Chelsea has a tough test against a newly Jose Mourinho’d Tottenham side. What are four things to look for in the big match up?
Another London derby, another opportunity to drown oneself in an intense game of football. While every Premier League match this season has been important for Chelsea, this particular derby, for so many reasons, carries even more weight. When Jose Mourinho took over Tottenham, they were in 14th place while Chelsea was third. If Spurs win against Chelsea, they would leap frog into fourth place. As Chelsea and Spurs battle for fourth, here are a few things to look out for.
1. Jose Mourinho’s approach against his former club and player
Jose Mourinho was excellent as a pundit. He was the pundit on duty for more than one of Chelsea’s games this season. Part of his job was to analyze teams’ strengths and weaknesses, something he is very good at it. This means that Mourinho has definitely spotted many of Chelsea problems and will not hesitate to use that to devastating effect.
Does Mourinho rate Chelsea’s youth? Does Mourinho consider Chelsea’s attack to be scary? Does Mourinho know the shortcomings of each Chelsea player, from striker to goalkeeper? The club may find out the answers to these questions with the way Mourinho approaches this game.
Many people have dismissively labelled him as a “park the bus” manager. Do not expect Mourinho to park the bus. He might, but don’t count on it. Tottenham are at home and that already gives them an advantage, even though Chelsea has scored more goals away from home than at their own home.
Add to that how, in Chelsea’s last five league games they have scored just four goals, conceding eight. Forgive Mourinho if he is not terrified of Chelsea’s attack.
At the same time, Chelsea has a difficult time breaking down a well-structured defense, as well as being criminally exposed on counterattacks. This is a tactic that Mourinho could also use. Mourinho could play expansively (though not at the expense of defending), knowing that Chelsea is now bad at counterattacks and the defense is less than convincing, or he could decide to stay compact, let Chelsea players have the ball, and launch match-deciding counterattacks.
Mourinho has said Chelsea is easy to control without the ball. Should the players find themselves with much of the ball, they will know that it is most likely intentional. Mourinho is on the brink of getting into the top four from 14th, so expect him to find the tactic that would almost guarantee his success.
Mourinho letting Chelsea have the ball would test the Chelsea players’ ability to break teams down and him taking the game to Chelsea would test the players’ defensive organization. Chelsea has to learn to break teams down and recently they have not shown progress. The defense has shown progress though, but they need to show consistency.