dean Gordon also had an absolute howler, failing on several occasions to control the ball, resulting in jeers from the Chelsea fans.

Gazza looked jaded and very pissed off, but that may have had something to do with the taunting from certain sections of the crowd. Favourite was "He's fat and he beats his wife", followed closely by "Who ate all the pies ?" Looking around me, I couldn't help noticing that some of the people singing the loudest looked like they'd win any pie-eating contest hands down. I know it's unfashionable to say so, but I actually like Gazza, both as a person and as a player. You only have to remember what he was like when he was completely on top of his game before his cruciate ligament injury to realise what a great player he is, plus he has an infectious, child-like enthusiasm that makes him hard to dislike.

Unfortunately Brian Laudrup doesn't seem to subscribe to that point of view: during an injury stoppage, he walked up to Gazza and said something. Gazza responded by pulling up his shirt and pointing to his belly while sticking his enormous tongue out. I can only assume that Laudrup had called him a fat bastard as well. Apparently they weren't the best of friends at Rangers..

It's been really good to see Franco Zola approaching the form he showed in his first season at the Bridge, and on Saturday he played what I thought was his best game since then. His speed, control and passing were amazing. There can't be anyone in the country with a better attitude towards the game. It's a real pleasure to watch him in full flow, and even Gazza acknowledged it at the end by warmly congratulating him as they left the pitch.

The game generally was one-way traffic, with Chelsea constantly applying pressure on the Boro defence. Notable moments during the first half were Robbie Di Matteo's snap shot that dipped onto the crossbar with Schwarzer well beaten, and Zola and Laudrup's repeated roasting of the defenders. There were a high number of crosses being put in, but a combination of excellent keeping from Schwarzer and sheer luck prevented the scoreline being 3-0 at half time. I noted that from free kicks and corners they are at last trying to pick out Poyet, who must be among the five best headers of the ball in the World. He came close on two or three occasions.

Immediately after half-time, the pressure inevitably paid off, with Laudrup producing a run down the right, beating a defender and crossing the ball, only for the hapless Pallister to head comfortably into his own net. Perhaps he didn't hear the keeper call, or, more likely, he was panicked into it by Laudrup. Cue the celebrations, with that wanker of an announcer claiming that the goal was scored by Laudrup, even though it was as clear an own goal as you could ever see. Why oh why do they let that half-wit have control of the microphone ? The man obviously attended the Mike Smash school of Disk Jockeying, and qualified with honours. Him and that other idiot who does the presentations at half time should be pushed off the highest building in London for Services to Superficiality.

Chelsea kept up the pressure after that, although to Boro's credit, they did try to come back at us, but Chelsea's defence, which consisted of Leboeuf and the awesome Desailly held firm. Inevitably, Poyet found Zola with a perfect defence-splitting pass in the 80th minute, and the little man danced a couple of steps towards the goal before casually lobbing the ball over the advancing Schwarzer's head into the net. His pleasure was obvious as he ran towards the Shed End on his victory circuit.

It's worth mentioning that this was a team victory, and everybody played their part. One player who stood out more than most, however, was Ferrer, who played a much more attacking role than previously. His commitment was total, and he provided constant ammunition for the forwards. Babayaro also pushed up, and found himself in a scoring position on more than one occasion. He came closest from a corner, when his powerful header hit Gazza as he stood on the line, with the keeper completely beaten.

Le Saux was also allowed plenty of room, and nearly made Boro pay for it with his incisive running. Beefy also made the odd foray forward, with one shot from 30 yards that cannoned off the post. The beauty of our squad is that virtually all the players look capable of scoring, although some of them should probably concentrate on their defending a bit more.

Robbie Di Matteo looks like he's getting some form back, although he's still not firing on all cylinders. He had several near near misses against Boro, which proves that some of his old confidence is returning. Dan Petrescu came on for Laudrup late in the game, and immediately made himself more than useful. I think Chelsea would be making a big mistake if they sold him. Duberry replaced Beefy, also late on, and was solid enough. Lan De Goey made two or three crucial saves, while not having a great deal to do for the rest of the match, a sign of good concentration.

All in all, I reckon this was the most complete Chelsea performance for ages, and if they can keep it going Chelsea will be in with a shout when the various competitons are being decided. I know it's early yet, but there's plenty of room for optimism when you see a performance like that.

The last word must go to Boro, who are to be congratulated for not killing the game. Whether or not they were instructed to play open football is a moot point, but that's what they did. It made for an exciting game, played in a good spirit.

I will be looking forward with relish to our usual hiding at Anfield a week on Sunday, but if all goes well we should be through to the next round of the ECWC by Thursday night. All due respect to Helsingborgs, but if the team play half as well as on Saturday we'll win it comfortably. I can't believe I said that..