Re-born Malouda goes with the Flo

THREE months ago, if a journalist had dared to question Florent Malouda on his choice of hairstyle, the chances are that the interview would have been terminated with an icy stare and curled lip.

The Chelsea winger cut the most miserable of figures towards the end of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s ill-fated tenure: bereft of confidence, an object of fun amongst a section of the club’s supporters and apparently destined to be tossed aside at the end of the season.

Guus Hiddink, too, was suspicious of his qualities on succeeding the Brazilian but, ever since scoring the decisive second goal at Newcastle four weeks ago, Malouda has proved indispensable. He has started every game in the interim and, on Saturday, delivered the kind of performance which makes the £13.5m (€15.1m) Chelsea paid Lyon for his services in July 2007 look a steal, not a swindle.

So, back to the hair. “My kids like to play with it,’’ Malouda explained, his fingers playing with the strange tuft sprouting from the top of his head.

Malouda’s renewed lust for life has come at the perfect time for both the player and his club. With Chelsea seeking to secure the top-three league finish that will enable them to dodge a wearying qualifying tie in next season’s Champions League and attempting to overcome the might of Barcelona in their semi-final second leg on Wednesday, they can ill afford passengers.

Malouda used to be just that, but he should now be viewed as integral to Chelsea’s plans. He has always had pace and trickery by the bucket-load but he is now exhibiting the classic symptoms of a revitalised footballer: there is more strut to his body language, he is picking his passes with precision and shooting on sight, and on target.

The same could be said for all Chelsea’s front players, a point emphasised by their goals on Saturday. The first, after just 52 seconds, was a beauty: a snappy one-two between Malouda and Anelka created space for the winger and, after he had fed a neat pass into Drogba, the Ivorian’s lay-off was thumped in by Anelka.

The second was equally impressive, Malouda cracking home an instinctive first-time shot after John Pantsil had failed to cut out Drogba’s cross, and when Drogba rolled in the third shortly after half-time after being set clear by Anelka’s pass, the points were secure.

Even Chelsea’s goal celebrations hinted at the high spirits and Malouda’s strike was marked by the winger, Anelka and Drogba toasting the Ivorian’s new-born son.

“It was a beautiful day for Didier and his family and we were very happy for him,’’ Malouda said. “We are really happy to play together and there was a lot of movement and we all scored so there are a lot of positives.

“We really enjoyed ourselves and it was a great boost for our confidence because we scored three goals at home before the Barcelona game.’’

The visit of the Catalans remains Chelsea’s D-day, and for all their attacking swagger here, there were also moments – particularly in the first half – when Fulham threatened to do more than simply frustrate their local rivals.

Erik Nevland cancelled out Anelka’s opener after springing Chelsea’s flimsy offside trap and firing a firm shot through Petr Cech’s fingers, while Zoltan Gera and Bobby Zamora twice came close to adding to the scoreline before the interval. As Hiddink noted in the aftermath, such “sloppiness’’ could prove fatal against Barca.

Defeat leaves Fulham’s own European ambitions on a knife-edge, but qualification for next season’s Europa League is still very much within reach, even if manager Roy Hodgson appears decidedly lukewarm on the idea.

“We are entitled, if we get into Europe, to adopt any attitude we want,’’ he said. “We don’t have to start panicking. We may have to accept, if Fulham are not going to get the squad to compete on two fronts, that we may have to go out of Europe.’’

That is Hodgson’s choice: for Chelsea, it is simply not an option.

REFEREE: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire) 7: Very good. Played advantage when he could, correctly denied Chelsea’s penalty claims and generally kept his cards in his pockets.

MATCH RATING: *** Entertaining stuff, especially in the first half when Fulham gave as good as they got. Chelsea’s third killed the contest, though.