ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO LOOKED bemused throughout most of his Barclays Premiership debut. He should not have been. Had he been watching back in Milan, he would have known that this was the sort of relentlessly committed performance that has already carried Chelsea to consecutive titles and makes them favourites for a third.
José Mourinho has changed his haircut, his formation (4-4-2 yesterday) and some of his hugely expensive squad but, for all the talk of a galáctico culture enveloping Stamford Bridge in the wake of the arrival of Shevchenko and Michael Ballack, the Portuguese will fight fiercely to protect his team’s core values that rank unnecessary frills below hard graft, organisation and subservience to the manager himself.
Shevchenko and Ballack offer variation but, with the latter missing through injury and the Ukrainian an intermittent contributor to this most straightforward of victories, it was the familiar force of Didier Drogba and Michael Essien which dominated yesterday. The crowd were desperate for a goal from their new £31 million striker but John Terry, Frank Lampard and Drogba were perhaps more predictable names on the scoresheet.
Shevchenko threw in a lovely pirouette but, when it comes to first impressions, perhaps the most striking debutant was Jon Obi Mikel and that was just when he stripped off by the touchline. Anyone who thinks that Essien is tough or Ballack physicially intimidating should take a glance at the 17-year-old whose arrival appeared to block out the sun.
The Nigerian wants to be known just as Mikel and, from the size of him, no one is going to argue. He played only for seven minutes but, even in that short time, it was possible to detect why Chelsea and Manchester United became involved in such an acrimonious tug of war for his services.
Advertisement
He will have to be patient because he is behind Claude Makelele and Essien in the queue to be midfield enforcer. Mourinho talked repeatly of his squad being “short” but, while his first team roster has fewer bodies than Manchester City, the quality and experience (not to mention the wage bill) are incomparable.
Mikel will spend a lot of time in the stands, never mind the bench, and Essien, too, cannot be sure of a starting place beyond midweek.
He has at least been guaranteed that after he continued his fine form for Ghana at the World Cup although, troublingly, he was also caught up in the dismissal of Bernardo Corradi and was not entirely innocent.
It was a sending-off which did not make the slightest difference to the unswerving passage of this game. Chelsea were on their way to victory after only 11 minutes. Arjen Robben hit a dipping, inswinging free kick from out on the right flank and Terry applied the glance for his second goal in five days.
Midway through the first half, Lampard, also on target in midweek for England, was off the mark in the Premiership. Set up by Essien, he shot from just outside the area, benefiting from a deflection off Richard Dunne.
Advertisement
Nicky Weaver, the Manchester City goalkeeper, had not played in the Premiership since April 2001 and, in the absence of the injured Andreas Isaksson, must have feared that his brief return would be memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Chelsea could have won by four or five, particularly with City reduced to ten men shortly after the hour mark.
Corradi had offered little other than physical power — Georgios Samaras had failed to provide even that — and the £2 million signing from Valencia started to throw his weight around a little too forcefully.
Angered by a late challenge from Essien, he exacted revenge soon afterwards to pick up his second booking. Essien was also cautioned for pulling the forward’s hair and, given how he had dominated midfield despite the admirable defiance from Joey Barton, he was daft to get involved.
Drogba added the third, stooping to head past Weaver, after Wayne Bridge had scampered down the left flank. It was that rarest of sights, the overlapping Chelsea full back, although it may become more common once Bridge departs to Newcastle United to be replaced, at long last, by Ashley Cole.
Advertisement
Perhaps that sense of adventure was what Mourinho was cryptically referring to when he said that “you have to let the birds fly” although one suspects that, despite deploying two strikers yesterday, Chelsea will be a more finely-tuned version of the same, brilliantly organised team rather than a different animal.
They picked up where they left off last season and, in recording their tenth defeat in their past 11 Premiership matches, so did City. “It’s only our first of this season,” Stuart Pearce said, although it is a run he needs to stop.
HOW WILL THEY DO?
Same as last season as far as Chelsea are concerned. All of the strengths that made them champions, plus Andriy Shevchenko to improve and Michael Ballack to come into midfield. Stuart Pearce, the City manager, has plenty of choice up front, but can he rely on any of them to score 15 Premiership goals?