London - Ever since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in the summer of 2003, the sight of Chelsea at or near the top of the English Premier League table has become a common one.

Back-to-back Premier League successes in 2005 and 2006 soon followed but after an impressive first season under Jose Mourinho they were never loved by fans for their style, which was pragmatic, at best.

Until now, that is.

Under the tutelage of Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, who will celebrate his 60th birthday on Sunday by leading Chelsea at Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea have become easy on the eye.

"It's like watching Brazil" - a chant that would have seemed unthinkable a year or two ago - now rings out occasionally when Chelsea are in full flow, as 27 goals in 11 league games this season would testify.

Scolari, whose attacking style with both Brazil and Portugal made his name around the world, has encouraged his full-backs to get forward at every opportunity.

In addition, he has made some astute signings, bringing in Deco to add some class in the midfield, and the likes of Jose Bosingwa, at full-back.

The fans seem to love the results and the players appear to be enjoying it too.

"Everyone's warmed to him," Chelsea captain John Terry said recently. "Maybe he's made Chelsea a friendlier place to come to, and he's just a great guy."

Frank Lampard, enjoying even more freedom under Scolari, said there was more than one reason why they were playing such good football.

"Everyone's made a big thing about the full-backs getting forward and attacking, and they are doing that more than ever, but that's just one element of our style," he said.

"We've got a really good system going in which John Mikel Obi is playing out of his skin in the holding role, filling in almost as a centre half at times, and people are struggling to handle the movement we're coming up with all over the pitch.

"People don't remember just how good we were in that first year under Mourinho, the number of points we amassed (95), the number of goals we gave away (15). That was very special.

"Now, there's a similar kind of mentality going into games, feeling very strong even if the football is slightly different. The togetherness, the spirit, the way we're knocking the ball around - it's the football I've always wanted to play. It's certainly football every fan would enjoy watching."

The secret of Scolari's success. Perhaps we should leave it to the man himself to try to explain.

"I was a player. Not a very good one, but I played for 16 years and always for the team because I didn't have good quality," he said.

"When I started as a coach, it was the same. I fight for my players in each country that I've worked in - in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Brazil, Portugal - because they fight for me out on the pitch. Players respect those characteristics." (dpa)