Jose Mourinho has successfully negotiated the penultimate bend in his quest of winning the Premiership again, after his last win eight years ago. Not only has he done so brilliantly, he has also qualified for the final of the Capital One Cup in a massive tactical manoeuvre- all in the space of ten days- at the expense of one of Chelsea’s biggest rivals, Liverpool.
To think Chelsea would escape the 14 day marathon without a defeat with that squad was unimaginable for me, and I was right again, only this time, Jose gave Bradford FC the honour of inflicting the loss on his team, instead of Liverpool and/or Manchester City.
As I watch the drama of the championship unfold, I can’t help but marvel at Mourinho’s art of prioritising games, game management skills and manipulation of his bosses, players, opposition and the media.
Now I know why he is hailed as one of the game’s greatest already.
For Chelsea fans, players and coaching staff, 20th, 24th, 27th and 31st January were crucial dates in January. Capital One cup, FA cup, Capital One Cup and Premiership games against Liverpool, Bradford, Liverpool and Man City meant that the team had to be rotated, the games prioritised and a tired, exhausted team reinforced with new signings. The demands of forthcoming games in Champions League, League Cup, FA Cup and Premiership meant that Jose needed to show his bosses that he needed a few new faces, inject energy into his 13 tired players and challenge successfully on at least three fronts.
Jose choose the FA Cup as his bait, sending out the fringe players as a warning to Mr Abramovich that it was time to go out and bring two or three new players and get rid of the wounded soldiers he had been carrying since August – Shurrle, Saleh at least.
And Jose won again ; throwing Saleh and the rest into an end too deep for them to swim, giving the press something to feast on – scandal, ashamed, embarrassed – and achieving his primary objectives (Cup final, Premiership lead intact and Champions League relevance)
Jose even went into the Bradford dressing room to thank them, don’t be fooled – for sparing him more fixture congestion in the run up to the end of the season, for showing Roman Abramovich what he had always told him in secret (we need 2/3 quality players), and for showing his squad that they will be remembered as a good team that never won anything, if they fail to win at least the Capital One cup this season.
As the players went to battle against Liverpool and against ManCity, even Jose could not prepare for the injuries and absentees: Costa, Fabregas, Mikel, and Luis.
Even though a combination of fatigue, over worked engines, lack of play time and excessive and undue aggression cost Jose the services of these players, the greatest worry was the Chelsea bench against Man City: Christensen, Nathan Ake, Loftus-Cheek, and Izzy Brown (academy graduates and young boys who hadn’t acquired enough miles to go the distance against Man City if needed)
Also a notable surgery at the back was the replacement of Gary Cahill with Kurt Zouma, after Cahill’s exposure at the hands of Kane, Sterling, and the Bradford City boys
Champions League, Premiership and Capital One Cup; Can Jose get the players he wants in these last few hours of the transfer window? Can he strengthen his squad so it can be less predictable in their quest for silverware? Will he rotate more often if he finally gets ‘his own players in’; Cuadrado, Valencia and/or Douglas?
Who can bet against Mourinho once he fixes his eyes on a prize?
In the run up to the Premiership, Chelsea travel only to the Emirates, while they entertain Liverpool and Man Utd at the bridge.
Man City travel to Old Trafford, Anfield and White Hart Lane and entertain Southampton. The pendulum swings in Chelsea’s favour.
On Saturday at the bridge, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, Wilfred Bony, and Mangala were notable absentees while Zabaleta, Kolarov, Lampard, Jovetic, Dzeko, Caballero, Boyata were on the bench -11 – of their gladiators and yet they pummelled Chelsea the whole of the second half!
While Chelsea only had Costa, Fabregas, Mikel, and Luis (4 of their gladiators) missing, yet they couldn’t play their ‘A’ game.
Agreed, for all of Man City’s dominance, Chelsea didn’t look threatened for much of the game, but if Chelsea are to win the league, it does not take a mathematician or rocket scientist to figure out what needs to be done, Roman Abramovich needs to prize in a few gladiators before the transfer window shuts tonight.
This Man City squad have only the Champions League and Premiership to worry about, and they have enough firepower to hunt down any team ahead of them, as they battle on the two fronts that matter to them.
Chelsea have three fronts to worry about. Can Roman bring in some gladiators tonight?……