Chelsea made it six wins out of six in pre-season by beating Aston Villas 2-0 and reclaimed the Barclay's Asia Trophy. Out of all the pre-season games so far, this was a better test of Chelsea's prospects in the upcoming season. First of all, it was against a Premier League team. Even a decent (top ten) Premier League team. Secondly, Aston Villa has been training and preparing for the new season as a team, not just an "All Star" collection put together in a hurry for one occasion. 

"It was good. We managed to find the correct space, it was a good pass from Bosingwa to Nico and then following from that, we really found some good spaces today." (Source)

"Good for him because in the end when you find the back of the net it gives you more confidence but for us it's not important.

We are happy with whoever scores, we had a couple of good chances today, not only from Fernando, a couple from Anelka, a couple from Daniel and we are happy the team is able to put them in the back of the net whoever scores and for us to be able to continue winning." (Source)

Offensive Defense

Finally, I would like to give a tip of my hat to the defense that has kept six clean sheets in six games. Since we have dominated the possession and the game, there weren't much for the defense to do but when they were needed, they did their job. Chelsea started with the back line of Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry and Zhirkov, with Cech in goal. Alex came in at half time due to a minor injury to Ivanovic but the transition was seamless. Terry has been a rock in the defense through out the pre-season and this game was not an exception. When asked about the impressive defensive work by Chelsea so far, Villas-Boas has this to say:

"Our defensive work is an offensive weapon, that's what we have been telling the players. We want to attack more so for us to do that we have to get it back as soon as possible.

These players have an excellent acceptance of these principles and are able to apply it. Thanks to them and their commitment we are able to put these ideas across and I think they are enjoying it." (Source)

Using good pressure to get possession back quickly and applying offensive prowess as the best defensive measure? Barcelona-esque, wouldn't you say?