I'm not sure, but it's gone. It took luck for Chelsea to claim one lonely point at Upton Park today and it's hard to believe this is the same team that was mowing down all competition through November.

But December has treated the Blues as it seems to have been treating the Dallas Cowboys for the last decade-plus. A decisive loss to Manchester City came after falling to Blackburn in penalties in a Carling Cup exit, and Chelsea have only managed one point from every match since with the exception of a 2-1 win over Portsmouth.

                                                  

Derby or not, Chelsea has no excuse to draw to a West Ham team fighting to stay out of the drop. In fact, if a questionable penalty call did not go their way they would have faced a truly embarrassing road loss in a weekend that also saw United fall at Craven Cottage for the second time. Couple this with the fact that Didier Drogba was the only reason all points were not dropped to Everton last weekend in a match that displayed just how awful the set piece defending has been. Honestly, if I'm any other team in the league, I'm trying to draw as many corners as humanly possible when I play Chelsea. They did an admirable job defending today but, again, it was West Ham. About the only promising performance came from late sub Yuri Zhirkov, who displayed just how dangerous he can be out on the wing.

I have faith that the defending can improve but I'm a little less enthusiastic about the looming cloud of the African Nations Cup -- a tournament that will see to Drogba's absence from over a month of matches. Say what you want about him, he is a leading candidate for player of the year and Chelsea have been bailed out far too many times by his dominance in front of the goal. Which poses the obvious question: who will score when he leaves?

Obviously, Chelsea will look to Nicolas Anelka to fill those red-laced Vapors. But little confidence can be drawn from his game-time absence from today's match. Anelka has shown many times before that he can carry the load but his game lacks the danger of the Ivorian's. Salomon Kalou will be missing as well, leaving the second striker's role for either Daniel Sturridge or Fabio Borini. Borini is too young and inexperienced to start on a regular basis, in my opinion,although he has shown that he at least has the ability to keep up. Sturridge seems like the more obvious choice but he has played very little this season. One wonders if the team is second guessing their decision to loan Franco Di Santo to Blackburn.

                                                     

But let's be real here. It's Chelsea. Their transfer ban has been suspended (for now?) and it would shock no one if a striker is purchased to fill the hole. The rumour mill has already lost its collective mind linking big name after big name to a West London move. Here is the list to date(understanding full well that most of this "news" comes from The Mirror):Sergio Aguero, Fernando Torres, Luis Fabiano and Edin Dzeko. More names to come I'm sure, but of those names Aguero seems a real possibility.  His is the longest running and most realistic of the rumoured players and he has all but flat-out stated that he wants to go to Chelsea.Would he fit? I don't know. He's small and he goes to ground easily,but every team could use a player with that much talent. I don't know how reliable the Dzeko rumour is, but he's a player I'd love to see in the Premier League. He's very tall and a real poacher inside the box.It would be an imposing addition to a Blues side that has few aerial threats.

Can anyone really replace Drogba, though. I seriously have my doubts. But the optimist in me sees his absence as a chance for the team to rediscover its overall quality. Knowing that "Drogba can't bail us out anymore," hopefully the team can regain its composure and return to its bread and butter: dominate possession and bend the opposition until it breaks. The confidence seems to be missing and it needs to return for this team to right the ship. Luck has been the theme and reason that this team remains in the driver seat, but it's crucial that Chelsea realizes that luck runs out.

Enough tired cliches for you? Need one more? OK. The team has been a shell of itself since falling at the Eastlands and its time for Ancelotti to get out that hairdryer we were all hearing about on his way in. Suck it up and finish the job, Gentlemen.

Written by Nick Degel, The Official Chelsea Blogger of the Goalmouth Scramble