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After a not-so-good first season at the helm of the club at which he gained fame and recognition, Jose Mourinho is all set to give the fans what they want this season. Last season, as he himself said it, they weren’t title contenders. Why? Because they neither had the proper recipe for success nor a good striker. But this season, they have been blessed with Diego Costa and Mourinho is all the more eager to transform that blessing into results.
Rome was not built in a day, neither was a title-winning team going to be. Even Manchester City slowly came up through the ranks and finally become Champions. Mourinho came in at a time when they were having to regroup and at a time when his boss, Roman Abrahimovich wanted to decrease the average age of the team. Mourinho kept his silence and has done what he does best – improvise!
But decreasing the average age wasn’t going to give either him or his team any success but improving his team into a young, energetic and dominating outfit was not going to hurt anyone.
Genius in the transfer market
With the arrival of superstars like Thibaut Courtois, Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas, Felipe Luis, Loic Remy and club-legend Didier Drogba, Jose has certainly gained an advantage over his rivals. Also, to almost everybody’s awe, he hasn’t had to spend a penny in the market thanks to the multi-millions exit of David Luiz and Romelu Lukaku.
He sold a defender, David Luiz, that he did not want in his team for £50 million. This was the highest paid price for any defender ever. He was going to do it his way and he was going to do it the best way. Then he sold the Belgian starlet, Romelu Lukaku, to Everton for an amount of £28 million. With the signing of Costa, Drogba and Remy, The Belgian was of little need to “The Special One” and he was quick to squeeze the most out of the Belgian when he though the time was right.
Overall, in the transfer market, if you are able to increare your team strength two-folds while also getting 1.2 million profit in the transfer market, any owner would be happy. And ceratinly Abrahimovich was. This was truly a masterpiece by Mourinho in the market.
Fabregas vs Lampard
Despite having Oscar, Willian, Lampard and Hazard last season, they were lacking that creative edge. Maybe because they never were balanced and not one of them, except Hazard, was sure of his position in the team. No one had a fixed position. He was always experimenting with the team last campaign, but he has come to find out the best solution that he could have ever thought – Cesc Fabregas.
Bringing in Fabregas to replace Lampard wasn’t a bad move at all. And as Mourinho noted it himself as per the Telegraph, Frank is the history of the club but they have to move forward and Cesc is the perfect replacement as shown by the stats obtained from Sport above. Lampard’s performance was dipping but Cesc was getting better and better. He was the one who came with the goals when Barca needed him to. He was the one who Barca looked forward to when they needed someone to pop-in with an assist.
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Season | Apps | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 2 | 4 | 2004/05 | 38 | 13 | 16 |
| 35 | 3 | 5 | 2005/06 | 35 | 16 | 8 |
| 38 | 2 | 13 | 2006/07 | 37 | 11 | 10 |
| 32 | 7 | 20 | 2007/08 | 24 | 10 | 8 |
| 22 | 3 | 11 | 2008/09 | 37 | 12 | 10 |
| 27 | 15 | 13 | 2009/10 | 36 | 22 | 17 |
| 25 | 3 | 11 | 2010/11 | 24 | 10 | 2 |
| 28 | 09 | 10 | 2011/12 | 30 | 11 | 5 |
| 32 | 11 | 11 | 2012/13 | 29 | 15 | 1 |
| 36 | 8 | 13 | 2013/14 | 26 | 5 | 3 |
| 3 | 0 | 4 | 2014/15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
*Fabregas played from 2003/04 to 2010/11 for Arsenal, 2011/12 to 2013/14 for Barcelona and 2014/15 season for Chelsea while Lampard played from 2003/04 season to 2013/14 season for Chelsea and is now at Manchester City for the 2014/15 season.
With Fabregas, Mourinho has got the best he could get behind the big Costa and the perfect player to take over from Frank Lampard. Fabregas and Costa were two of the most influential players at two of the biggest teams in Spain. Both of them were fighting each other for the La Liga title. Both of them were good enough to get it. But finally, Costa and Courtois had the last laugh. This time however, Mourinho has got all of them – some of the best in La Liga last time out – reunited to get his trophy. The Premier League trophy.
Why Chelsea really can win the Premier League
After all he has done in the transfer window, Mourinho has set his sights on the Premier League and – as things stand – nothing seems to be getting in between the man and his aim. With 11 goals and three wins from three games, their firepower is not to be taken lightly. Thibaut Courtois in goal is one of the best in the league and they can be sure that there is someone as good as him to take over from Cech. .
The second season is the one that Mourinho mostly targets for his league successes. Having won league titles for Chelsea, Internazionale and Real Madrid, Jose will be trying to replicate the same in his second stint with the blues from Stamford Bridge. Why shouldn’t he? He has the perfect squad, the perfect atmosphere and most of all, Diego Costa.
Chelsea last season performed very well for a team and a manager that weren’t in its full flow yet. They outdid Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and thrashed cross-city rivals Arsenal 6-0. All while not having a reputed and appropriate striker fit for their philosophy and tactics. This season, they have the mighty Diego Costa to look forward to for the goals.
The Blues were always going to be title-favorites this season. And with the moves they made in the transfer window; they have the perfect team, the perfect manager and the perfect balance to win the Premier League trophy.
