Ballack arrived under much scrutiny in 2006. He was instantly labelled by all as a Roman Abramovich buy, and was widely seen as unsuited to Chelsea’s style of play as his role was already more than amply covered by local hero Frank Lampard.
However, the man who impressively stepped into Lampard’s boots while the vice-captain was injured earlier in the season, pointed to the 4-0 thrashing of West Ham followed by the 3-0 win over Olympiakos (games in which the two combined expertly) as evidence that the duo are slowly but surely becoming a force to be reckoned with.
"It's getting better from game to game," said the German skipper. "I had a long injury before and he had one as well. "It looks good at the moment in the last games and I hope it will still be going in the next weeks."
Chelsea skipper John Terry further backed the Ballack-Lampard combination for the centre of midfield.
"Hopefully that shut a few people up because they can play together," he said. "They are two world-class players with great movement and they both like to get forward and score goals as we've seen against Olympiacos.
"Michael's back in the side and he's fully fit and playing out of his skin like we know he can."
But of course, the Blues have more in reserves to fill the midfield if called upon. The emerging talent of John Obi Mikel, the ever-impressive energy of Michael Essien and the influence of Claude Makelele means its not just the Frank-and-Michael show at Stamford Bridge.
With such a wealth of quality available, Ballack admits at times (such as the Carling Cup final he missed out on) players will have to have their noses put out of joint.
"I'm happy with my game at the moment," Ballack said. "Everyone wants to play so it's not easy for the coach. That is always a point, the balance of the team. Especially in midfield where we have good players - Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel - we have a lot of possibilities. It's a good squad
