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Rested, renovated and reinvigorated are London’s regal Blue Lions, resolute to return to the very top. The 2014-15 season spells the beginning of a new epoch for Chelsea as it has seen two of the club’s long-serving servants- Frank Lampard and Ashely Cole leave, making clear the faith the club has invested in its young blood. Weaknesses have been addressed, strengths have been strengthened further, high-profile purchases as well as unwilling sales have been made, but all-in-all, Chelsea enter the 2014-15 season with as good a shot at silverware as they will ever have.
Following a good-campaign-turned-bad, the West Londoners will look to replicate much of what they achieved last season. Securing the most number of wins against teams in the top-half of the table by quite a margin, their ability to switch between scintillating play and ‘pragmatic’ football, their wherewithal to shut down games with their organized approach, and their unflinching resistance against even the most threatening of attacks nearly earned them the title. Nearly. That is what Jose Mourinho will try to change this season.
TRANSFERS:
INS: Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid; £ 32 million), Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona, £ 30 million) Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid, £ 16 million), Mario Pasalic (Hadjuk Split; undisclosed), Didier Drogba (Galatasaray, free transfer)
OUTS: Frank Lampard (New York City; free transfer), Ashley Cole (AS Roma; free transfer), Romelu Lukaku (Everton; £ 28 million), Demba Ba (Besiktas; £ 8 million), Sam Hutchinson (Sheffield Wednesday; free transfer), Patrick van Aanholt (Sunderland; £ 1.5 million), Billy Clifford (Walsall, free transfer)
Loaned out: Tomas Kalas, Ryan Bertrand, Kenneth Omuero, Gael Kakuta, Mario Pasalic, Oriol Romeu, John Swift, Thorgan Hazard, Lucas Piazon.
SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Petr Cech, Thibaut Courtois, Mark Schwarzer, Jamal Blackman.
Defenders: John Terry, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Filipe Luis, Kurt Zouma, Nathan Ake.
Midfielders: Ramires, John Mikel Obi, Marco van Ginkel, Cesc Fabregas,Nemanja Matic, Eden Hazard, Oscar dos Santos, Willian Borges da Silva, Andre Schurrle, Mohamed Salah,Marko Marin, Victor Moses.
Strikers: Diego Costa, Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba.
MANAGER:
The self-styled Special One has his task cut out. He returned to Stamford Bridge last season with the immediate expectation of silverware. His failure to do so last season heaps a massive amount of pressure on his shoulders. Mourinho, the last person you’d expect to buckle under the pressure of expectation, has already drafted a master-plan for success
this season. He has made squad depth his watch-word, populating the squad with over 22 potential starters. In fact, from the picture below, you can discern that the depth of the Blues’ is greater than the Red Sea.
Last season, Mourinho often rued about lack of ‘recovery time’ for his players due to unorganized scheduling of fixtures and accused the authorities of laughing while preparing their fixture lists. A number of players often found themselves running on their reserve batteries, having to play back-to-back games. Having diagnosed this as a title-endangering issue, Mourinho realised that the determining of fixtures was beyond his control. So, he has done the next best thing and made his squad incredibly deep, with at least two contenders for every position on the pitch (including between the sticks). Now, regardless of how poor or laughable the authorities’ planning turns out to be, Mourinho can field a team of eleven fresh players in each game. Like they say, “If Mohammed will not go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed.”
‘Defend first, attack second’ has been Mourinho’s maxim right from his Porto days, and proved effective for the most part of last season. Structured defending and midfielders who track back will be the primary feature of Chelsea’s play this season. Even though this approach failed Chelsea at the most crucial of times (against Atletico Madrid) last season, it worked without a hiccough for the most part. And if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it right?
Another feature of the Mourinho school of coaching is Chelsea’s much-lambasted ‘park the bus’ recourse. This will be dealt with more closely under the next head.
Mourinho has his own methods, and quirky as they might seem, they come off better than any other manager in the world most of the time. So don’t be surprised if you witness juvenile comments, distasteful press conferences, exaggerated rants, eccentric mannerisms, frustrating strategy and so on. That’s how he works best. And being the person at the helm of Chelsea, expect no less from them.
FORMATION AND TACTICS:
THE 4-2-3-1 of last season:
Mourinho successfully utilised the 4-2-3-1 all of last season, so this should be his staple formation this season as well. The 4-2-3-1 essentially combines a conventional four-prong defence, a static anchor for a pivot, a dynamic regista, a flexible attacking trio capable of interchanging positions as well as tracking back, and of course a striker who likes to run at his markers, suiting both Mourinho’s squad and his defensive-minded approach to a T. Chelsea have bandied between the 4-2-3-1 and the 4-3-3, experimenting with both in the lead up to the season. Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1 sees Matic and Hazard being the two mainstays at ‘pivot’ and left wing respectively, and Fabregas and Oscar battling it out to play in the ‘hole’. Fabregas may also be deployed as the regista, however this is unlikely as he does not have the propensity towards falling back.
The 4-2-3-1’s two greatest advantages are its rigidity and its flexibility, which in itself is a paradox. All three of Chelsea’s full-backs- Azpilicueta, Ivanovic and Felipe Luis are adept at whipping in crosses and can make the occasional burst forward, overlapping the attackers on the flank. And with an aerially proficient target-man in Diego Costa at last, the flexibility of the 4-2-3-1 in allowing the full backs forward may prove to be a boon.
On the other hand the 4-2-3-1 also keeps in mind Mourinho’s defensive-mindedness, with Hazard and Willian retreating to deputise in the absence of the full-backs. Matic too tends to set camp in his own half rarely venturing into the opposition half, adding another layer of security ahead of the centre-backs.
The 4-2-3-1 is Chelsea’s most reliable and well-rounded bet, and if Diego Costa does indeed come good and put to bed the strikers’ curse at Chelsea, this formation could prove to be their expedient to success.
4-3-3: The unknown quantity
On paper, the 4-3-3 is a recipe for success at Stamford Bridge- it provides more defensive cover with Matic playing like a quasi-centre back. It serves the dual purpose of providing Oscar and Fabregas the freedom to move into advanced positions in and around the box and to craft through balls which Chelsea’s pacy wingers will thrive on. The 4-3-3 also provides Chelsea’s striker oodles and oodles of space to take on his defender without having to worry about three attacking midfielders ahead of him screaming their lungs out for that final pass. Most importantly though, the 4-3-3 enables Chelsea to dictate the tempo of the game with not one, not two, but three potential playmakers to shape the game as they like. Mourinho, having realised the potency of this formation has used it, shuffling about his players almost as much as the tried and tested 4-2-3-1 through Chelsea’s pre-season.
Its only drawback, however, is the fact that it requires Chelsea’s supremely talented attacking midfielders to play second-fiddle to the striker, who will be the focal point of their attack. This is something that the likes of Hazard and Oscar have never believed in doing, and is arguably the reason behind Torres’ miscarriage at Chelsea. If Hazard and Oscar continue trying to hog the limelight, Costa will be starved of service and will be rendered obsolete, making Chelsea’s attack toothless. Therefore, for the 4-3-3 to work successfully, it is absolutely essential that the midfield provides Costa with the service that he requires, and add that extra dimension of unselfishness to their game.
While Mourinho may not revert to the 4-3-3 formation right from the word go, don’t be surprised if he samples this formation against smaller teams when in commanding positions. And if the signs are positive, he may replace the 4-2-3-1 with the 4-3-3.
The emergency formation: “parking the bus”
When push comes to shove, people do desperate things. Which probably explains Mourinho’s famously infamous way of tackling crucial situations. Just like how turtles retreat into their shells when threatened, Chelsea have devised a method to shut down shop completely, sit deep and defend. Midfield and attack are compromised, and no less than nine Chelsea players create a ‘traffic jam’ in their own box, plugging any avenues for opposition players.
Expect Mourinho, the pioneer of this technique to employ this strategy this season as well, especially against big teams, when the Pensioners take an early lead. The midfield will transform itself into an additional stratum of defense, and the wingers will function as secondary full-backs on their respective flanks, making Chelsea impregnamble, with virtually no chink in their armour.
On paper this will remain a 4-2-3-1, but for all practical intents and purposes, it will be an 8-1-1, and much will hinge on the quick-as-silver Hazard, to use his dribbling repertoire and work in tandem with Costa, who will often be languishing in solitude. Another alternative would be to use the misfiring Fernando Torres in lieu of Costa, as he has a track record of stepping up to the task in such a situation. The midfield will not include those averse to defence, and non-starters like John Obi Mikel will be called on for Chelse’a ‘pragmatic football’.
BEST STARTING 11:
Owing to Chelsea’s richness in depth, selecting a definite eleven is an extremely tricky task. Mourinho will field multiple combinations, and will select his squad not only on the basis of ability, but also keeping in mind the kind of opposition Chelsea will face. But if the best eleven were to be chosen, adaptable to any situation, it would look something like this:
Thibaut Courtois, Filipe Luis, John Terry, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta; Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas, Oscar, Eden Hazard, Andre Schurrle; Diego Costa.
A monumental ascendency in his shot-stopping has gained Thibaut Courtois global recognition as a top-class goalkeeper, and this sees him knocking the mighty Petr Cech- whose judgement has waned in recent seasons- off his perch as Chelsea’s number one. Filipe Luis, the highly-rated right-back who made a mockery out of Chelsea’s defence last season, is considered to be one of the best right-backs in the world. He will occupy the right-back position, but will be rotated with Ivanovic. John Terry and Gary Cahill will remain the backbone of the team, and their solidity will be crucial to Chelsea’s campaign. The left-back slot will see no competition as Cesar Azpilicueta, hailed by Jose Mourinho, will work tirelessly. He will most likely not be rotated, as he is no victim of fatigue.
Chelsea’s midfield is packed like sardines in a can, but Nemanja Matic will not relinquish his place to anybody, owingto an exceptional campaign last season. He will be the fulcrum of the team, and will pull the strings while holding the team together from his own half. Fabregas and Oscar will take up the remaining two central midfield slots, both in a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3. Fabregas is renowned the world over for his incisive vision, his precise passing and his decisive through balls. Don’t be surprised if he beats Ozil to the top of the assists chart.
Eden Hazard is soon becoming the identity of the Chelsea team. He turned in performances last season becoming of some of the best in the world. He is now considered among the very best in the world. The time has come for him to do justice to these comparisons and lead the Blues to a title. However, with the arrival of Costa, he may have to tweak his style of play slightly, and cross more often. If Eden Hazard steps up to the stage, Chelsea can be assured of silverware. Andre Schurrle too will have to recreate some of the magic that he exhibited at the World Cup. He will share this spot with Willian and occasionally, Salah.
Chelsea have been plagued with underperforming, expensive strikers, save Didier Drogba since Roman Abramovich took over the club. They have scoured the rosters of other teams to find one like Drogba, alas in vain. Until now. Diego Costa, fits the Drogba bill to perfection. He bulldozes defences with his stocky frame, he’s an absolute beast in the air, and he poaches better than an egg that’s on the pan. Costa has taken no time at all to find his scoring boots, and his lit the stage on fire all through Chelsea’s pre-season, scoring sublime goals at a daily rate. If pre-season and his attributes are an indication to go by, Diego Costa will indeed be the missing piece in Chelsea’s jigsaw puzzle.
TEAM HISTORY IN THE LEAGUE:
| POSITION | SEASONS |
| Champions | 2004-05, 2005-06, 2009-10 |
| 2nd | 2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2010-11 |
| 3rd | 1998-99, 2008-09, 2012-13, 2013-14 |
| 4th | 1997-98, 2002-03 |
| 5th | 1999-00 |
| 6th | 1996-97, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2011-12 |
| 11th | 1992-93, 1994-95, 1995-96 |
| 14th | 1993-94 |
PREDICTION:
Trophies, trophies and more trophies. Mourinho and his team are wearing a pair of blinkers, and the only sight visible to them right now is trophies. Chelsea will try to vapourise any team that will come in their way of the Premier League trophy; annihilate any team that even thinks of laying their hands on the FA Cup, which has now become a possession of Chelsea’s, and maraud any team that handicaps their Champions’ League hopes.
Resources: Check.
Depth: Check.
Ability: Check.
Scorched Earth policy: Check.
Cech: Check.
Best manager in the world: Check,check.
Let’s just say it will be an absolutely disastrous campaign if this Chelsea squad does not manage to win at least one trophy.
Predicted finish: top of the table.
