Pedro, Putin, Harry Potter and other Monday Ramblings
By Zahir Gilani
If the Pedro move works out, it will be easy to point to the manager and give him the credit or use him as a scapegoat if it fails, but with Chelsea it should be known that while Mourinho may be the Wizard of Oz, there are plenty of men and women behind the curtain.
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Case in point, Cesc Fabregas at one moment in his career may, or may not, have said that he would Never play for Jose Mourinho. Now he’s helping recruit players for him.
Victor Valdes probably also had a part to play as he has not experienced the best treatment at Manchester United.
Now what does that say about Louis Van Gaal when a former Barcelona player views Jose Mourinho as the lesser of two evils…
When Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea he inherited a team with Eden Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Victor Moses, Kevin De Bruyne and Marko Marin. On top of that, Chelsea went out and acquired Schurrle, Willian and Salah in 2013. Considering Mou plays a very consistent 4-2-3-1 formation, that was 9 players for 3 attacking midfield places (not to mention Lucas Piazon who will likely never be a Chelsea player).
Today, in addition to Pedro, Chelsea have Hazard, Oscar and Willian with Cuadrado, Moses and Traore as their back ups. If you were counting on Izzy Brown (currently on loan at Vitesse) to be thrown into that group keep this in mind:
Chelsea needed a left back this transfer window, because 2 seasons ago Ashley Cole was the starter. Ryan Bertrand, while waiting for his chance, got sent off on loan to Villa and Azpi came in, either because Cole was injured or suspended, and made the position his.
Though the very young left back Jay Da Silva is waiting in the wings, Chelsea have now acquired 21 year old Baba Rahman and still have eyes for John Stones, meaning the likes of Izzy Brown, Ake, Chalobah, Christensen, and Kalas are at risk of becoming marginalized the same way Ryan Bertrand was. For several promising youths their Chelsea careers look like Shakespearean tragedies.
Romeu, Romeu, wherefore art thou Oriol Romeu? Off to Southampton Juliet.
David Silva looks like a member of a Beatles tribute band.
Vladimir Putin has apparently made it the law that no Russian team can have more than 6 foreign players on their books and that’s why Zenit had to sell Venezuelan striker Salomón Rondón to West Brom; what looks to be a good piece of business by the Baggies. There will be more of this Russian exodus to come.
In another very good move, Stoke have signed Xherdan Shaqiri. With Bojan and Afellay already in the squad, they’re stock piling on Bayern and Barcelona outcasts. Stoke now have 5 former Champions League winners on their team; that’s more than Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool combined. It looks like the Potters will also give Van Ginkel a run in the double pivot role as well.
Shaqiri’s old club FC Basel, the winners of Switzerland’s last 6 domestic crowns, have an interesting connection with the mighty Barcelona. Though nothing more than an old wive’s tale, it is said that Barca’s founder, Swiss immigrant Hans Gamper, based the Catalans’ famous kit on Basel’s colors. A few season’s ago when Basel had an unprecedented Champs League run playing vibrant football, they were lovingly given the nickname “Basel-ona”.
Jonjo Shelvey, Swansea’s Lord Voldemort, is hiring a personal chef to cook only for he and his family. In an attempt to keep his weight down this season, the former Liverpool man has given up carbs. Be afraid Harry Potter, be very afraid.
Chelsea are far from their best form but if you were looking for a sign that they’re ready to turn the corner you got it in the first half yesterday at the Hawthorns.
In a world where the top teams look to dominate ball possession and control the game, Jose Mourinho has bucked this trend and built squads that will give you the ball and look to rip you apart on the counter attack.
He did it at Inter, he did at Real Madrid and for the last 3 seasons he has been doing it at Chelsea. That’s not to say that Chelsea always lose the possession battle but, striking quickly after a turnover, corner kicks in particular, has been their specialty. I can reference many instances that illustrate this scheme including yesterday.
Yesterday with the score 1-0, West Brom took a corner kick with the clock reading 28:54. The ball ran to Azpi’s whose ball over the top to Willian was the jail break.. At 29:10 Diego Costa was sliding home Pedro’s cross to make it 2-nil.
Vintage Chelsea and the type of surgical counter attacking that makes them unlike any other team in the world. And the prospect of Pedro, Hazard, Cesc, Oscar, Willian and Diego working together is mouthwatering.
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