AT THE CROSSROAD

After 17 games, Chelsea had finally surrendered the over-all leadership in the Barclay's Premier League Sunday night (Manila time).

The Blues were held to a shocking 1-1 draw by lowly West Ham United at Stamford Bridge. It could had been more tragic for Luis Felipe Scolari's wards if not for the second half goal of Nicolas Anelka, which save the day for the Stamford Bridge outfit. West Ham United veteran Craig Bellamy opened up the scoring with a short stab in the 33rd minute. Anelka's 50th minute goal is his 16th for the current season and his 100th over-all in the Premier League.

Former Chelsea star Giofranco Zola, now the boss of the Hammers, outwitted Chelsea counterpart Scolari, who out of desperation made a crucial substitution at the start of the second half as he sent in Didier Drogba to replace defender Michael Ballack. But the move hardly made any difference as West Ham dictated the tempo throughout the match.

In a post-match statement, a dejected Scolari said it all, "Our home is Stamford Bridge, not away, and we need to be scoring more goals here. We are not shooting from outside the area enough and I need to work more with the players. Didier Drogba is in good condition and may play more in the next game, but the other players must cooperate because when he came on we lost the midfield." Clearly, he was referring to Chelsea deadshots Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Deco, all of whom were not playing above par in the last few matches.

The disappointing draw elevated Liverpool to the top of the standings with 38 points while Chelsea fell to second spot with 37 points. The Blues had garnered only 11 points in their last 6 matches. Zola cited team play as the vital point in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea, "The performance is outstanding and the point was totally deserved. We are improving but we do not play with the same freedom at home as we do away from home and we will fix that". When pressed about the coming January transfer window, Zola further quipped "We will not be selling our best players, but who are not playing in the first team may go".

The Blues diehards are expecting a lot this season from Scolari, the well-respected and highly regarded football guru, after the team's failure to bag the BPL and UEFA Champions League titles last year and Scolari better explore changes come January 2009 or else he may follow the footsteps of the team's former gaffer, Jose Mourinho.