Chelsea Football Club went through a lot of changes in the last 2 transfer windows. Mourinho is turning his ‘Little Horse’ into a stallion. Mourinho’s squad is almost complete and competent on all fronts to take on any team in the world. In every position we’ve got magnificent players and even if someone from the starting XI gets injured, every position is well covered by more than handy subs except the wingers’ position where even Arsenal have better options than us. We’ve made great additions in world class players like Fabregas & Diego Costa. At the same time we’ve made unbelievable amount of money by selling benchwarmers this year, like Mata, Luiz, Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne.
First thing first – let’s see who went out and who came in in the last 2 transfer windows:
OUT:
Ashley Cole (LB) – Free Agent
Patrick Van Aanholt (LB) – £2m
Kevin De Bruyne (CM) – £18m
Frank Lampard (CM) – Free Agent
Juan Mata (CAM) – £37m
Romelu Lukaku (ST) – £28m
Samuel Eto’o (ST) – Free Agent
Demba Ba (ST) – £8m
Torres (ST) – Free Agent
IN:
Kurt Zouma (CB) – £12m
Filipe Luis (LB) – £16m
Nemanja Matic (DM) – £21m
Cesc Fabregas (CM) – £27m
Mohammed Salah (RW) – £11m
Diego Costa (ST) – £32m
Didier Drogba (ST) – Free Agent
Remy (ST) – £10.5m
THE GOOD
It all started with Nemanja Matic, who was added to strengthen our midfield and everyone could see the immediate impact he made. We are a completely different side with Matić in it and one can feel what’s missing when he isn’t playing. Our mid looks vulnerable and easy to exploit just like the old times, when he isn’t playing. In fact we faced our first defeat this season when Matić wasn’t playing. He handle our defensive duties, working like a bulldozer in the midfield.
Source: chelseafc.com
The one thing Chelsea failed to do in the previous transfer windows was signing a high profile striker who could lead the attack and do the job. But this summer we were quick to address the problem and went for Diego Costa straight away, who played a key role in Atletico’s league title win. And to get a match winner like him for just £32m was icing on the cake in a market where some unproven strikers (Lukaku) and Left-Backs (Luke Shaw) were being sold for nearly 30 million. Considering the fact that this is his first season in Premier League, Costa has been superb with 14 goals already. Costa is not just a goalscorer – he can lead the line on his own, create chances and also bully opposing defenders. He was the missing piece in the jigsaw. And not just that, we added Remy who is more than a decent striker for a reasonable price and Drogba for free to strengthen the strikers’ unit. And all of a sudden our strikers’ unit looks not just dangerous, but flatly terrifying.
The midfield maestro Fabregas was signed to play alongside Matić in a 4-2-3-1 formation. And so far he’s been sensational. Fabregas has been the player Arsenal fans hoped Özil or Wilshere would be. Fabregas has already assisted 15 goals in a matter of 20 games, more than what Wilshere has done in six years, i.e. 11 assists. With him in the midfield, we are playing artistic football which has never been the trademark of Mourinho sides. Fabregas is running the show. We play almost flawless football when Fabregas is in charge. We looked really comfortable on ball even in the tightest spaces, thanks to Fabregas. Guy is a magician. And thanks to Arsene Wenger as well who didn’t utilise Fabregas’ buy back clause and fucked up.
Return of Courtois has also been a great addition. Easily Premier League’s best goalkeeper. Courtois is such a calm, huge, and composed presence. I love Cech but given the recent form, long term vision, everyone would prefer Courtois over him and Mourinho did the same.
THE BAD
We signed a proper Left Back in Filipe Luis. And it was supposed to (at least what I expected) help us to play Azpilicueta as RB and Luis as LB. So we can improve our attack with proper players playing in their own position. But what actually happened is Mourinho benched Luis and kept playing Ivanovic who has been exposed on many occasions. We lost 4 points against United and our title rivals City because Ivanovic failed to deal with the situation. It’s frustrating to see anyone can get past Ivanovic these days. Kane, Nani, Chadli, Januzaj, Di Maria, even Salah got the better of him when he was at Basel. And the less we talk about his WORLD FAMOUS crosses the better it would be. Ivanovic should be used as third choice Centre Back. Ivanovic is strong and okay in air. He don’t have the attacking attributes while playing as a Right Back. He’ll be more than a good third choice Centre Back. In fact he is better than many team’s starting Centre Backs in the Premier League (Mangala, Evans, Mertesacker, Lovren etc).
Source: chelseafc.com
With Zouma joining Chelsea, he was supposed to be playing in less relevant games in order to rest Terry or Cahill. But Cahill has made a lot of individual errors that cost us. And Zouma has been decent (at least better than Cahill) in the matches he has played, that includes 45 mins against Spurs. Playing Zouma ahead of Cahill will also solve the problem the CB duo Terry-Cahill have, the lack of pace which was thoroughly exposed and exploited by Spurs.
The rotation policy has been far from convincing. We’ve used the least no. of players in the Premier League. Some may argue that it is the reason why we are sitting at the top of the table. Well it may be fruitful in short term but in the long term where a player might get injured or suspended then we’ll be hoping miracles from the same players who didn’t get their fair share of mins on the pitch. It’s impractical to expect these rusty players to pull a rabbit out of the hat in desperate times. I understand the fall in quality when it comes to replacing a wingers but that doesn’t mean Mourinho can’t make changes in defence.
CONCLUSION
It’s time for Mourinho give a consistent run of games to Zouma & Filipe Luis so that they can adapt and prove their worth. It may sound risky after 20 games but they can’t do worse than Cahill & Ivanovic. That would also ensure Azpilicueta playing as RB. Azpi is way better and more versatile than Ivanovic. Gary Neville described him as world’s best when it comes to one on one situation, which is hardly surprising for the fans who watch Azpi on daily basis.
Also giving fair amount of minutes to Schürrle & Salah in less relevant games wouldn’t hurt either. They won’t be rusty when we need them. Mourinho seems reluctant in that regard. This reluctance is costing us and as a result City, who were declared out of the title race in november, are now sitting at the top of the table along with Chelsea.
This article is nothing more than an attempt to figure out the best available options. The way we’ve played I still see potential for greatness. If Mourinho plays his cards right, he can achieve a lot in his second season. And I am sure he would leave no stone unturned because we all know he is, ‘The Special One’.
Ankit Yadav
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