This time last year Chelsea football club stood at the top of the table with 23 points earned in their 9 matches, winning 7, drawing 2 and losing none (Champions stuff). And when you see the scenes of this year, it’s actually a marvel how the tables have toppled. Chelsea stands at 15 in the league table with 3 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. This campaign has arguably turned out to be even more pathetic than the 2007/08 season when Jose Mourinho was sacked in mid-September. I am not sure if Mourinho feels so ‘Special’ now.
This week’s fixtures were going to be a litmus test for Mourinho and would be crucial in deciding his future at the club; an away match against Stoke city and a home game against Liverpool. But Chelsea’s fortunes continued to decline.
Chelsea’s woes continued as they bowed out of the Capital One cup as Stoke won on penalties. However, this was a clinical performance by Chelsea taking into account their previous exploits in the Premier League and the Champions League. Loic Remy overturned a deficit and brought Chelsea back to take the game to extra time. With the extra time going goalless, the match progressed to penalties. Willian, Remy, Oscar, Zouma and Hazard took the penalties for Chelsea. While Stoke made all their shots count, Chelsea’s star attacker Eden Hazard missed from the spot. And this brings us to the big question- ‘Where is Eden Hazard?’
Hazard was Chelsea’s forward force playing all matches last season and scoring 14 goals to lead his club to win the Premier League since the 2009/10 season. Hazard was exceptional and Jose used him to his strengths. His exploits last season earned him the PFA player of the year award and praises from the likes of Zidane who said “He is a star of the future. I would take him to Real Madrid with my eyes closed”. But this season the story has been drastically different. Hazard has made 9 appearances in the Premier League and 2 in the Champions League without scoring a single goal in this year’s campaign yet. Hazard’s work rate has also been dipping as compared to the other players. Willian has averaged 65 high-intensity sprints per 90 minutes and Pedro averages at around 62 sprints, whereas Hazard is averaging roughly 56 sprints per 90 minutes. The stark contrast to the performances in a matter of a few months makes you wonder as to what happened to Hazard. Hazard’s performance has been less than satisfactory and this has been regrettably the case for most of the Chelsea squad.
Chelsea boasts of the same players in their roster this season as they did last season, but the results, of course, aren’t the same. So what happened to a Champions team? Chelsea became the champions last season on the backs of an air-tight defense and a certain Courtois. In their entire 2014/15 campaign, Chelsea recorded 17 clean sheets and conceded on 32 goals in comparison to only 2 clean sheets and 19 goals conceded in this season so far.
The injury to Courtois is hurting Chelsea as Begovic is surely not the right man for the job. And as for the defenders they seem to be shadows of their past selves. Ivanovic and Terry no longer seem to possess the vigour and force that made them a reckoning in the last season. Matic too seems to have lost the drive and force and his form can be called the major reason behind the defense debacle. Azpilecueta and Willian can be called as the only redeemable performers so far who are doing everything on the pitch.
Now if we come to the two major Spaniards, Pedro is struggling and hasn’t yet adjusted to the English game and Fabregas’s performance is patchy with the Chelsea attack seem to have forgotten how to, well attack. He is still creating chances and brings out wonderful passes in the absence of quality on the pitch to take those passes forward and score.
Nothing can be said about Costa, he seems to be competing with Mourinho as to who gets more bans (there is no competition, but the lad is still trying). As for Falcao, Mourinho has to give him more game time to get the best out of him. Radamel Falcao has made a total of 8 appearances this season and it has been only once when he started the game. How can he show results when you only use him as a substitute? In the absence of Oscar and Costa, Mourinho could have shaped Falcao and made him their lead attacker but Mourinho chose to go with Obi Mikel and what great results that have reaped for them.
One can keep ranting and list all that is wrong, but a champion team does not just suddenly fall to the ground. This makes you question the very foundation. This makes you question Mourinho. He calls himself the Special one and the title is justified given his achievements and exploits without ever having played a game of football himself. But his actions are not in the least justified. Mourinho picks up bans from the FA like it were candy and a team in the situation that Chelsea is in, they need their manager (no matter how self-loathing he might be). Mourinho also has the occasional rift with his players and that too affects the dressing room no doubt.
For Chelsea to turn things around its players have to step up. Chelsea has all the talent it needs and with Oscar back it’s been a welcome boost. It’s still early days in the competition and though Chelsea sits 11 points away from the table toppers, they have the arsenal to change things around. The match against Liverpool will be crucial. Klopp would be looking to make a statement and Jose would be potentially looking to save his job.