Against Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday, Jose Mourinho rotated his squad a great deal and Chelsea FC‘s full depth was on display and it proved to be the key against the Portuguese club. There were several fringe squad players in the lineup against Sporting and they all played tremendous football in a night where the Blues looked far and away the best team on the field. They also looked the part of group toppers and were able to put the disappointment of the loss to Newcastle United behind them.
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The primary player from the Chelsea FC fringes is German midfielder Andre Schurrle. Schurrle was lively and showed off his excellent pace and took a very direct approach to the match and Sporting’s defense. The German appears to be fully recovered from the mystery illness that he has been suffering from in recent months that kept him from international duty. Neither Andre Schurrle or Jose Mourinho have revealed what that illness was but it appears that scoring fantastic goals from the top of the box are the cure for it.
Fellow winger Mohamed Salah also played an excellent match for the Blues in the midst of rumors that he is on the move in January either on loan or in a permanent deal. If that match was his audition to potential suitors then all he has missing was a goal as he played an excellent match from start to finish. He was unlucky not to score as keeper Rui Patricio was up to the task again but perhaps he gave Jose Mourinho reason to keep him around for at least the rest of the season.
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Another fringe player in John Obi Mikel followed up a solid performance at Newcastle, except for a poor challenge that lead to the second goal, with an even better game against Sporting. Mikel was spraying passes left and right and looked more creative and dynamic because he was not playing the holding role that was occupied by Nemanja Matic. He even scored a goal that sealed the match and set off a Twitter firestorm as cries of “hell is freezing over” and “pigs are flying” resounded around the internet. It was just John Obi Mikel’s fifth goal in eight years at Chelsea FC and it came at an excellent time to kill off the game.
The Blues have tremendous resources at their disposal and the fact that these three players made such a huge impact but rarely see game time is a testament to that. Jose Mourinho is spoiled for choice at nearly every position and he has some tough choices to make in the January window. All of these players made a case to stay with Chelsea FC for the rest of the season at the very least.