Jose Mourinho is set to ring the changes for Chelsea’s big Champions League clash with Maccabi Tel Aviv tonight
As the majority of Chelsea FC squad have thus far failed to turn up in this 2015/16 campaign, the latest reports support rumours that Jose Mourinho is set to significantly change up his starting line-up for the Champions League fixture against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
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Four points from five Premier League games and 17th position is far beyond anyone’s wildest expectations/wishes for the start of a Chelsea season. While Mourinho’s tactics have been questionable at times, it is undeniable that the players have been awful. Branislav Ivanovic and Cesc Fabregas are just two members of the squad that have come in for criticism.
The issue is that, apart from Nemanja Matic, no-one looks like improving and finding form. Eden Hazard has somewhat toyed with the idea, but continues to lack the cutting edge creativity that Blues fans have come to expect from him. Now, The Telegraph is reporting that four stars are set to be benched for tonight’s match.
"Jose Mourinho will ring the changes in a bid to get his out of sorts Chelsea team firing with captain John Terry, striker Diego Costa, Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Matic all poised to drop down."
The boss has already confirmed that Oscar and Abdul Baba Rahman are set to feature against Maccabi, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Loic Remy and Gary Cahill are also expected to fill out the starting line-up. Radamel Falcao misses out with a minor niggle.
While Costa, Ivanovic and (to a degree) Terry all deserve to be dropped, the decision to bench Matic is curious. The Serbian midfielder seemed to show shades of his former/last season self against Everton. While the Blues still conceded three goals, the big man looked more like the player who dominated the Chelsea midfield throughout the last campaign.
Meanwhile, news of Ivanovic missing out will be greeted by mass applause from Chelsea fans worldwide. The right-back has been probably the pick of the bunch so far. The pick of the worst players. After being a permanent and mostly reliable fixture throughout last year, Ivanovic’s form has fallen off the cliff. Like a massive cliff.
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Frankly, it’s a bit tragic. The right-back who has often come in for criticism from Blues fans managed to escape last season largely unscathed. Now, he is possibly going through the worst period of form in his career.
There is much intrigue surrounding Ivanovic’s replacement. Abdul Baba Rahman came over to Stamford Bridge from Augsburg in a surprise deal and has barely been seen since. He featured on the bench for the Crystal Palace fixture after which he was left out of the matchday squad against Everton.
However, while the axe-wielding is justified, there is an argument for keeping the underperforming players out there. Maccabi should pose very little threat and perhaps this would be the ideal situation for the team to find their feet again. Especially with regard to Costa; his confidence could be boosted no end with a couple of goals.
It’s shaping up to be a huge fixture tonight. In the meantime, check out all our big game coverage at the hub page here.
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