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CHELSEA FC: PAT NEVIN: MAGIC MOMENTS AND MUST-WINS

/noticias.info/ Cheered for the time being, columnist and former Blue Pat Nevin sees big challenges and interesting choices ahead.

And I thought I was a bit fed up after the Carling Cup final! Almost all of last week's competition entrants on this page had a comment about the defeat and by the time I read them all, tears were coming out of the laptop.

Now this isn't a negative thing, it just goes to show how passionate Chelsea supporters are about the club, but I did seem to agitate more than a few by suggesting it might just have been a bad day at the office for the team and the manager.

Not surprisingly parts of the media decided to go down the hysteria route but everyone in football knows that you can't win every game. There are bad days, there are mistakes and there is misfortune, otherwise it would be a very dull sport indeed. My thoughts were that we should try to bounce back as soon as possible and any wider judgements will only be truly valid at the end of the season.

The bounce back happened with a vengeance against West Ham at the weekend, when all the creativity and passion that was missing at Wembley was coursing through the side from the start. No one will have been more relieved than Avram Grant who will have to get used to the conditions in the hothouse that is management of one of the strongest, highest profile club sides in the world.

There were moments of brilliance that shouldn't be overlooked during the game as the West Ham old boys went back to haunt their old club. One such moment was Frank Lampard's incredible pass to Michael Ballack for the third goal.

It really was a touch of genius because when his outside of the right foot pass was delivered with such imagination, fantastic vision and at the perfect pace, he was off balance. It was so good that at first I thought it was a fluke but in closer inspection of the replays it was confirmed as a thing of Zola-esque beauty. Such great vision from Frank was sadly spoiled by a complete lack of vision from the officials when sending him off.

I do not believe this was an anti-Chelsea thing as there have been a number of other players who have been sent off recently for similarly innocuous affairs, when more serious tackles that are dangerous bordering on brutal have been missed. We will find out soon enough about any appeal, but it would be sad to see him unnecessarily miss any 'must win' games now that he is fully fit again.

One of those 'must win' games is almost upon us with Olympiacos already in the country preparing for the second leg in the Champions League encounter. 0-0 was a decent result over there, but the precarious position the club will find itself in if it loses an away goal will not be lost on any of us. Player for player Chelsea are far the better side but you could of course have said that before the Carling Cup final. This time the players must be fired up and ready to play at the very top of their form.

The tactics and the team selection are vital as well and everyone will be waiting with bated breath for the team sheets at seven o'clock tomorrow. Whether it is a 4-3-3 or maybe a surprise 4-4-2 with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka up front together, one player I hope to see on the field is Joe Cole. Even when not playing at his best and not following instructions on his defensive duties precisely, he is capable of as much invention as anyone in the team. His goal at Upton Park was superb but I thought his muted and respectful celebration was even more impressive, well done Joe.

His introduction in the Carling Cup final heralded our best spell because he dragged defenders into areas they do not want to go and sucked the opposition towards him. His style creates space for others up front and almost invariably leads to chances. Chelsea will need plenty of chances tomorrow because a one-goal lead will simply not be a comfortable position and as such the talents of Joe Cole left on the bench could well be a mistake again.

The win against West Ham and its emphatic manner was the perfect tonic in a difficult week and a similar display against the Greeks will raise the question, crisis, what crisis? I have the feeling the players are well capable of doing the job, lets just hope the next bad day at the office happens in a less important fixture, though if anyone can spot one of those in the next few months I would like them to tell me about it.

After I waded my way through the valley of despair that was last week's e-mails, though many were very well written and hard to argue against, I checked the number that had got the question right. Surprisingly less than half of the entrants knew that Chelsea had only once won the League Cup (in any of its guises) at Wembley Stadium. That was of course in 1998 when Roberto Di Matteo and Frank Sinclair scored in the 2-0 win against Middlesbrough. Other wins had been at Cardiff against Arsenal and Liverpool and there was also a two-legged affair against Leicester in 1965, which obviously didn't take place at Wembley either.

The lucky winner of Chelsea - A History in Pictures was chosen by, a random female flouncing by, swinging a badminton racket in a devil may care manner, and it was Andy Regan from London.

This week to win a Four Ever Chelsea DVD box set, could you tell me a joke to cheer me up, no actually here is a much harder question. Name the two players I played in the same professional team as, who also played in the 1998 final at Wembley when Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 2-0?

It is not an easy question and not particularly well written either, but I like to try a tough one on you now and again. I am sure one or two will however get it right?.so start googling! Answers to pat.nevin@chelseafc.com. notas_de_prensa_archivo