Joe Cole is convinced Chelsea will have rattled Premiership rivals Manchester United with the way they thumped Portsmouth on Sunday.

Cole said: "It is early days and you can't take too much from the first game. However, we watched United beat Fulham 5-1 a couple of years ago and we were thinking, 'Look at them, they look strong'.

"They must have watched us against Portsmouth and thought we looked strong.

"The first game is over. It's great for everyone and great for the manager because of all the expectation.

"But this was a great start - opening day of the season, you always want to be at home and you want to have a good start. This is a cracking squad and this is a cracking result."