It's all about good shopping. Last season Chelsea cruised to the title, and whilst our side was crippled with injuries and Roy Keane had left, we just didn’t have the squad capable of plugging all the gaps.

John O’Shea was certainly not a replacement for the departed Keane, and Darren Fletcher certainly was not a replacement for the injured Paul Scholes. Phil Bardsley was as yet no Gary Neville, Kieran Richardson was no Gabriel Heinze, Ji-Sun Park was no Ryan Giggs.

When the summer came around, Tomasz Kuszczak and Michael Carrick were the only players who signed contracts with the club, while United’s most prolific goalscorers in years was sold on by Sir Alex Ferguson. The media had us pencilled in for a fourth-place finish. Ferguson said the return of Ole Gunner Solskjaer , Scholes and Heinze would be akin to three new signings, and the press scoffed. Ferguson said Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra, who were signed six months previously, would come good, and he was doubted.

When the signing of Carrick became public knowledge, Mark Longden from IMUSA said: “I cannot understand what is going on. I have not spoken to anybody who, when £18.6m became available, would have spent that on Carrick. But people have questioned Sir Alex Ferguson's judgment in the past and finished up with egg on their face and I hope it happens again."

By contrast, Chelsea signed Andriy Shevchenko, one of the greatest strikers in Europe, for £30m, Michael Ballack, one of the greatest midfielders in Europe, on a free transfer, and Ashley Cole, one of the greatest defenders in Europe, for around £15-20m (a fee of £5m plus William Gallas). There was also the token £9.5m signing of Khalid Boulahrouz.
  • This season, Patrice Evra or Ashley Cole? Evra.
  • This season, Michael Carrick or Michael Ballack? Carrick.
  • This season, Nemanja Vidic or Khalid Boulahrouz? Vidic.
This season, Dong Fangzhuo or Andriy Shevchenko… OK, that one was a joke. But Shevchenko? Just 13 goals in 41 starts (plus 10 sub appearances). Not flattering at the best of times, but especially not when you compare it to the "new signing" Solskjaer’s 11 goals in 13 starts (plus 14 sub appearances).

Chelsea have been criticised for “buying the title”, and whilst I can agree with that to a certain extent, everyone knows you can’t just throw 11 superstars together, and expect them to win the league and give no credit to the manager. Look at the England national team, for example. Eleven players who rank within some of the best in the world, but with cr*p manager after cr*p manager, amount to nothing.

So whilst Chelsea would be the 'almost' team they’d been for years without Roman Abramovich, the signings of Claudio Ranieri, and to some extent, Jose Mourinho, were gelled together by the Portuguese manager. No, Chelsea didn’t play exhilarating football, and whilst they were in full control of most of the games they played, you’d be excused for taking up the opportunity to grab 40 winks. ''But who cares?” Chelsea fans would say, because they won the title two years in a row.

For the most part, Chelsea’s best players have been signings Ranieri made. Petr Cech, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Wayne Bridge, Arjen Robben, Joe Cole, to name a few. Despite success with signings like Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba this season, we cannot forget the likes of Matijer Kezman, Tiago and Asier Del Horno. I suppose the point is, the impact of rich clubs is lessened when the man in charge doesn’t know how to spend the money effectively. It's no good having a blank cheque if you don't know how to spend it.

Chelsea fans have talked about injuries, which I will look at in further depth shortly, but the job of a manager, especially one with all the money he wants, is to make sure they have a strong squad, as much as they do a strong first 11. Chelsea, amazingly, have not had a strong enough squad this season.

Do you agree with this assessment of the Big Two? Leave a comment below or write an article for Sportingo if you prefer.