Jose Mourinho, despite what people may think of him, is a man that knows what hes doing. If you were to ask me right now who has done the best out of any side in the transfer window, itd be Chelsea. Why? In simple terms, Mourinho has arguably pieced together the most balanced side Ive seen in recent times: Solid at the back, an excellent composition in midfield, and purchased a proven goal scorer who they can accommodate into their system. At the start of the season, it was hard to look past Chelseas apparent forward problems that probably cost them the league last season. Ive already spoke about Diego Costa. It was easy to see why hed fit, but I thought youd see the best of him in time. Regardless, hes off to flyer and itll most likely continue. However, in the background there have been more subtle instances which have been behind the excellent start to Chelseas campaign. In the games against Burnley and Everton, Cesc Fabregas has been instrumental in midfield. His positional play and distribution into probing areas which threaten all the time have made Chelsea looks odds on favourites for the title. Im usually reserved in making title predictions until around February, but Ill stick my neck out on this one and say Chelsea. Naturally, the striker issue was the most talked about area of Chelseas business in the transfer window. How could it not be when the likes of Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Etoo managed five Premier League goals apiece. Was this simply because they were lacking a goal scorer? Well, yes and no. It was a culmination of factors, which ironically stemmed in midfield. I for one have never rated Frank Lampard in terms of team dynamics. When he plays, theres just simply no balance. This was pretty much the reason why the Gerrard/Lampard dilemma appeared for England. Chelseas approach play was decent enough. They maintained good levels of possession and always maintained a good level of organisation, but crucially they often relied far too much on individual moments of brilliance, namely Hazzard. What Chelsea fundamentally lacked was the nucleus of distribution in midfield. The sorts of passes that would take out entire groups of players in an instant and always bringing three or four players into play. The one pass that naturally transitioned defensively play to all out attack in a moment. The Burnley game is an interesting case study. It was billed to be a difficult test for Chelsea as theyd face a side that was measured in their approach and highly organised in their defensive work. Chelsea would have to find imagination, excellent use of interchanging and ball manipulation at tempo in order to carve out opportunities. When they conceded in the early stages, the predictions seemed to be coming to fruition. That is until Cesc Febregas start influence matters. Equally important is the the inclusion of Matic alongside Fabregas. This should not be underestimated and well go into more depth in another article. He allows the time for Fabregas to get on the ball, or if its lost occupy the space to get it back quickly and get it the Spanish playmaker as quickly as possible. Two instances showed just what the Spaniard brings to the side. For the first goal, Burnley were playing so defensively narrow and were completely unaware of the ingenuity of Fabregass change in direction as he played in Branislav Ivanovic who then assisted for Costa. The same ingenuity was there for the second too. Instead of shooting following the pass from Ivanovic, he chose the pass into Schurrle, which was then converted by the German. If that was Lampard, one probably would naturally assume that hed shoot. Instead, not only did Chelsea have someone distributing the football consistently, but also have an excellent decision maker. Jose Mourinho knew he was missing a striker, but also knew that this was precisely what he need in midfield. Between Fabregas and Matic, they have a tremendous balance in midfield that utilises an excellent forward line. They are powerful in wide areas and going forward. In addition they have stability in the back and excellent organisational structure that might just seem crowned champions.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 09:18:32 +0000