Over time, England has witnessed some truly great footballing forces. From the dominant Liverpool sides of the 70's and 80's, to the unbeatable Arsenal side of last season and it seems to be that football operates in a cycle, one that sees the balance of power shifting every decade or so. Once again we are witnessing a change in the balance of power. Since winning the treble in 1999, Manchester United's stranglehold on English football has weakened allowing Arsenal in particular to challenge them for the honourable accolade of being England's best football team. But as the Arsenal team of the early nineties found, after they dislodged Liverpool from the summit of English football in 1989, success is a slippery character and there are other teams waiting to pick up the pieces of a shattered attempt at footballing supremacy. Then it was Manchester United, now it is Chelsea.

I would exhibit no surprise if Chelsea won all four competitions they are in this season. As much as I hate to say it, they probably will beat Liverpool in the final of the Carling Cup. Cue Manchester United fans from Surrey to Singapore repeating their mantra (last heard in March 2002), "The Carling Cup means nothing to us....", a common misconception amongst beaten Carling Cup participants, but it doesn't hide the fact that they were outplayed and outwitted by their London rivals. Chelsea just had too much for them, and that's 3-0 to Jose Mourihno over Alex Ferguson, who as yet, has not found a way to defeat the Portuguese maestro.

With all the money and all the talent Chelsea have at their disposal, their success this season should be emulated for a number of seasons to come. It's too early to say whether Chelsea will become the new dominant force in English football for years to come, but at the moment they are the best team in England by quite a distance with the potential to write themselves in to the annals of football history by dominating English football for the next ten years. I understand this is a hard pill to swallow for Manchester United fans in particular but certainly for now, it is difficult to deny.