Football: Dominic Fifield blogs on Guangzhou v Chelsea

The talk has been of the potential glittering arrivals of the Kaka and Robinho, of the craft and invention that can still be gleaned from an ageing Deco, and of the implications should Frank Lampard up sticks and leave. Yet, even in the stifling heat of Guangzhou through the opening exchanges of Chelsea's first pre-season friendly, it appears that this club's shrewdest midfield dealing of the summer might already have taken place. Already, it is hard to envisage this team shorn of Michael Essien. Luiz Felipe Scolari took to the dug-out for the first time as Chelsea's manager here and, while he was less animated than he had been with Brazil and Portugal, he would have struggled to suppress his enthusiasm for the Ghanaian's contribution. Essien's three-season career at Stamford Bridge has been spent flitting from position to... [read full story]