The Brazilian-born Portuguese international became the forgotten man at Stamford Bridge, as Scolari's reign ended in disappointment and Guus Hiddink took a Deco-less Blues to FA Cup glory against Everton at Wembley in May.
Last night at Sunderland though, he netted a quality goal which helped his side to a 3-1 victory at the Stadium of Light, and he is feeling optimistic that things are set to improve for him personally.
"Last season was the worst season of my career, because I never had so many injuries before, but I don't want to talk about this. This season things can be different," he told the club's official website.
"I know I am well and fit and I can play. I want to help the team and I think the coach trusts me and spoke to me and I just want to play. I started well, I train hard and play well, and I want to keep this.
"It was a good goal and that it helped us to win made it more important because we had scored a second goal and after this they started to press - but then I scored a third and I think it was finished then.
"I think we did a great game,' the Portuguese international reckoned. 'All the players enjoyed the game. Of course we started not well because they scored first even though we played well. It was a difficult game but our reaction was good.
"I have a contract and they respect me here: the fans, the people in the club and the new coach. It is a fantastic place to work and I just want to help the club.
"I had other offers but I never said that I want to go. I just said the last season was difficult and I wouldn't like this one to be like the last one - but I talked with the club and the coach and the first time he said he wanted to keep me in the squad, I said okay, I want to stay."
Much has been made of the 'diamond' formation employed by new Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, which was tweaked last night into a 4-3-2-1 system. Deco feels happy in the new system, and is sure that the manager has the players at his disposal to make it work.
"The system is good because we have the ball all the time," he explained.
"All the time we have one player more than the other team in midfield. When you have good players it's good because you have a lot of possession. But it's difficult to defend because you don't have a winger to help but I think it is good to play.
"The players have good experience and it is easy to understand. The coach has some options to play the same system and change the players."
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