I really don't think Joe Cole will just waltz back into the team right now; Ballack is playing very, very well and is scoring goals; Essien and Mikel are as effective as ever and though he might not be scoring plenty of goals playing at the tip of the diamond, Lampard is still tallying up the assists he's provided so far this season (six so far). So who do we drop? I would imagine it would be either one of Ballack, Mikel, or Essien, but is that deserved, when all three have been very consistent so far this term? I really can't see Joe starting for a couple of matches - maybe 30 minutes in the next couple of games will be of greater benefit to him in terms of match fitness - but he will have to impress the manager to win a place in the starting eleven. He might even replace Malouda, who hasn't been playing as well as the end of last season, but still decent enough in my opinion. In that case we'd bring Lampard into one of the wider roles, but we he be effective there - I'm not so sure.