Clinical Chelsea floor Latics

IT IS the complete certainty surrounding Chelsea that gives off such an ominous feeling.

They turn up, they graft, they are clinical, they score half a dozen goals without even trying too hard.

Carlo Ancelotti has hit on a wonderful system that makes his team solid at the same time as giving Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda scope to rip teams to pieces.

Ancelotti, as low-key as always, has targeted three victories against Stoke, West Ham and Fulham to take into next month’s game at Manchester City and while nine points is a given, how improved will their plus 12 goal difference be by then? They were written off as having little scope to improve due to their collective old age by Alex Ferguson two years ago and the real dilemma for Ancelotti is how long he can leave things as they are.

Watching them play, he must wonder if they can go on for another three or four years together and the Italian, who claims his side are playing ‘Playstation football’, certainly likes players the older side of experienced.

The key quality is their power on the break and, having grown consistently more easy on the eye since Jose Mourinho’s days, Malouda is baffled at the depiction of Arsenal and Manchester United as the Premier League’s most attractive sides.

There are those that will never forget the brashness of Mourinho’s days, from the country despising Ashley Cole to his namesake Joe refusing an interview after a Carling Cup semi-final because “We’re always getting to finals.”

The club will always have a reputation for swaggering but for those that are prepared to notice, there is unquestionably a more humble attitude.

With 29 goals in five matches, and none conceded, it is easy to see why a lack of credit for their style might rankle a little but the Frenchman claims that silverware softens the lack of recognition of their art.

“It’s difficult to know why people still think that,” Malouda said. “Even when we finished on top of Arsenal, people said Arsenal played better than us. As players we never comment about the other teams but we’re always trying to improve the quality of our game.

“Since the manager came in he tried to bring in that control of the game and people are seeing an evolution in that sense because we’re scoring more goals and getting more clean sheets. That is what it’s all about if you want to win the league. You have to be efficient, but when you see a team like Chelsea scoring so many goals, I hope that people will recognise our quality, but we’re not playing for glory, our aim is to win.

“When we start a game we aim to be solid and compact and defend well and then be in control of the game.

“But we know we have a lot of quality up front and that anybody in the squad can score. So that brings confidence.

“We know in a game even when you’re winning 1-0, it’s never enough. You always have to be focused. If we score a lot of goals it’s because we remain focused throughout. We never lean back and say, ‘Oh, now we’ll play it easy’.”

Didier Drogba has been loathed as much as anyone else over the past few years but Ancelotti, who seems to have forgotten the striker’s petulance on the final day of last season, feels the Ivorian typifies his squad’s selflessness.

“I am very happy with him and he showed a good understanding with Salomon Kalou. Usually a striker will try to score, but he was unselfish,” Ancelotti said. “He is not a Superman, but he is playing very well and he is a humble player. It is not easy to find such humility in a big player.”

That Wigan, who lost their opener 4-0 to Blackpool, can take credit for their first-half performance also sums up Chelsea’s approach and attitude. The Latics swarmed all over them and sensed they were in the driving seat, only for Malouda to roll in their first chance after half an hour. After the restart, Anelka scored twice in the space of four minutes after the restart but the final three goals showed the ruthlessness of the champions.

Drogba raced away and squared for Kalou to make it four, before crossing for Kalou to glance in a fifth and Yossi Benayoun drove in number six to underline Chelsea’s total superiority.

For now, Roberto Martinez remains safe in his job despite the worst start to a campaign in Premier League history but a trip to Tottenham, where his side lost 9-1 last season, is looming horribly.

Another heavy defeat could see the knives come out for the home clash with Sunderland after the international break.

“What happened last year has nothing to do with it,” Martinez said. “It’s about how we perform is a team. We need to perform at Hartlepool on Tuesday and take that into Tottenham on Saturday. It’s not about myself, it was a difficult day for Wigan Athletic. When you get a scoreline like that you don’t like it at all. But when you get a first half performance like I got, I can be extremely proud of my players. They are just small details we need to get that right.”

Wigan Subs: Watson 6 (80), McArthur 6 (80), Boyce 6 (84). Subs not used: Moses, Gomez, Scotland, Al Habsi.

Chelsea Subs: Ferreira 7 (63), Kalou 8 (70), Benayoun 7 (80). Subs not used: Hilario, Zhirkov, Aanholt, Borini.

Booked: Wigan: Diame. Chelsea: Terry, Ivanovic.

Man of the Match: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea): Anelka might have been abandoned by his country, France, but there is little chance of Chelsea doing the same. His goals straight after the interval were clinical and put the game beyond Wigan.

Match Rating ***. The contest was quite even until half time, with Wigan even having the better of the earlier exchanges, but once Chelsea went through the gears it became a mismatch and thoroughly predictable.

Referee: Mike Dean: 7. He had little controversy to deal with and was hardly noticed, which suggests he had a good game. Refused to book people unless absolutely necessary and displayed a refreshing level of common sense.