Someone Old, Someone New. Someone Borrowed, Is Premier league this season Blue ?
Catch them if you can; Chelsea have been in red-hot form this season and you can put that down to a number of crystal clear reasons. It might be ambitious to say, but Jose Mourinho has the ‘Midas Touch’ wherever he goes. It has been no different this year at Chelsea, and Pep Guardiola aside; he might just be in a league of his own. Sure these two are predominantly in charge of cashed up clubs with pre-existing talent on their roster. But a true coach cannot simply rely on his talent-laden roster to produce the magic week in, week out.
Mourinho appears to be the ultimate strategist. He identifies holes in his roster and sources the right man for the gap. Then, like an orchestra conductor he has his team playing in almost perfect unison. Take this season for example, with the almost-vintage Didier Drogba matching up very nicely with Diego Costa, who has now established himself as a very real threat every time he touches the ball. Costa is ravenously hungry for goals and his teammates are more than happy to feed the striker. Not bad for an off-season signing and when you add the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Belgium’s Eden Hazard up-front, the opposition is stretched no matter who they might be.
Not only does he have a very tactical mind, but also it is often Mourinho’s demeanor that appears to influence his team to provide consistency throughout the season. Yes he is passionate about the sport and this shows a little at times in the heat of battle. But more often than not, in press conferences and during the game, Mourinho is calm, collected, measured and very astute with how he describes his side’s progress or results. His emotions very rarely surpass his composure and this appears to blend together team unity, cohesion and a common purpose among his playing group on and off the field. Guardiola is most definitely in the same mold, and they both have very similar characteristics with the great Sir Alex Ferguson. This has all been showcased in his first stint at Chelsea, during his time at Real Madrid and now at his return to Chelsea.
With the roster at his disposal and very few other managers of the same caliber as Mourinho, it is hard to see anybody getting close to Chelsea in the English Premier League this season. Perhaps once they move through to the knockout phase of the Champions League, we will see Chelsea truly tested by some of the other clubs in Europe, most notably Guardiola’s Bayern Munich who possess a number of the World Cup-winning German team. Even then, it wouldn’t surprise anybody if they were to conquer all and return to European glory before the season’s end. It may not be magic that Mourinho is producing, but it is something very special that is definitely worthy of our attention.
You love him or hate him, it’s that simple, but you can’t deny his results.