In-form Malouda no longer feeling blue

Florent Malouda believes that by keeping his head down and playing the long game he can provide good value for Chelsea FC over the course of his four-year contract.

Contrasting fortunes
Last season, his first at Stamford Bridge, brought contrasting fortunes for the French international as he began promisingly only to find his form and momentum blunted by injury. At the start of this campaign he also had to bide his time as a galaxy of Stamford Bridge stars vied to make an early impression on manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. Now Malouda is having an impact again. Certain of a starting place in Wednesday's home game against AS Roma, he is relishing the chance to catch the eye in a Chelsea team who under their Brazilian boss are playing entertaining football.

'Quality players'
Both in UEFA Champions League Group A and the Premier League, the Blues are enjoying the view from the summit – though in each case they share top spot, with CFR 1907 Cluj and Liverpool FC respectively. Yet with everything in place for a successful season, the 28-year-old winger hopes to make a more lasting contribution over the duration of the ten-month marathon. "I am enjoying it at the moment, but the season is very long and, because of my injury, I wasn't able to experience a full season last time," Malouda said. "The most important thing with all the injuries is that the spirit is good in the squad. We have a group of quality players and you can see that everybody is enjoying themselves on the pitch. "

Injury problems
The misfortune he encountered in his first term in England following a reported €20m move from Olympique Lyonnais is now affecting others, and Chelsea could have as many as eight first-choice members of the Scolari set absent at kick-off against Roma on Matchday 3. Malouda is just keen to hold on to his place, saying: "I think I showed my best form last year but maybe not every time. I was used to playing at that level as a regular and it was up and down for me, but sometimes that happens in your career.

Confident and calm
"I just said to myself that I had come to Chelsea for four years and that I had to be patient and accept things like injuries and the fact that sometimes you are not in good form. That's life. I never thought about leaving [in the summer] but sometimes when you don't speak other people speak for you. I didn't say anything. I am somebody who is really confident and calm, and I just focused on training, enjoying myself, and trying to show in every game what I can do."