Not the best possible start but Chelsea will be happy with the three points from the match against Birmingham City. Jose Mourinho’s side went into Sunday’s opener at Stamford Bridge with a lengthy injury list, but the new-look side were able to pull a win out of it.

John Terry, Michael Ballack, Wayne Bridge, Claude Makelele, Paulo Ferreira and Andriy Shevchenko were on the injury list. Losing so many players before a ball has even been kicked would have crippled most clubs but I guess it is very much different here at Stamford Bridge.

The new season, however, led to Mourinho being in the unusual position of being dwarfed by Manchester United and Liverpool’s spending in the transfer market. The £13m purchase of French Player of the Year Florent Malouda was in fact their only cash deal this close-season, while their rivals splashed out more than £40m and even Fulham and Portsmouth spent more than Chelsea did.

'Even Fulham and Portsmouth spent more than Chelsea did'

Chelsea landed a number of free signings with Tal Ben-Haim (Bolton), Claudio Pizarro (Bayern Munich), Steve Sidwell (Reading) and the capture of Chelsea’s second Brazilian player in their history, Alex (PSV).

Sunday's game was entertaining with Chelsea playing a different game from the past three seasons. Their game now is faster, full of subliminal skills, especially from the likes of Malouda, Saloman Kalou and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who was my man of the match. His passing and crossing caused problems for the City defence all afternoon.

The only major concern I have is the Chelsea defending, particularly on set plays and counter attacks. Ben-Haim had a good game against Manchester United in the Charity Shield and against Birmingham. Glen Johnson also showed talent as a versatile right back.