Chelsea: Three key clashes against Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham

Chelsea has little rest as the face the even less rested Tottenham in the cup. What key clashes will determine Jose Mourinho and Frank Lampard’s day?

Frank Lampard pulled a fast one over his former mentor Jose Mourinho twice last season. This match comes far too soon for both teams in the middle of a winter like slog of fixtures as well. Neither team really wants to do this now but neither will want to be the one ending their cup run either. What key clashes will determine the fixture?

1. The counter tactic tango

Jose Mourinho surely planned for his Tottenham team to play Frank Lampard’s Chelsea in a 4-2-3-1 or perhaps even a 4-3-3. When Lampard turned up with a 3-4-3, it completely bamboozled Mourinho’s side.

In the second match between the two managers, Mourinho probably thought that Lampard would not be willing to make such a change again, assuming Mourinho would have planned for it. Lampard did make that change again and once again Mourinho’s Spurs looked completely flummoxed.

Okay but surely this third time Lampard won’t switch it up suddenly again? Right?

That is the dance Mourinho finds himself in. Does he adjust for the 3-4-3 Lampard used to great effect the last two times, or does he once again plan for the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 Chelsea has used in the run up? If Mourinho does plan for that and Lampard again uses 3-4-3, Mourinho knows how much of a fool he’ll look. He’ll also know if he plans for 3-4-3, and Chelsea doesn’t use it, that he’ll look a fool. It is a nearly no win situation for Mourinho and Lampard surely knows it as both plan for this match.

2. Mourinho stuck between a cup and another cup

Okay, in truth most of the key clashes aren’t on the field, they are in Mourinho’s head in regards to how seriously he wants to take a match like this so early in the season. Mourinho adores the League Cup having built most of his success in England off it as a spring board to greater things. That being said, this season is so tight with fixture congestion that losing out on a cup is almost a blessing. With only a day off before they have Europa League, Mourinho may have to decide which cup is better for his project in the long run.

Yes, Europa League will take all season and it is usually seen as the bane of fixture congestion, but there should be few opponents in it that even a rotated Tottenham side can’t beat. That being said, they have struggled thus far in the competition. As badly as Mourinho may want to right the narrative against Lampard, he may recognize that it would be a worse narrative to crash out of Europe so early or even continue to struggle in it.

Chelsea and Lampard have similar fixture congestion, but there is no reason not to expect the Blues to go as all out for the cup as possible. Between that and Mourinho going back and forth over which cup is worth the risk, this match could end up about anywhere quality wise.

3. Reality television star versus manager

Again, Mourinho’s reaction to this match is going to be more important in the long run than any individual matchup on the field. How he conducts himself on the sideline against his former protege may also be telling.

Tottenham had their documentary in place before Mourinho was manager. The fact that the show is practically about him and feels like a giant scripted narrative of Mourinho’s view point shows how much reach he has not only within the club, but over his squad as individuals. That being said, calm days out against rivals don’t make for good TV. Mourinho has had spats with several managers in the Premier League, but he has never had the occasion to really go toe to toe with a former player.

If things are not going well for Tottenham, how quickly does Mourinho try to make the match about him? How will Lampard react when the media already twists every encounter he has with Jurgen Klopp? Who wins?

The answer is probably the neutral, but neither club will want to see the match dissolve into a tit for tat during or afterwards.

What clashes are you looking for in this match? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!