Still I dont think we played at our best

Both Cheick Kongo and Frank Mir have alot riding on this fight, both in need of a dominant performance to propel them right back into the title picture.Kongo, filling in for Heath Herring is coming off a tough loss to high-riding heavyweight Cain Velasquez at UFC 99. Now Kongo has another chance to topple a big heavyweight contender in former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir.Kongo has more time to prepare for this bout with Mir, as with the Velasquez bout he had three weeks prior to the event.Obviously this is no excuse for him losing, but it does play a factor. Hopefully Kongo will be using the time he has remaining to train and work diligently on his ground game, as Kongo's strength, reach and striking abilities will be far superior to that of Mir's.Kongo spoke about his loss to Cain Velasquez and his views on Frank Mir.Kongo "Between 2 or 3 weeks of training just to prepare for the fight, wasn't enough. I was weak and busy so... But whatever it's alright, its the past, I have to turn the page."Kongo then procceeded to talk about Frank Mir "The end of the reign of the big mouth.. Frank Mir that's it He talks too much too much, too much. It's not personal it's just business, for me, UFC thats big business.".

Now I can see Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Emigrants as many times as I want.If youve watched the match today, you see thats the difference between contenders and pretenders.Chelsea absolutely murdered Arsenaljust cut them to size and put them in their place.Todays Chelsea performance was just champion stuff. We had the depth in the team, the high quality of players, the incredible focus until the final whistle, and more than anything, the maturity and experience.We had a clear penalty turned down and there was an incorrect offside callboth of which could have turned into goals. To beat the goners 50 on their pitch would have been heaven. But, lets leave something for the next time.Chelsea played like they had always known Arsenals next move on the pitch.Ive always said that Arsenals football is very predictable.What matters to them is how well they are able to execute those predictable movesthat depends on how they play and how the opponent plays.Today, Chelsea played with such anticipation and composure, it was really a treat to watch.Still, I dont think we played at our best.We lost possession many times, very uncharacteristically.Our decision making upfront was not very sharp. Still, we had played well enough to beat Arsenal 30 at Emigrants (Im just making the best use of my bragging rights, alright).Im struggling to pick the man of the match.Didier Drogba is the easy choice but Ashley Cole, John Terry and Nicolas Anelka all performed well.Simply because Droga had a role to play in all the goals, he was the man of the match.The first goal was just beautiful. Then came Drogba who was the quickest to react, with his top class finish.Drogba had a role to play in the second goal as well. When Ashley Cole managed to send another identical cross Gallas and Vermaelan were visibly nervous, badly wanting to keep the ball out of Drogbas reach.I heard Vermaelan just doesnt stop scoring. How true! When the short free kick was awarded, I was sure of two thingsDrogba would take it and he would bloody score.Just when Drogba was getting ready to blast it, I clearly knew that he would be going for the farthest point in the far post.Anyone who has watched Drogbas free kick goals would know that He does not try curving the ball in and all that He just blasts it in.

I was surprised that Arsenal did not prepare for it.Ah, thats Chelsea being Chelsea and Arsenal being Arsenal.Thats Drogbas ninth goal against Arsenal in 11 matches and he has never been on the losing side to Arsenal.They just cant figure out how to handle him.On Dec. 3, 2006 (yes, 2006), I wrote this article 10 reasons why Arsenal are crap now. Youll see that most of those 10 reasons are still valid, even after three years Arsenal have not progressed at all. After three full years, its great to see that I got it right so early Either Im a great visionary or Arsene Wenger certainly is.

I think its both.So we have now beaten Liverpool, Man Utd (twice), Tottenham, and Arsenal.Hows that for a first-season record!Good job Carletto! We are now 5 points clear of Man Utd and 11 points clear of Arsenal and 13 points clear of Liverpool.We have the best goal difference in Europe probably, at this point of time. Our goal difference of 28 is far superior to any other in the premier league and is way better than the goal difference leaders in other leagues at this stage.The December matches are Man City(A), Everton (H), Portsmouth (H), West Ham (A), Birmingham (A) and Fulham (H).There are 18 points on the line before the African Cup of Nations begins. If we can 15 points out of that 18, we will firmly be on top of the table before the Africans leave.We are a class apart from our rivals.They are all afraid, very afraid.Chelsea is now the unstoppable team, the team to beat, the best team in the league.We have very clearly moved from a state of hope to a state of expectation We are now expected win the title. The odds are being shortened.The pundits say that it is now Chelseas title to lose.I dont wanna get so cocky but even with extreme humility, I have to say this is going to be our season. Get in there! This article is also featured on BlueChampions. On Saturday, Notre Dame ended it's season with another last minuteheartbreaker at Stanford. Although the game was exciting, the loss dropped the Irish to 6-6 for the regular season for the second straight year.The difference is that this year expectations were so much higher than that.