Chelsea not so happy off the park

Charlton 0 Chelsea 2

Goals from Hernan Crespo and Arjen Robben sealed a well-crafted victory at The Valley and left Chelsea on top of the league with six victories from six games so far - comfortably ahead of stuttering title rivals Arsenal and Manchester United.

Some of the signs for any would-be pretenders to Chelsea’s crown were ominous, to say the least. Whereas in previous matches the champions have looked half-hearted, in this game things really began to click into place.

Examples included a revitalised Robben, who scored a quite sensational goal; the display of an ever-improving Mickael Essien, who was dominant and strong in midfield; and the form of goal-scorer Crespo up -front.

Throw in the inevitable consistency of Frank Lampard, the faultless captaincy of John Terry and the invincible air of goalkeeper Petr Cech and you can see why many believe Chelsea will have the title wrapped up not long after Christmas.

Jose Mourinho’s team have now gone 35 games unbeaten in league football and have not conceded a single goal so far this season, so if Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are searching for crumbs of hope they must look for them off the pitch rather than on it.

It is there, perhaps, that the only cracks in Chelsea’s armoury can be found.

Firstly, there was a back page story in an English national newspaper this week suggesting midfielder Joe Cole was unhappy at spending too long on the substitutes’ bench and is ready to demand a transfer. The story came with no attributed quotes and was animatedly dismissed by an astonished Mourinho, who said: “Who is being quoted? A source? A friend? A friend of the source? A source of the friend? For me it is ridiculous and simply rubbish journalism.”

Despite Mourinho’s protestations, however, there has been no such denial from Cole or his agent and in football these days, silence often speaks loudest.

Mourinho was also unhappy with headlines on Saturday which suggested he had written Arsenal out of the title race - when a proper analysis of his quotes revealed he had done no such thing.

He has become so frustrated with media coverage in England that he refused to talk to journalists after Saturday’s victory, choosing to send assistant Steve Clarke instead, much to the disappointment of headline writers.

These are only small matters. But add in discontent last month, when both Robben and Ricardo Carvalho criticised Mourinho’s selection policy, together with a new club ban on players talking about Chelsea while on international duty - and maybe there is hope of a crack in the Chelsea veneer.

As Charlton manager Alan Curbishley pointed out: “Chelsea have an excellent manager and wonderful players. The only problem he has is keeping them all happy and keeping them on the bus.”

It would be unfair on Chelsea, however, to concentrate too much on negative matters after a performance at The Valley which was by some margin their best of the season so far.

They were on top long before taking the lead, with Lampard sending a left-foot volley wide and Crespo hitting the post following a lightning-quick break from Essien.

The goal came in the second half when Crespo headed home an Essien cross before Robben curled an exquisite 18-yard left-foot effort to seal three points and maintain Chelsea’s 100% start to the campaign.

“We play in a very disciplined away and it’s a great record - six games and no goals conceded so far,” said Robben. “We are improving but I think there is a lot more to come from us.”

OPTA FACT: Charlton have lost six of their last seven league games against Chelsea, and have failed to score in their last four Premiership games against the champions.

OPTA FACT: Chelsea set a new record for the longest start to a Premiership season without conceding a goal - currently 540 minutes.