Despite the fact we were comprehensively outplayed, outfought, and outclassed by Falcao et al the other night, I feel that we all need to retain a bit of perspective as regards the state of Chelsea at this moment in time. Such knee jerk reactions are premature. After all, we all know this is going to be a transitional season, what with a change in tactics, formation, integration of new players, new playing style, etc. This was one game. One game in which we played horrendously badly, granted.

We've had a flying start to the season: three games, three wins, maximum points. Admittedly, I was angry and frustrated by the level of performance the other night but it doesn't change my opinion of the direction we're heading in. We took it as a friendly, which was completely wrong. Atletico were hungrier than us and wanted it much more. They pressed relentlessly, defended in numbers, stayed compact and disciplined, and countered at ferocious speed and incisiveness. Credit to Atletico. This result was a long time coming though, especially after the shaky defensive displays against Reading and Wigan. When you give Falcao the amount of time and space we did, he'll obviously hurt you. For me, he's the best striker in the world. He scores every kind of goal: right foot, left foot, headers, chips, lobs, screamers, tap ins, volleys, etc. Only RvP comes close to him in terms of finishing. Basically, Falcao is ridiculously good. I digress. Anyway, now is not the time to make ludicrous assumptions. The first real test comes on September 29th. It's still early days. I'll see where we are after Christmas, and only then will I start to make assumptions about how we'll finish the campaign.

Thoughts?