Chelsea what ifs: Mazacar then, Mazacar now, Mazacar forever

Fans love partnerships between players and Chelsea fans adored the trio of Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, and Oscar. What if Mazacar had stayed together?

Barcelona had MSN (Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar). Real Madrid had BBC (Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo). Chelsea had Mazacar (Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, and Oscar).

The latter may not have been as impressive as the former two, but it was adored by Chelsea fans all the same. It only lasted a season (and a half technically, but more on that later) but the fluidity of it and the simple love for all three players made it mythical in its proportions.

What if it had continued on longer? What if Jose Mourinho could set aside his ways for Juan Mata at Chelsea like he eventually did at Manchester United? Would the trio have reached the stardom of MSN or BBC?

There were a few reasons why Mourinho did not take to the trio together. First, he wanted to build around Oscar as his number 10. Second, that pushed Juan Mata wide and he wanted his wide players to track back and assist his defense. And third, Mourinho simply did not want to adjust to make room for Mata like he eventually did at Manchester United a few years later.

So the first thing Mourinho does in this alternative reality is push Oscar, not Mata, wide. Oscar was more than willing to track back and that saves Mata from having to do that type of work as often as he would in the wide areas. It also allows Mata to pull the strings in the middle like Mesut Ozil once did for Mourinho at Real Madrid.

Mourinho’s Chelsea only benefits from the swap. Mata had a whopping 35 assists the previous season to Oscar’s 12, so despite the loss in defense the Blues gain immensely on offense. Chelsea scores nearly 20 goals more than they did in reality which sees the club catapult up the table early in the season.

The Blues do end up conceding about 10 goals more, but the overall swing is still enough to see Chelsea lift the tile in Mourinho’s first season back. Nemanja Matic still arrives in the winter to shore up the midfield and, instead of Cesc Fabregas coming in to add creativity, the Blues pursue and acquire Paul Pogba for the midfield. The Blues, low on cash, then need to rely on Romelu Lukaku instead of buying Diego Costa.

The combination of Pogba, Matic, Mata, and Lukaku together goes much better at Chelsea than it did at United for Mourinho. With Oscar’s impressive work rate wide and Hazard’s near telepathic understanding of Mata, the trio is able to connect brilliantly with Pogba wandering and swapping with the trio and Lukaku banging in goal after goal.

Chelsea wins the title for a second season in a row and blows past Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League. They are unable to win the big eared trophy, but the combination of Mazacar becomes legendary with their second Premier League title.

The Blues are hardly the defensive fortress they were in Mourinho mark I, but the creativity seen in the real life 2014 never goes away as Chelsea becomes everyone’s swashbuckling second team.