I am not going to say ‘come May’ because I genuinely think Chelsea FC will defeat Arsenal and then Leicester City and win the League title by next week. Jose Mourinho and his warriors are NOT throwing this away no matter what happens!
Chelsea are 10 points ahead of their nearest rival Arsenal, and with such a point gap one can only imagine how dominant Chelsea have been throughout the season. After Mourinho’s debut season in his second homecoming, he assessed his Chelsea squad and brought in new players and each transfer made by him were golden.
Fabregas has been one of the best midfielders in Europe with the highest assists in the league. Diego Costa with 19 goals this season has been the difference in so many crucial matches for Chelsea. Hazard’s new 5 year deal can also be treated like another transfer win, as many clubs were looming over the Chelsea number 10.
Playing crisp and fluent passing football, dissecting opponents with sleek one-twos, or maybe passing defenders with ease due to individual brilliance; these are the attributes which contemporary football wishes to see or expects from Championship winning teams. But, what tests the mettle of good teams is when, they are not at their best but still manage to pull through even during dire circumstances.
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This is exactly what Chelsea are doing at the moment and exactly where they failed last season. Post 2015, the Blues haven’t been in their dominating best as they were in the first half of the season. Jose used only 22 players all over the season which means there was minimal rotation and resulted in fatigue and the team under-performed.
With fatigue, came injuries and suspensions to important players and many thought Chelsea would crumble without their ‘Untouchables’. For example, when Costa was suspended for the stamp on Emre Can, Chelsea had tough fixtures against mid table clubs. It was against clubs like these, where the Blues lost vital points which cost them the title previous season.
But this time, Chelsea FC pulled through with narrow wins which came as a result of constant perseverance and a hardened belief in their philosophy and their hunger to bring the League trophy home. Many goals came in injury time like Willian’s goal against Everton at home or Fabregas’s side footer against QPR, which gave maximum points to Chelsea.
Yes, victories such as against Manchester United of course matter as they are one of our rivals, but results against lower placed teams and mid table teams are equally important. Any team who is chasing the Premier League title will be pumped up and motivated for playing the big boys, but what tests their true character, are the games against the minnows. Complacency can set in which can result in shocking defeats which can take the title out of reach.
Chelsea FC have been able to adapt to different circumstances brilliantly and they are now reaping the results now as they are just some days away from being crowned champions.
Contrastingly, this is the area where the defending champions Manchester City have failed miserably. They have an excellent squad with depth equal to that of Chelsea. But what lost them the title, is their inability to adapt.
Pellegrini has to take a huge part of the blame here. His naivety and lack of pragmatism dented the Citizens title challenge. Firstly he doesn’t seem to have any ‘Plan B’ when his team’s tactics are not working and secondly, he always relies on some of his players like Toure, Silva and Aguero to pull the whole team through each and every time.
Football is a team game and Pellegrini doesn’t seem to believe in his team or his own philosophy. I am not sure whether Pellegrini even has a philosophy. It is like, when we talk about Jose, we know what he believes in, which is a defensive rigidity and controlled game play, or when we talk about Pep Guardiola, we know he is all about, passing and possession football. But talk about Pellegrini, what is he all about?
Every manager seems to follow his own tactical bible, but the lack of such a tactical bible is costing Manchester City their title and may cost Pellegrini his job come the end of the season.
City’s inability to adapt can be clearly seen when Yaya Toure was on national duty and City crumbled. On the other hand, Chelsea were without their talisman, Matic for the Capital One Cup final and they deployed Zouma who gave a stellar performance at such a young age.
City’s midfield alternatives in the form of Fernandinho and Fernando are more experienced but they don’t seem to play along very well whereas an inexperienced French lad is bossing the midfield in a Cup final. Why is this happening ?
the lack of a tactical bible is costing Manchester City their title and may cost Pellegrini his job come the end of the season.
There is a severe lack of motivation in the City camp. If there is no motivation, then the team can’t play well no matter what position or circumstance they are in. City needs to reconstruct not only their squad but more importantly they need to revive their confidence if they are to challenge for accolades in the future.
Chelsea and Jose Mourinho, deserve their Championship medals.
Next: Chelsea vs Man United: Post Match Thoughts