Yesterday was really horrible. We must look at last season for some perspective.

Examining last season from the very start.

Chelsea 2 - 1 Hull City (15/08/09)

Opening Season Day: This is the fixture Dorgba scored inthe 92 minute to win, it looked like we were starting our campaign off with a draw but we managed to dig deep in the dying seconds.

From here we went onto 6 straight victories home and away, before losing on this date:

Wigan Athletic 3 - 1 Chelsea (26/09/09) - Unlucky with sending offs and being caught out. An off day..

From here we went onto beating Liverpool 2-0, before this defeat:

Aston Villa 2 - 1 Chelsea (17/10/09)

We moved from this position to 5 straight victories, including at home against Man Utd, before losing on this date:

Man City 2 - 1 Chelsea (5/12/09)

This is where it gets interesting.. An unpredictable chapter much like we are in now, where we dont know what side is going to turn up:

Chelsea 3 - 3 Everton (12/12/09)

Chelsea 2 - 1 Portsmouth (16/12/09)

West Ham Utd 1 - 1 Chelsea (20/12/09)

Birmingham City 0-0 Chelsea (26/12/09 )

Romping back to short form and also wobbling:

Chelsea 2 - 1 Fulham (28/12/09)

Chelsea 7 - 2 Sunderland (16/01/10)

Chelsea 3 - 0 Birmingham City (27/01/10)

[Terry Allegations]

Burnley 1- 2 Chelsea (30/01/10) We werent very good in this game at all, but thankfully Terry bailed us out.

Wobbling:

Hull City 1 - 1 Chelsea (02/02/10)

Chelsea 2 - 0 Arsenal (07/02/10)

Everton 2 - 1 Chelsea (10/02/10)

Wolves 0 - 2 Chelsea (21/02/10)

Chelsea 2 - 4 Manchester City (27/02/10)

Chelsea 4 - 1 West Ham Utd (13/03/10)

Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Chelsea (21/03/10)

The finishing Line:

Portsmouth 0 - 5 Chelsea (24/03/10)

Chelsea 7 - 1 Aston Villa (27/03/10)

Manchester Utd 1 - 2 Chelsea (03/04/10)

Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton Wanderers (13/04/10)

T*ttenham H 2 - 1 Chelsea (10/04/10)

Chelsea 7 - 0 Stoke City (25/04/10)

Liverpool 0 - 2 Chelsea (02/05/10)

Chelsea 8 - 0 Wigan Athletic (09/05/10)

Conclusion:

What I am trying to say with this is we wobbled a lot last season too. We didnt have a rut as long or consecutive as this, but we still had many wobbles. We are still the team that can thrash our opponents 6-0.

We need to get behind Carlo more than ever and make more noise in the stadium than we have done. We are the 12th man and we have to convert all negative energy into something positive. Starting in the stands.

Keep the faith. We will rise.

Well, interestingly, we are actually one point better off from the same fixtures as last season. And we lost against against Spurs away, so if we can reverse that, then things don't look so bleak. The results against united and the win at the Emirates are were we did very well last season and will be hard to repeat. Our form is obviously the concern here, but I think there were enough signs yesterday that we could turn the corner especially with the return of Lamps.

good post zola..............................and perspective, whch we could do with right now

us fans can play our part too

Very good post, and I hope the same message is being put out to the squad now. "You have been here before".

Last year, I remember thinking that the second defeat to Man City and the loss to Spurs were the end of the world. Man Utd were finishing strong and our lead was shrinking. Yet even from those huge mental setbacks, the team recovered and still pulled it off in the end.

Now is definately the time to go on a good run. Despite the recent setbacks, the injury problem is shrinking (touch wood). There shouldn't be any lack of motivation amongst the squad in the coming weeks. Yes confidence is an issue, but a win tonight followed by a win at the weekend and it could be all systems go again. Once the Christmas period is out of the way, the big fixtures we'll have in the 2nd half of the season are Man Utd away, Man City home, Spuds home and dippers home(is that still considered big?) We took 9 out of 12 points during those fixtures last season and wouldn't bet against us doing exactly the same again. We actually have a more winnablel( I won't say easier) run of big games in the 2nd half of the season compared to last season. Also as footballholic pointed out, our like for like is actually better. Form is temporary, class is permanent.