Reflections On Chelsea FC’s Draw Away To Dynamo Kyiv
Mourinho’s European Away Day Negativity
Seeing Mourinho’s starting eleven, I could have easily predicted the outcome of the game. Now, I can understand that the current form of the team, especially in defence, warranted a cautious approach. However, I can’t shake off the feeling that Chelsea’s current form had nothing whatsoever to do with Mourinho’s team selection. This has naturally become his default setting for executing Champions League away games, no matter the opposition: playing not to lose.
Tuesday’s game, personally, felt more like two points lost than a point gained. The players, despite Mourinho setting the team up to avoid defeat, actually managed to create the better goal scoring chances. While his decision to move Cesar Azpilicueta to the left full-back position was disappointing enough, playing Kurt Zouma at right full-back was even more so.
The Blues were clearly much better off having both players in defense, but unfortunately, it meant that the team did not have the width to take advantage of the spaces left by Dynamo Kyiv’s advancing full backs. Whenever both players managed to go past the halfway line (which was not often enough), they were forced to go in-field (Azpilicueta is not left-footed while Zouma is not a wide-man so both struggle to cross the ball), meaning that all of Chelsea’s attacking play was channeled towards the middle.
And even when the Blues managed to create chances, they were taken without any real conviction. Nemanja Matic’s lack of emotion after missing probably the best chance of the match was the biggest indication of this sentiment. The Serb surprisingly managed to go past four players from midfield into the box only to toe poke the ball wide when scoring would have been easier.
Mourinho may put the result down to ill-luck and poor officiating as both Eden Hazard and Willian managed to hit the woodwork from presentable scoring chances. Furthermore, for the second Champions League game running, the match official failed to award what should have been a stonewall penalty after Cesc Fabregas was tripped inside the box. But Mourinho set up his team not to lose, so the draw was probably all he deserved from the game.
One can only imagine what would have been if the Portuguese had been a little bit more adventurous!
Next: The Return Of Eden Hazard