In his second column of the season, Pat Nevin says farewell to a striker, but can't see the departure leaving us short at free-kicks.

The first thing I would like to say this week is good luck to Andriy Shevchenko with his move 'back home' to Milan.

Rarely has such a top quality player had so much stick in his time at a British club. There is no getting round the fact that, for a reported £30million, his return was not of the standard expected, but I have always had a soft spot for the Ukrainian.

Many other legendary players would not have put up with the jibes and would have been content to thumb their noses at the critics, gone in a big huff and picked up the wages without making the requisite effort. But for any weaknesses, self inflicted or circumstantial, could anyone really ever doubt his efforts when he was on the park for the Blues?

I could give a host of reasons or excuses for his inability to play for Chelsea the way he used to for Milan, but maybe the man deserves the dignity of us just saying, 'it didn't work out, the timing wasn't right and we hope that when he gets back to Italy he rediscovers whatever he lost in England.'

His public profile has been exemplary throughout his time in London. I just hope he doesn't spoil it with snipes from the continent when the ink is dry on his new deal; he is better than that.

From Milan to Wigan and reality faced Mr Scolari in his first trip up north. I suspect the manager wasn't surprised by the tough game given by 'The Latics' after the comfortable outing the previous week.

There are going to be plenty of games, away from home in particular, where the players are going to have to fight for the right to play their football. Even a quick look at the likes of Stoke City and their game at the weekend showed that no team is going to roll over too easily this time round.

Last week I was waxing lyrical about Deco and once again he stole the show in the first four minutes with that outstanding free kick. A quick look around the squad now and it appears that there is a rather large queue beginning to form behind those dead ball situations.

During Euro 2008 did anyone see the free kick that Michael Ballack scored against Austria? I only ask because I was at the game and I didn't see it. What I did see was a rather vague blur as the ball streaked into the back of the net, threatening to rip a hole in the rigging.

I don't suppose the goalkeeper spotted it either as it whizzed and yet Deco strolls up to the front of the queue in front of Michael, Frank Lampard and even Joe Cole to deliver the moment of genius at Wigan.

There is also Didier Drogba who fancies himself from anywhere within a 35-yard radius of the goal when he is fit, so once again the club looks to be a serious danger from free kicks, if they can agree who is to take them each week.

Back to Deco's strike and I thought it was reminiscent of a certain Glenn Hoddle in his prime, shaping up to curl it into the near post only to slew it up and over to the far post, flummoxing the keeper in the meantime.

Which of course leads us neatly to this weekend's tie with Spurs who Glenn apparently used to play for. Actually I think we can admit he was actually quite good for them sometimes now that a few years have passed and that he went on to play for us as well.

Spurs are currently still producing silky midfielders but there is a major question whether or not Juande Ramos has got his squad well enough balanced yet. Certainly if Chelsea play to their capabilities then the visitors will not be able to live with us, but one thing I suspect will happen is that we will witness a very enjoyable game of football.

Spurs are a passing side who cannot rely on power plays, so for once a London Derby might not be such a frenetic affair. With confidence rock hard at the Bridge following a fine start to the season and with Spurs confidence as brittle as stained glass it is a great opportunity to continue the fine start.

On the subject of fine starts, last week's competition, the first of the season, had almost an almost 100 per cent success rate from you all. CSA (Centro Sportivo Alagoano) was indeed Phil Scolari's first job in management, isn't Wikipedia a great thing?

The winner picked at random by my young assistant will receive a DVD of last season's campaign highlights…pause for drum roll …It was Gregor MacLean from Dartmouth.

It was far too easy of course, so in a related vein, here is a much tougher question this week to win a prize of the same description. What was the highest opening day winning score line (league only) that Chelsea has had in the past 30 years?

Answers as ever to pat.nevin@chelseafc.com And if you do not know the answer, go on, have a guess.