Beginning today and continuing over coming days, Chelseafc.com looks back over another eventful year at the club with the words reported at the time.

It felt a new Chelsea era heading in to the 2008/09 season. For the first time in four seasons we were approaching a campaign without the weight of having been trophy winners the previous season. For the first time in five seasons we were preparing pre-season for the months ahead without José Mourinho organising affairs.

Yet we also knew we had been just a post-width away from being crowned European champions and there still many players in the squad who had won many games and trophies for Chelsea in recent times. They were hurting and hungry for more.

And with Avram Grant not retained after his brief eight months as manager, there was a man of experience and stature on the world football stage taking control.

Luiz Felipe Scolari was the first man to manage in English club football after winning a World Cup and had been sought by the English national team two summers earlier.

He had spent the previous five years with Portugal, and with his big Brazil triumph immediately before that, Chelsea was a return to club management after seven years.

In his native Brazil he had been a league champion, and had also coached in the Middle and Far East. But this was the first European club job.

The appointment felt exciting, especially when the first press conference revealed Scolari could deal with the media in English.

The new player arrivals had Portuguese and Brazilian inflections too.

José Bosingwa, a right-back of attacking intent came from Porto via Euro 2008 and was signed before Scolari's appointment, although the Portuguese international was clearly well-known to the coach.

Deco came after the new boss, although to some extent he came with him having been another mainstay of the Portugal national side. A Champions League winner with two clubs, the highly-skilled midfielder needed no introduction having been a frequent opponent with Barcelona.

What felt just as an important as any big new signing however was Frank Lampard's decision to commit to five more years' service before the season began.

Leaving Chelsea before the start of 2008/09, either permanently or on-loan, were three players who had only joined a year earlier but had not made a major impact. They were defender Tal Ben-Haim, midfielder Steve Sidwell and striker Claudio Pizarro. Andriy Shevchenko headed back to Milan after two Chelsea seasons.

'So the bathwater is to be changed but the baby is still being raised properly,' wrote the first Pre-Match Briefing of the season on Chelseafc.com before the opening league game, observing that not too much had been wrong with a previous season that had seen two cup finals lost by narrow margins and the league escape by just four points.

The start of the Scolari era would be one of evolution for a squad hampered by injury over the previous year it hoped, with the expectation that 'his side will move the ball at a faster tempo than the last few seasons.'

The pre-season games had previewed full-backs raiding in a Brazilian-style and with Nicolas Anelka in far better scoring form than his first half-season, and with Didier Drogba unfit, who would play centre-forward was not in question. But Scolari's complete plan for how the team would operate was unclear until the opening day team news.

In the end he opted for a very fluid midfield four with and no out-and-out wingers playing in front of anchorman John Mikel Obi. A 4-1-4-1 shape was a numerical description. Bosingwa had recovered from a pre-season injury to make his debut, as did Deco.

Portsmouth, with re-signed Peter Crouch up front alongside Jermain Defoe but without much of the midfield that had won the FA Cup, arrived at the Bridge with a terrible record in our stadium (54 years without a win) and this time they didn't come anywhere close to improving it.

'A wonderful performance wowed the 41,000 crowd inside Stamford Bridge, who will be hoping that such displays continue into the season,' said the Chelseafc.com report on the game.

It was Joe Cole who scored the first competitive goal under Scolari. A crisp move involving Anelka and Deco saw Michael Ballack lift the ball over the cumbersome Portsmouth defence, and the England man was on hand to fire low beyond David James.

The second goal saw new boys Bosingwa and Deco combine as the full-back crossed to the far post and the playmaker looped the ball back across goal for Anelka to nod home.

The third goal also came before the break. Hermann Hreidarsson handled inside the area and referee Mike Dean pointed at the spot. Few would have guessed then that Chelsea would be awarded only two more penalties during the rest of the season. Lampard converted.

An anticipated goal rush didn't come in the second-half but in the closing moments Deco made it the best opening day win since Sunderland were dispatched by the same score nine years earlier.

Afforded space 30 yards from goal, the Portuguese international nonchalantly strode up to the ball with a minimum of fuss, and let fly. James should have done better, but the sheer power on the ball sent it through his hands and into the top corner.

Chelsea 4-0 Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge on 17-08-2008
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa (Ferreira 83), Carvalho, Terry (c), A Cole; Mikel; Deco, Ballack (Malouda 37), Lampard, J Cole (Wright-Phillips 77); Anelka.
Goals J Cole 12, Anelka 26, Lampard 45+1 (pen), Deco 88
Portsmouth (4-4-2): James; Johnson, Distin, Campbell (c), Hreidarsson; Diop, Diarra (Mvuemba 67), Kaboul, Kranjcar (Thomas 72); Crouch, Defoe.
Booked James 45.

It was the performance of the Barclays Premier League's first weekend. Chelsea were instantly placed right up there as favourites to win the title with lips licked that our challenge would be carried with an entertaining swagger. The one concern was an injury to Ballack that had forced his early withdrawal.

'It was more than I expect,' said Scolari after the game. 'We played very well and the fans of Chelsea saw a beautiful game and three points.

'We played as a team, closed the midfield, [passed] the ball and marked very well. Our team played as a team, not one player playing better than others. [The full-backs] are good when they are going forward, and cross very well, dribble very well, and on both sides left and right are free many times.'

Midweek internationals meant little chance to perfect the play before the next game but for John Terry on England duty there was good news. Fabio Capello confirmed the Chelsea skipper as his captain too.

Ballack, having not trained until two days prior to the first away game of the season, was declared fit for the visit to Wigan where the only change was Michael Essien coming in for injured Mikel.

The Blues had a 100 per cent record from our four previous visits to the JJB Stadium and so it continued.

'A moment of Deco magic separated the sides,' Chelseafc.com reported, 'but the display never reached the heights of the 4-0 win over Portsmouth and Scolari's men were thankful to three Petr Cech saves for maintaining the lead.'

Just days before his 31^st birthday, Deco found the top left-hand corner with a perfect free-kick from 20 yards out after only three minutes.

His bright start in English football won him August's Premier League Player of the Month and he was already being talked about as one of the signings of the summer.

However Wigan's response to the only goal of the game was resolute. Their tactics that made it hard for Chelsea's full-backs to influence the attack in the way they had in the previous game was an early sign of problems ahead.

Cech saved from Amir Zaki twice and Kapo while Wigan's new signing, Emile Heskey, had given England colleague JT one of his tougher games.

Wigan0-1 Chelseaat JJB Stadium on 24-08-2008
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry (c), A Cole (Bridge 82); Essien; J Cole (Kalou 57), Ballack, Lampard, Deco; Anelka (Malouda 88).
Scorer Deco 3
Booked Terry 13, Carvalho 73. Wigan (4-4-2): Kirkland; Melchiot (Camera 84), Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa; Valencia, Palacios (Kapo 79), Cattermole, Koumas (De Ridder); Zaki, Heskey.
Booked Cattermole 48

'Wigan have players that have power and pressured us,' said Scolari. 'I have this week many problems, Ballack played with a little injury, Essien has only trained for two days and had to play 90 minutes. Mikel is out and these players are injured but tried all that is possible and won the game.'

He also spoke of his rapid realisation that the smaller clubs in England test out the bigger clubs more thoroughly than in many leagues.

'How influential is a good start over the remainder of the season?' asked the Pre-Match Briefing before the third game of the season, at home to Tottenham

'Should Chelsea win the big London derby on Sunday, it will be the first time since 2005/06 that the Blues have won the first three league games. That season we went on to win the first nine, and José Mourinho steered his team to back-to-back titles,' it recalled.

Tottenham, still in their Ramos days pre-Redknapp, were suffering from a sulking centre-forward - Dimitar Berbatov considered not in the right frame of mind to play while his move to Man United was manoeuvred into place.

With Defoe and Robbie Keane already sold and Roman Pavlyuchenko arriving from Russia with not enough time, Spurs were left with only one recognised striker - Darren Bent - although that one striker was enough to cause Chelsea a problem.

Ballack's ongoing attempt to play through his foot injury came to a halt and Essien took his place. Scolari sprung a surprise, drafting Juliano Belletti in as holding midfielder, his manager knowing what most of Europe did not. The experienced Belletti in his early career had operated in the centre of the park with enough distinction to be named the best in the Brazilian league one season.

It looked an inspired choice when the redeployed player opened the scoring against Spurs at the Bridge for the second season running. He had already created one great chance for Anelka and Essien had crashed a shot against the bar from 30 yards.

The 27^th minute goal came from Belletti sweeping in a corner from close range. The Blues were well on top but then on the stroke of half-time and from nowhere, Spurs equalised.

Bent knocked down to Luka Modric, who miscontrolled, allowing Lampard to get a foot in. His touch however only served to put Bent through on goal and he made no mistake, slotting under Cech and into the empty net.

The frustration felt then continued into the second half and Salomon Kalou missed badly. The first points of the season had escaped. 'We used the long ball too much,' lamented Scolari.

Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on 31-08-2008
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry (c), A Cole; Belletti (Kalou 75); J Cole (Malouda 65), Essien, Lampard, Deco; Anelka (Di Santo 88).
Goal Belletti 26
Booked Deco 9, J Cole 44, Bosingwa 85
Tottenham (4-5-1): Gomes; Gunter (Huddlestone 62), Woodgate, King (c), Bale; Dos Santos (Lennon 58), Jenas, Zokora, Modric, Bentley (O' Hara 72); Bent.
Goal Bent 45

To be continued…


Chelsea TV will also be looking back at the 2008/09 campaign next week with players speaking exclusively about their own and their team's performance.

PETR CECH - Monday at 10.30pm
MICHAEL ESSIEN - Tuesday at 10.30pm
NICOLAS ANELKA - Wednesday at 10pm

Scott Minto and Jason Cundy will also take a look at the highs and lows from Chelsea's rollercoaster season

Part 1- Takes a look at the Scolari reign and Chelsea's explosive start to the season. Monday at 11pm
Part 2 - Considers the arrival of Hiddink right through to the FA Cup Final. Tuesday at 11pm

LIVE FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE
Jason Cundy hosts a summer special of Live from Stamford Bridge, taking your calls and discussing Chelsea's 08/09 season, plus your thoughts on next season when Carlo Ancelotti takes over the reins

That's on Thursday at 7pm.