Chelsea completed their tour of the far-east with a resounding victory over Aston Villa in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy.

This was the second time that the Blues had lifted this trophy, after being the inaugural winners of the tournament back in 2003 under Claudio Ranieri.

An early goal from the talented Josh McEachran inside the first minute of the game gave the Blues the lead, and the game was settled when Fernando Torres glided in a first-time finish seconds after coming on as a second half substitute.

It maintained our record of not conceding a goal in the pre-season and made it six wins out of six.

Nicolas Anelka was given the responsibility to spearhead the attack, with both, Drogba and Torres, on the bench, and the Frenchmen immediately combined with Daniel Sturridge to create the first chance, but his shot was well saved by Shay Given. The Irishmen followed it up by making a brilliant save from Malouda on the follow-up, but he couldn’t muster to save the next attempt from McEachran, and this was all inside the first 30 seconds.

Stephen Ireland then had the chance to equalise for the Villans, but he blazed his shot over. From there on in it was all Chelsea till the end.

After getting through the initial pre-season games without making much of an impact, the experienced players sprinkled with a bit of youth, dominated the whole games and passed around at will, resulting in some flowing attacks.

Josh McEachran was having a fine game, and along with Frank Lampard, was the instigator of most of the attacks from the middle.

Nicolas Anelka had the chance to double the lead before the break, but his fierce shot was well saved the Villa keeper, so we remained only a goal ahead going into the break.

Villas-Boas only made a single substitution at half-time, with Alex replacing Ivanovic at the back. This was the first appearance from the Brazilian this season, and was a welcome relief for the Chelsea fans.

Villa started much better after the break and had half-chances with Agbonlahor and Petrov trying their best, but to no avail.

Soon, it was time to introduce the heavyweights from the bench as both, Torres and Drogba, came on, much to the delight of the supporters in the ground. And, what a substitution it prove to be, as Fernando Torres scored with his first touch on the night. An ambitious shot from distance by Malouda was mishit and was on its way out, when an instinctive steered the ball past Given.

There was an instant delight on the face of the Spaniard, and more of relief which brought his confidence back in one shot. There was spring in his step, and seemingly he looked more confident in everything he did, and forced a save from Given soon again.

The headlines may be stolen by the Torres winner, but it was clear that the catalyst of this win were Josh McEachran, Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka. They made the team tick and were the creative forces of the team.

Chelsea now return to England with only one more friendly to look forward to against Rangers at the weekend before the season opener. The squad will be joined by the Brazilian duo of Ramires and David Luiz after missing the preparations till now due to National duties.

After going through rigorous training and meticulous planning, Andre Villas-Boas finally had something to cheer about, he said; ‘I have been optimistic throughout. It’s been a very intensive tour in all senses, and I think today I must congratulate the players for the superhuman effort they put on the pitch and the performance.’

Further, he added; ‘Commitment-wise, motivationally, and the professionalism of the players has been something I haven’t seen before.

‘It’s not easy to come away from your home and in these difficult conditions we find to put on a tremendous effort in training, always finding motivation and this is a positive sign for us. Generally speaking we are happy with the tour we have had.’

Chelsea: Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic (Alex h-t), Terry (c) (Chalobah 89), Zhirkov (Van Aanholt 57); McEachran (Drogba 57), Mikel, Lampard (Kalou 84); Sturridge (Drogba 57), Anelka (Benayoun 73), Malouda.

Goals McEachran 1, Torres 58

Chelsea began the quest for a second Premier League Asia Trophy by beating their local opponents Kitchee by 4-0 to set up the final against Aston Villa.

Frank Lampard opened the scoring the again; then an own goal (again!) doubled the lead before goals from Didier Drogba and Daniel Sturridge rounded off another satisfying night for the Blues.

The Premier League Asia trophy was one of the first tournaments that Chelsea took part in after the takeover by Roman Abramovich, and the support that his investment generated some eight years after the takeover must satisfy the Russian oligarch.

As evident from the previous games, André Villas-Boas is still trying to find the best formation for his Chelsea team, and continuing with it he shifted from his usual 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 for this game.

Yuri Zhirkov and Frank Lampard started at the base of the midfield three, with Yossi Benayoun being given the creative responsibility up front along with Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou, with Didier Drogba being the lone man up top.

Chelsea made a quick start and were forcing the issue from the start unlike the previous games where despite dominating the possession the build-up was pretty sluggish in nature. Yuri Zhirkov got an early chance to make an impression as he hit a volley just wide of the goal inside the first few minutes, after a loose ball reached him from the corner.

The midfield three consisting of Lampard, Benayoun and Zhirkov, provided much more fluidity and creativity than usual, but also made us more susceptible to opposition attacks with no natural holding midfielder.

After a wonderful start to the game, Chelsea created the first clear cut chance of the game; Drogba was released on the right and his measured cross found Kalou in the middle of the park, but his downward header into the ground hit the bar from 6 yards out, and the rebound went straight to Benayoun whose overhead kick hit himself.

With the change in system it seemed like Rajkovic was having difficulty and gave away a lot of fouls early on. Both the centre backs were playing near the middle of the park with the Kitchee team on the back foot and under pressure, thereby resorting to playing very deep in their half.

John Terry was making forward runs at will, as Chelsea gave Kitchee no moment to breathe in a dominant first 20mins, with the Blues playing a high pressure game and kept closing down the Kitchee players.

Such was the forcefull nature of the Chelsea play that many a times it was only Turnbull that left in the Chelsea half, with rest of the team all moving forward.

Soon there were rewards for Chelsea’s hard work. Paulo Ferreira released Yossi Benayoun, who got past two defenders with his quick feet before being tripped in the box to earn Chelsea a penalty on the 36 minute mark.

And, as ever, Frank Lampard steeped up and converted it, putting it straight down the middle giving keeper no chance, his second goal in as many games.

Just minutes later Didier Drogba was on target from a free kick from over 30 yards out, a strike hit with venom, but was straight down the middle so gave the keeper the chance to keep it out and the rebound was cleared by the defender before Terry could reach it.

The loudest cheer for the home team came when their striker, Huang Yang, tried to lob Turnbull, but hit his shot high and didn’t cause the young keeper any embarrassment.

There were muted shouts for another penalty just before the break when a beautiful over the top pass from Terry found Malouda, and he rounded off the keeper, but his shot was cleared off the line with an indication of hand ball, but Phil Dowd waived off Malouda’s appeal.

Chelsea began the second half unchanged, with players looking in much better shape the manager had no reason to change.

Yuri Zhirkov was booked early on for taking down a Kitchee player after the hosts made a rare foray into the Chelsea half.

Chelsea doubled their lead inside five minutes at the start of second after another own goal made its, now regular, appearance, making it the top scorer in our pre-season. Florent Malouda, who had lots of freedom on the left throughout the game, put a great cross which was put into his own net by Kitchee captain, Ubay Luzardo, with Didier Drogba pressurising him.

A brave header from Didier Drogba on the far post from a Malouda cross made it 3-0 to Chelsea on the hour mark, with the Ivorian taking a boot in the face. And with that, it was time to ring in the changes, although wholesale changes weren’t expected, but still seven could be made (increased from five considering the heat).

Six changes were made, with two of the substitutes, John Obi Mikel and Daniel Sturridge, going close straightaway, but none were able to hit the target with their respective attempts.

And as one would expect with so many changes, some of the pressure was lifted of the Kitchee team, although the heat was now starting to affect the hard working Kitchee players.

Despite being less dominant than before, there was still enough quality to add to the goal tally and Daniel Sturridge did just that with a best goal of the Asian tour thus far, taking a sharp turn on the right in a tight situation before beating another defender and slamming it home with his right foot on the near post.

There was still time for some of the players to get their name on the score sheets, and despite some good attempts by Salomon Kalou and Fernando Torres to increase the goal tally; the score line would remain the same.

Four players played the whole of the 90mins in the shape of Ferreira, Cole, Kalou and Benayoun, as the team prepared for the start of the season. Incidentally, it was Ferreira and Benayoun only who had the best games on the night.

The opposition didn’t provide the sternest of tests for the Blues, but should expect a more competitive game against Villa, although with our prolonged stay in the region and more adeptness to the heat, we should just be too good for them.

The new system provided more flexibility in the middle of the park for the manager, but it remains to be seen whether he would persist with the system going into the start of the season.

Chelsea: Turnbull (Hilario 63); Ferreira, Rajkovic (Chalobah 76), Terry (c) (Ivanovic 63), Cole; Lampard (Mikel 63), Zhirkov (McEachran 61); Kalou, Benayoun, Malouda (Sturridge 61); Drogba (Torres 61).

Goals Lampard pen 35, Ubay Luzardo o.g 53, Drogba 59, Sturridge 75.

Chelsea stepped up a gear in their preparations for the new season after a much improved second-half performance against Thailand All Stars meant the Blues eventually cruised to a 4-0 win.

The first half display was again of tireless hard work, without much reward, but the introduction of fresh legs on the hour mark made the final thirty minutes look like a stroll in the park.

Another jam-packed stadium was the scene for this pre-season encounter, with crowds filling the Rajamangala Stadium to full capacity on a hot and humid evening in Bangkok.

After using the diamond formation in the second part of the game in Malaysia, it was back to customary 4-3-3 with Fernando Torres as the lone man up top. Petr Cech got his first action on the tour after missing the previous games with a knock.

With the lack of wide players in the squad, once again Nicolas Anelka and Daniel Sturridge were asked to play in wide positions, a fact which just doesn’t do any good to them, and in the long-run to the team as well for that matter.

With Ron Gourlay declaring that two signings are imminent, one must hope that the management is looking in this direction, although with one of them being expected to be Barcelona youngster Oriol Romeu, it wouldn’t be surprising if this position is left out again.

Josh McEachran was deployed in an advanced role with Mikel guarding the back four, and as ever the youngster delivered an impressive performance, further strengthening his case for more regular first-team action.

The game was played in a stop start manner, and with the Thai’s defending in number it was very difficult for the Chelsea forward line to create any proper openings.

Chelsea did have their chances though with Torres dragging his shot wide on the only occasion he got free from being surrounded by a clutch of defenders, and John Terry even put the ball into the net, but the supplier, Anelka, was adjudged offside.

The breakthrough did come before the break though, as Frank Lampard’s measured shot from distance didn’t give the diving Tanganurat any chance. It was the first goal by a Chelsea player since the Wycombe game, with own goal helping us out in the previous two outings.

For a team that has only been assembled a few days before this encounter, the Thai All Stars gave a good account of themselves and put the Chelsea defence under pressure with their counter-attacks every now and then.

With the start of the season coming near, it was time to start giving more playing to players and stop the practice of having a different team for each half.

Only Hilario was introduced for the start of the second half, and what an introduction it was, as the experienced keeper produced a series of stunning saves at the start of the second half, but not before Chelsea put the game beyond the Thai’s.

Two goals in two minutes from Chelsea defenders dented the confidence of the All Stars and cheered the large contingent of Chelsea fans in the stands. The first was a lucky strike after Bosingwa’s attempted cross wasn’t directed properly and was misjudged by the keeper to double the lead.

If the first goal was a mistake, then the second one was pure beauty. A marauding Ivanovic came from the back and exchanged one-two with Josh McEachran, before slotting in a cool finish beyond the keeper to make it comfortable for the Blues.

On the hour mark it was time to give the boys a rest and bring on the fresh legs as eight players were substituted with all the starting players bar Mikel now off the pitch.

Chelsea’s left hand side now had a combination of experienced international players in the shape of Cole, Zhirkov and Malouda, and all three combined well as Malouda put in another goal to make the score line even more impressive. Ashley Cole slid in the through ball for Florent Malouda to thump it in, his second goal of the season.

With the game now comfortable, there was a debut for Jamal Blackman, the tall goalkeeper from Croydon got his first taste of senior football, a moment he will cherish for a long time.

The game must give Villas-Boas some satisfaction as the team finally showed glimpses of getting into their groove, although the tiring Thai All Star players didn’t trouble them much in the later stages.

There may be media condemnation of the fact that none of the strikers seem to look like scoring, but it will come with time as the forwards play more together, although playing strikers in wide areas isn’t helping anyone as was clearly evident from the first half today and in the previous games as well.

Its four clean sheets in four, but there were times when the Chelsea defenders were caught on their heels, but that shouldn’t be that big a issue with team continuing to show improvement with each game.

The continued absence of Alex could be a cause of concern with the nature of injury not yet known.

Chelsea next take part in the Premier League Asia trophy in Hong Kong.

André Villas-Boas was delighted with his team finally breaking their shackles, he said; ‘I said in Malaysia we had a lot of chances and a lot of goals you don’t score and it changes your perspective on how you look at the game,’ the manager reported. ‘Today you score more goals and everything looks more positive.

‘I will keep the same opinion, we had the same behaviours and the same pattern of what we are trying to achieve.

‘It is not that this performance was great compared to the other one, it is just that we scored more goals and it seems that everything is positive.’

Chelsea: Cech (Hilario h-t (Blackman 76)); Bosingwa (Ferreira 61), Ivanovic (Chalobah 76), Terry (c) (Rajkovic 61), Van Aanholt (Cole 61); McEachran (Zhirkov 61), Mikel (Clifford 76), Lampard (Benayoun 61); Anelka (Kalou 61), Torres (Drogba 61), Sturridge (Malouda 61).

Goals: Lampard 37, Bosingwa 49, Ivanovic 51, Malouda 72

Chelsea continued their pre-season preparations with another win under some tough conditions, as the Blues started their Asian quest with a 1-0 win in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

A controversial own-goal from a Didier Drogba free-kick was the only goal of the game with the under-strength Malaysians giving a hard fight to the Blues.

The Bukit-Jalil stadium, having capacity of 90,000, was almost full, creating a great atmosphere for the game as sounds of vuvuzelas greeted the both teams.

The game was played under extreme heat conditions, a far cry from the cold English weather that the players are usually accustomed to, so this was always going to be tough test for the Chelsea players especially so early in the season.

André Villas-Boas and his staff followed the same pattern that they used in the first two pre-season games, and played the 4-3-3 formation. This meant that even though the player combinations were different, the playing style was expected to provide some continuity as the management looked for the best combinations.

Fernando Torres was accompanied by Yossi Benayoun and Salomon Kalou either side of him, with Frank Lampard spearheading the midfield three of Josh McEachran and Florent Malouda. After spending the last four years on loan in the Dutch Eredivisie, there was a another outing for Slobodan Rajković in Chelsea colours. The Serbian played alongside his compatriot Branislav Ivanovic in the centre of defence.

Chelsea had the first chance of the night inside two minutes after Fernando Torres was played in by Yossi, but the Spaniard’s first time shot was hit straight at the keeper and the chance was gone.

Soon, there was a half-chance for Frank Lampard after Kalou took advantage of some miscommunication in the Malaysian defence and the ball broke to Frank, but he put his shot wide.

Chelsea were dominating the possession early on, but there wasn’t much difference in the style of play from the Blues from the past, as the team looked one-paced, making it easier for the young Malaysians to defend.

Despite being laboured in possession, there were still chances for the Blues, firstly Fernando Torres was played in by Kalou, again the creator, but the defender was hot on his heels, so he couldn’t control his shot and it was dragged just wide.

Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda tried their luck from the free-kicks, but to no avail, and then it was time for the first substitution on the night with Patrick van Aanholt replacing Ryan Bertrand, who reportedly had taken a knock, with just under ten minutes to go.

With minutes to go for half-time, Chelsea created the best move of the match. A nice one-two on the right hand side between Kalou and Torres, released the Ivorian, but instead of taking a shot he tried to play in the oncoming Lampard, who was just inches away, although he was offside anyway.

As expected, there were wholesale changes in the second half, with a new eleven ready to be assessed by the new gaffer, but the system remained the same.

Similar to the first half, Chelsea were the first team to threaten as John Obi Mikel tried his luck from distance early on, and went perilously close with a powerful shot.

The second half eleven comprising of the likes of Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and John Terry faced similar stiff opposition from the Malaysians, who themselves changed ten players from the first half, as their tried to control the game.

Most of the Chelsea attack during the second half came through the right hand side, with the trio of Clifford, Ferreira and Sturridge seeing most of the ball, but failed to combine in a fruitful manner.

As one would hope, things improved as the match went on, but the searing heat and bumpy playing turf didn’t help the players at all.

After seeing his Chelsea team failing to dominate the young Malaysian side, Villas-Boas instructed a change in formation from the touchlines. A switch to the much-maligned ‘diamond’ formation was ordered, with Anelka taking the main creative responsibilities.

After almost an hour into the game, finally there was an opening for the Malaysians as Syahrul Azwari was played through by Irfan Fazail, but he couldn’t control hi shot and the chance was gone.

Chelsea’s switch in their formation provided them with more attacking impetuous, and resulted in a flurry of chances for the Blues. John Terry twice headed over from close-range from a series of Zhirkov  set-pieces, and Sturridge probably had the best chance of the game after being fed through by the ever reliant Obi Mikel, but hit straight into the keeper.

With twelve minutes to go Didier Drogba provided the breakthrough, albeit a controversial one, that everyone was waiting for till now. His powerfully struck free-kick came back off the post and hit the keeper and strolled onto the line of the goal before being grabbed by the keeper. The assistant at the game had no hesitation in signalling it a goal, although despite seeing several replays it was still unclear whether it had crossed the line.

The last ten minutes of the game were highlighted by the physical strain that the heat had caused, as many players showed signs of tiredness and cramps.

There was still one big chance left in the game for the Malaysians though, Chelsea’s attempted offside was breached by Thamil Arasu, but with only Turnbull to beat he strayed his shot wide off the mark, thereby maintaining Villas-Boas unbeaten pre-season record intact for the time-being.

It was another step taken by Blues in building their match sharpness before the season begins, but it’s clear that André Villas-Boas is still searching for the right combinations for his Chelsea line-up, a fact clearly indicated by his change in the system in the second-half.

During his first stint at Stamford Bridge under Mourinho, there were a series of 1-0 results at the start of the season wherein the management was still carefully judging what’s the best formation for the players, and one can only hope that this is also a similar period, one which could be boosted by some investment from the Board.

Next up for the Blues is Thailand All Stars on 23rd July in Bangkok.

Chelsea first half: Hilario; Jose Bosingwa, Branislav Ivanovic, Slobodan Rajkovic, Ryan Bertrand (Patrick van Aanholt 38); Yossi Benayoun, Josh McEachran, Frank Lampard (c); Salomon Kalou, Fernando Torres, Florent Malouda.

Chelsea second half: Ross Turnbull, Paulo Ferreira, John Terry (c), Nathaniel Chalobah, Ashley Cole; Billy Clifford, John Mikel Obi, Yury Zhirkov; Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba, Daniel Sturridge.

Goal: Mohd Izham Tarmizi Roslan (Own goal 78’)

After a long break, Chelsea returned back to playing as a large crowd greeted them at Fratton Park in their first friendly in public eye, with the Blues securing a 1-0 win.

This was also the first chance for the Chelsea fans to see the new boss, André Villas-Boas, in action after the first match against Wycombe Wanderers was played behind doors.

On a day when three different Chelsea sides were playing, this group of players were probably the most under-prepared after returning to training just ten days earlier.

Villas-Boas had a large group of players to select from for this one, while Portsmouth had contrasting fortunes after naming only five players on the bench, which included three youngsters who have had almost no first-team experience.

Considering the resources at hand, two different eleven’s were selected for each half, and both had a mixture of experience and youngsters as the management looked to try out where the youngsters stand when it comes to the first-team.

The first-half eleven started with a 4-3-3 formation, something which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone as Villas-Boas has always played with this formation during his short managerial career till date.

The only senior players missing from the squad were Petr Cech, who reportedly had a knock, and Alex, whose absence provided with more questions than answers as there was no official line for his non-involvement, but since then the matter has been cleared after a recent injury was declared by the club.

Fernando Torres, Florent Malouda and Daniel Sturridge formed the front three, with Kalas getting another run-out at centre of defence after starting against Wycombe in midweek. Another youngster who started was Billy Clifford, someone who had a terrific last year, although he did not play at his usual position of right-back, but on the right side of a midfield three.

The first chance of the game fell to Portsmouth after Kitson and Norris had combined well, but it was cleared by Cole, before Varney could do anything about it.

However, Chelsea were soon in the lead thanks to a horrific own-goal from former blue, Tal Ben-Haim. Fernando Torres had crossed in from the right, but it was misjudged by Halford inside his own box, and it went straight to Ben-Haim, who instinctively tried to clear it, but instead put it into his own net and gave Henderson no chance in goal.

The game was played like a proper friendly with no side being able to stamp their authority on the match and didn’t have many clear cut chances. There were still half-chances for the Blues. Firstly, Fernando Torres went close from a Zhirkov corner, and then Sturridge troubled the keeper from a ferocious free-kick from 30yards out.

The second-half started with a whole new eleven, as Villas-Boas made full use of his squad, but stuck with the same formation, which no doubt we will start the season with as well.

Second part of the game followed almost the same pattern as the first, with the new Chelsea line-up, now full of experienced personnel, showing rustiness in their game.

Nathaniel Chalobah was again thrust into first-team action at his tender age of 16, after being first brought into the limelight in a last season friendly; no doubt the club’s expectations from this talented lad are still as high as last year.

The chances were few and far between as one may expect, but Portsmouth did open up the Chelsea defence with Varney straight on goal, but was brought down by Hilario and a penalty was given. The ensuing penalty was then saved by the experienced Portuguese stopper with a low diving save.

The penalty further highlighted the uncertainty in Chelsea’s defence, which often showed some suicidal behaviour, something which isn’t expected of the Blues even if this was only a friendly.

Didier Drogba, McEachran and Anelka all had their shots saved, but to call them anything more than half-chances  just wouldn’t be fair.

Portsmouth may not have the largest of squads, but they still do possess some quality in their first eleven, with many of them having past Premiership experience, and rightly gave the Blues a good game.

A draw probably would have a fair result on the day, although the huge number of Chelsea fans that traveled down South probably deserved this result.

These are still early days and to dwell too much on the performance or the result would be just naivety.

André Villas-Boas was largely satisfied with the performance, but admitted there’s still work to be done, he said; ‘There are some positive signs and negative signs but mostly positive,’ said Villas-Boas after the game.

‘It’s one of the most difficult grounds to visit and Portsmouth always put in a good challenge. We were happy to come across just three days after the Wycombe game and overall we’re pretty pleased.

He also indicated about as to who will be travelling during the Asia tour, he continued; ‘Bear in mind we used two teams, one in the first-half and one in the second-half. This is most likely the players who will come to Asia, along with [Slobodan] Rajkovic, Alex and Petr Cech.’

‘So most of the boys were out and it is good for us to have this kind of challenge that Portsmouth always gives us.’

Chelsea first half (4-3-3): Turnbull; Ferreira (c), Kalas, Ivanovic, Cole; B Clifford, Mikel, Zhirkov; Sturridge, Torres, Malouda.

Chelsea second half (4-3-3): Hilario; Van Aanholt (Bertrand 69), Terry (c), Chalobah, Bosingwa; Benayoun, McEachran, Lampard; Anelka, Drogba, Kalou.

Goal: Tal Ben-Haim (own goal 6’)

Chelsea’s pre-season tour concluded on a sour note with yet another defeat due to defensive errors.

The match started well enough, with almost a full strength line-up missing only Drogba and Cech from the starting XI, although the former was on the bench.

Chelsea kicked off the first half and within a few minutes Lampard had a shot on goal that the Hamburg keeper, Rost, managed to clear to safety. Hamburg hit back almost immediately with Petric testing Turnbull who saved well.

Lampard and Kalou both had opportunities to open the scoring yet it was the 23rd minute before a goal finally came, however it wasn’t born of the fruits of nice approach play.

Michael Essien closed down the Hamburg defence and robbed Pitroipa of the ball, driving into the area. Just as many expected him to pull the trigger, he squared the ball to Lampard who slotted home his second goal of pre-season to make it 1-0.

The rest of the half played out with Chelsea largely dominating, and looking strong in all areas of the park with Ashley Cole, Essien and the goalscorer; Lampard, looking especially sharp. Terry picked up a booking as the half drew to a close for a late challenge, and the ref called proceedings to a halt.

The half time period saw only one change by Chelsea, with Didier Drogba getting his first taste of match action, replacing fellow Ivorian Salomon Kalou. It wasn’t long before Didier, understandably rusty, to get involved in the action.

It was Anelka however who got the half’s early opportunities, forcing a save from Rost and then scoring what looked to be a legitimate goal, only for it to be struck off by the increasingly petty referee, for an alleged handball.

Chelsea then made a raft of changes, Ivanovic leaving the pitch after a knock to the head, to be replaced by Carvalho, and soon after Zhirkov and Benayoun replaced Cole and Lampard respectively.

The loss of Lampard made a clear difference to the midfield, with possession squandered easily and gaps appearing in front of the back four, allowing Hamburg more and more attacking options, with Chelsea having less and less in reply.

Ancelotti introduced Bruma and Kakuta in place of Ferreira and Anelka, yet sadly the changes had little time to take effect before Hamburg equalised, and it was yet another error that cost the goal.

Yuri Zhirkov attempted a back pass to Ross Turbull, but with the pass lofted high and with not enough momentum, Petric was able to get to it before the onrushing Turnbull, to poke it home and make it 1-1.

Chelsea tried to press in order to find another goal, yet in commiting people forwards left the defence exposed even more. With Mikel fading, Kakuta unable to get on the ball, and Drogba coming deep in order to get the ball, Chelsea’s shape disintegrated.

It wasn’t long before Hamburg scored again, and with only four minutes left on the clock, a ball that should have been cleared by either Terry or Carvalho was missed by both of them, as Son took full advantage to steal the ball and slot past Turnbull to make it 2-1.

There was little chance of an equaliser as Chelsea’s approach play was lethargic and easily snuffed out by Hamburg, whose superior fitness level showed late on, having played two more pre-season matches than Chelsea.

The ref brought the match to a close after a couple of minutes injury time, and called an end to what has been a pretty miserable pre-season tour, certainly one of the worst results wise in a very long time.

Carlo was typically honest after the match, stating; ‘We are making a lot of mistakes in this moment. We know we made a mistake, now we have to show more character and more concentration. Physically it was not so bad.’

He continued; ‘There are some players in good condition; there are some players who need more time to be fit. After eight days of training it is impossible to be fit. This is not a good start for us but we hope the next game against Manchester United we will come back to win.’

Chelsea (4-3-3): Turnbull; Ferreira (Bruma 67), Ivanovic (Carvalho 53), Terry (c), Cole (Zhirkov 61); Essien, Mikel, Lampard (Benayoun 61); Kalou (Drogba H-T), Anelka (Kakuta 67), Malouda.

Attendance: 47,440

In a few hours Chelsea will kick off their fourth and final pre-season match against Hamburg in the Volksparkstadion, Germany.

After a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Frankfurt on Sunday, Ancelotti will be looking for a better display from his team as part of the preparation for the Community Shield match with United this coming weekend.

With all the players back from the World Cup now, and only a few notable absentees remaining in England for treatment to injuries, it’s expected that Carlo will name as a strong a side as possible, and one that will more or less the same as that for Wembley match on Sunday.

Branislav Ivanovic is expected to start centrally with John Terry, with Cole and Ferreira the full backs initially, however expect game time for the impressive Van Aanholt and also Michael Mancienne too as the game progresses.

Lampard, Essien and Benayoun are all also expected to start in order to bring them up to match fitness, and we can expect to see Kalou, Anelka and Malouda as the probable front line with Mikel also taking the field at some point.

There should be plenty of opportunity for some of the younger squad as the game goes on, with Matic, McEachran and possibly Kakuta also getting the chance to stake their claims for game time this season.

The match kicks off at 17:00 and is only on Chelsea TV. We’ll endeavour to keep you updated with the action via Twitter.

The goalkeeping situation at Chelsea warrants further scrutiny after a string of mistakes by Hilario against Frankfurst, followed a weak display by Turnbull against Ajax.

With many of the bigger name players returning from the World Cup, it was nice to see such luminary players as Lampard, Terry, Anelka and Malouda return to the starting line-up. Many players were still clearly rusty, but it was Hilario who took centre stage in this game, for all the wrong reasons.

The match started well enough with early chances for Kalou and Malouda, and new signing Yossi Benayoun getting involved with the play whenever he could, and Bruma looking assured at the back.

However in the 24th minute it all went wrong, a breakdown in communication between Hilario and JT in the first half, then opting to dribble with the ball when he should have cleared it, led to Chelsea being 1-0 down at half time as Amanatidis took advantage to set up Ochs who scored with relative ease.

Half time saw a raft of Chelsea changes, with Carvalho, Essien, Ivanovic, Lampard and younger players, Mancienne, Borini, Van Aanholt and Matic joining them, and Chelsea again started brightly with Mancienne and Van Aanholt looking good in the full back positions.

It was a break by Van Aanholt, cutting inside and driving at the penalty area that set up Lampard, who latched onto a through ball to poke it past the keeper, then follow it up to knock it home. The first Lampard goal of the season, and took him less than 20 minutes of football.

Frankfurt then changed their own team around with a couple of substitutions, and as the half wore on they had the lions share of the chances. Essien again looked good in the middle, playing some lovely cross field passes, Sinclair showed flashes of pace and Van Aanholt continued to impress.

However in the 82nd minute, some poor defending by Matic in the area saw use conceded a penalty from which Alintop converted for Frankfurt, to make the score 2-1. Moments later, Hilario almost made an identical error to the one in the first half, however this time Carvalho was able to get a touch on the shot to prevent a goal.

The final moments of the match saw more football go Frankfurts way, with only sporadic play by Chelsea producing anything of note. An attack late on saw a Van Aanholt shot just flash past the post, but with all said and done, the result was a fair one.

We shouldn’t take this defeat to badly, there were lots of rusty legs out there and we are still missing Cech and Drogba, there has already been encouraging signs from players both young and old on this tour, and we should see more of a competitive performance mid-week against Hamburg.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Hilario; Ferreira (Mancienne H-T), Bruma (Carvalho H-T), Terry (Ivanovic H-T), Cole (Van Aanholt); Benayoun (Lampard H-T), Mikel (Essien H-T), Zhirkov (Matic H-T); Kalou (Sinclair 58), Anelka (Borini H-T), Malouda (McEachran 58).

Eintracht Frankfurt (4-4-2: Nikolov (Fahrmann H-T); Ochs, Franz, Kohler, Meier; Amanatidis (Atlintop 59), Gekas (Caio 59), Russ, Jung; Schwegler, Tzavellas.

Attendance: 45,000

In a little over three hours, Chelsea will kick off the next stage of their pre-season schedule away to Eintracht Frankfurt.

The squad flew out earlier this week, however is still without Frank Lampard, and Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge stayed back for treatment to a minor ankle injury, with Frank sidelined by a virus.

Gael Kakuta, back from his exploits at the U19 Euros, will also join up with the squad during for this match, and the following game against Hamburg on Wednesday.

Didier Drogba and Yossi Benayoun have also travelled however Cech, Alex, Bosingwa and Deco are all ruled out due to various injuries.

The full squad is:

Hilario, Turnbull, Walker, Bruma, Terry, Mancienne, van Aanholt, Ferreira, Cole, Carvalho, Ivanovic, Essien, Mikel, Matic, Zhirkov, Malouda, Benayoun, McEachran, Sinclair, Kalou, Anelka, Drogba, Borini.

The match kicks off at 15:30, and you can follow us on Twitter for updates.

A flying visit to Amsterdam was second on Chelsea’s pre-season agenda, with the itinerary surrounding Friday’s match with Ajax demanding a twelve-hour round trip.

The mood in the camp on the flight home may be a rather damp one after Carlo Ancelotti’s boys (and they were boys) fell to a 3-1 defeat against their Champions League opponents.

An own goal from Jeffrey Bruma put the hosts ahead in the sixth minute, but Daniel Sturridge equalised midway through the first half.

Minutes later, however, a howler from Ross Turnbull allowed Siem de Jong to restore the lead, and the seal was put on the result in stoppage time when Korean forward Suk Hyun-Jun added a third.

With Petr Cech and Alex joining Michael Mancienne, Yuri Zhirkov, Jose Bosingwa and Yossi Benayoun on the injury list, Ancelotti’s squad took on an even younger look, with 17 year-old Rohan Ince the only new face in the squad.

Two changes were made to the team which started at Crystal Palace, with Turnbull donning the keeper’s gloves, and Billy Clifford – another 17 year-old – coming in at right back.

Jeffrey Bruma moved into his preferred role in the heart of the defence, where he would be partnered by fellow Dutchman Patrick van Aanholt.

Whilst the visitors featured five teenagers, Martin Jol’s side lined up with eight internationals, a reflection of the stage they are at ahead of Champions League Qualifying.

World Cup trio Maarten Stekelenburg, Christian Eriksen and Eyong Enoh started, but the likes of Gregory van der Wiel and Luis Suárez were afforded the same rest as Chelsea’s South African performers.

In front of roughly 20,000 fans at the end of Ajax’s open day, the pace was languid and slow, with neither side keen to show much urgency.

Nonetheless, a lead was taken after just six minutes. A wicked ball from the right left Bruma and Turnbull uncertain, and the Dutch Under-21 international flicked the ball away from his goalkeeper and into the back of the net in trying to clear.

Ajax looked settled by the goal and had the better of the next ten minutes but Chelsea kept themselves composed and were able to get back on terms halfway through the first period.

Neat approach play from Sturridge and Di Santo gave the former possession 25 yards from goal. He struck the ball clean and low, and it beat Stekelenburg inside his left-hand post. It was a fantastic finish.

Unfortunately, parity lasted a matter of moments. Stekelenburg’s hopeful punt upfield appeared to be running tamely through to Turnbull, who had to backtrack his ground, having judged the ball poorly.

As it ran towards the edge of the area he tried to secure possession, but in fear of taking it outside of his area, could only palm it towards de Jong, who rolled the ball past Bruma’s despairing lunge and into the open goal.

It’s not the first time Turnbull has appeared calamitous in a Chelsea shirt and won’t have helped his chances of starting the season as Cech’s deputy.

An unlikely flurry of activity looked to have shocked both teams back into their previously comatose states, with the remainder of the half only notable for a strong run and cross by Clifford which left Ajax defenders uncertain as to how to deal with it.

Three changes arrived at the break, with Hilário replacing Turnbull as expected, whilst Scott Sinclair and 15 year-old Nathaniel Chalobah entered the fray for Clifford and McEachran.

For schoolboy Chalobah, this was another giant leap, having played ten minutes at centre-back against a young Palace team a week ago. Now, he was at right-back against a European powerhouse.

It was Hilário who had work to do in saving Marvin Zeegelaar’s shot some fifteen minutes into the second half, and both teams began looking towards further options from their respective benches.

Lalkovic, Ince, Cork and Conor Clifford all took to the field, leaving just Kaby unused, whilst van Aanholt limped off with an impact injury to his leg. It didn’t appear to be particularly serious, and he was perhaps taken off as a mere precaution.

Sinclair had a brief sight of goal which amounted to nothing, but in stoppage time Suk tapped in Bonavacia’s cross at the far post after a neat build-up to make it 3-1 seconds before the final whistle ended proceedings.

The game rarely moved out of first gear, but will have served a purpose for both clubs. Chelsea afforded full matches to Matic, Sturridge, Bruma and Bertrand, whilst Mikel and Essien played considerable time, and general fitness looks better approaching the start of the season.

The back four which finished the match (Chalobah-Bruma-Ince-Bertrand) had an average age of just 18.5 years and for the most part looked comfortable, with Chalobah in particular putting in a decent showing.

There are questions to ask, but pre-season is what it is. Over the next week, the senior professionals will return and some of the younger contingent will disperse into Steve Holland’s reserve set-up, but they’ll be richer for this experience.

Chelsea: Turnbull (Hilario 45); B Clifford (Chalobah h-t), Bruma, Bertrand, Van Aanholt (Ince 64); Mikel (C Clifford 83); Essien (c) (Cork 73), Matic; McEachran (Sinclair 45); Sturridge, Di Santo (Lalkovic 64)