I was wondering what has gone wrong at Stamford Bridge. A
year ago, Chelsea was in such imperious form that they swept everyone aside on
their way to the premiership title. Now there is an air of despondency at the
Bridge. Even Jose Mourinho, for all his tactical and media savvy nous, is not
able to find a way around it. So where has the magic gone and can it come back
soon enough?
I believe Chelsea got away with a freakish title run last
season. Freakish in the sense, Mourinho played with a core group of players for
most part of the season including an ageing Terry and Ivanovic. The two played out
of their skin but always had Courtois, Matic, Oscar and Willian to cover defensively.
Hazard, Fabregas and Costa took care of goals, assists and forthright
intimidation and knocked the stuffing out of the opposition. The core group
members were rarely injured or suspended for an extended period of time.
Most of the good work was done in the first part of the
season. They stumbled a bit in the latter part of the season but then luck came
to their rescue. When Manchester United was within striking distance, Chelsea
got the rub of the green in three consecutive matches.
22nd March 2015 vs Hull – Remy’s shot went in due
to Allan McGregor’s mistake.
4th April 2015 vs Stoke – Remy scored because of
a wayward clearance by Asmir Begovic.
12th April 2015 vs QPR – Fabregas scored after a
poor clearance from Robert Green.
Limited transfer activity, long preseason tour and poor form
of core group players finally exposed the chinks in Chelsea’s armour this
season. It had nothing to do with the farce played out with the doctor or the
so called ‘third season syndrome’ experienced by Jose at the clubs he has
managed.
In my opinion, it takes only 4 to 5 core group players to be
off their game for things to go haywire. When core group players are playing
well, they make the ordinary players look good and the unit as a whole
unbeatable. This can be inferred from the direct correlation between Manchester
City’s performance this season and that of its core group players. When the
likes of Hart, Kompany, Toure, Silva, Sterling, Aguero are playing well, they
make the likes of Fernandinho, Sagna, Mangala look good too as was evident in
the first five matches.
The magic can surely come back, but I am not sure when. It
will require astute signings in January and lot of work on the training pitch. The
poor start means that there is no chance of Chelsea defending its crown. It
will be better for them to pay more attention to the Champions League and
domestic cup competitions and just keep reaching the top 4 as a priority.
Mourinho is a master at two way cup competitions and can challenge for trophies.
At the end of the season, he has to take decision on Terry,
Ivanovic and a few others. Ryan Giggs didn’t start every match in his 30s.
Terry and Chelsea fans have to understand that or move on. As a club, Chelsea’s
image has also taken a beating due to the shenanigans of Costa and the doctor
issue.
Normally when there is no chance of winning silverware, Jose
finds or manufactures a way to move out of the club. As someone noted, he is
not good when the club is in a transitional phase. During his first stint with
Chelsea, he left after losing one season and trailing in the next. He left
Porto and Inter for bigger offers and basically fought his way out of Real
knowing that he could not get his way there. Wonder what awaits the Chelsea
fans who would dearly want him to continue at the club for much longer.
In my opinion, a couple of losses, especially in cup
competitions could mean curtains for him by December. Can he show us another side of him, only time
can tell? He is a fine manager Jose, but he still got lot to learn about football.
(The Bridge on the River Kwai, huh?).
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