As one of the more attack-minded players in Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad, Salomon Kalou has been encouraged at the start made under the Brazilian coach.

The 23-year-old Ivorian scored the first goal of the Brazilian's Blues reign, albeit in a friendly game, before seeing Frank Lampard, Franco Di Santo and Shaun Wright-Phillips wrap up a comfortable victory.

However it was the style and freedom that the side played with that most pleased Kalou, who occupied a centre-forward role in the first half before moving wide right in the second; giving him belief that this could be the season we reclaim some major silverware.

'Since I have been at Chelsea I have played every position, right wing, left wing, this season I might play more as second striker and feel confident in that position, with top names in front of me like Didier [Drogba] and [Nicolas] Anelka,' he said.

'Everyone will have a chance to show what they can do, and I will try to make the difference. Of course it is my goal to be in the team, last year I played left wing, this year it may be a challenge to be second striker and I look forward to it.'

With the addition of Deco to the midfield, Kalou believes there is plenty of flair in the Chelsea side to rival the much discussed styles of Arsenal and Manchester United.

'Playing an attacking game is always good, before it was about not leaking any goals but this I think will be a different system and we have players like Lampard, Deco and [Michael] Ballack who can bring football to the strikers. It will be an interesting season for us.

'[Before], there were some games where we were waiting and we didn't take our chances. This year we can make it better and we have a lot of competitions to play for and a strong team with different styles of player.

'We never played like that before with Deco, Essien, Lampard. That's the first time we played with four middle men and two strikers. It's a different system and every player tried to attack.'

Speaking on Manchester United in particular, whose attacking array boasts Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, Kalou said: 'I think it makes some difference sometimes. They feel comfortable with that system, freedom to attack and do whatever they can do.

'We have that kind of player so why not play that system? We can be the best team on this style of play. We try different systems and today we started the game like that, in the second half we played 4-3-3 so we will see how the team feels about it.'

Unfortunately for us, Kalou will soon be heading off to meet up with his international team-mates as he prepares for next month's Olympic Games in China, yet he promises to

'It's a new chance for me and I will do my best to impress [the manager] every game and become a better player for the team. Even though I am not starting the season with them when I come back I am going to do my best,' he said.

Next up for Chelsea are the Chengdu Blades, and you can see the game exclusively live on Chelsea TV from 1pm on Saturday.