The word ‘fault’ seemed to look like a clear mismatch for Chelsea, as far as their glory laden 2014-15 season goes. Everything they did came off, as it was just meant to be like that. Although, it was sheer touch of class genius on the part of the players involved but it was indicative of Jose Mourinho’s intentions and how he could win something with the club, if given time.
The former Porto and Real Madrid gaffer knew what his side wanted to win the title and secured the services of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, and the dynamic pair ended up winning the league for them. The triumph was the medley of everyone’s contributions and not just those of Fabregas and Costa. Skipper John Terry looked 5 years younger, while Nemanja Matic’s performances have the impression of e being the best defensive midfielder in the world.
Months have gone past since that transpired and it has all been inverted in a flash. After a blemishing 3-1 defeat at the hands of Southampton, which came after a 2-2 draw at St. James’ and a 2-1 defeat to Porto, Chelsea’s title hopes have all but been relinquished, barring the possibility of a rare miracle. And nobody even in their wildest dreams would’ve conceived of Chelsea plummeting to such a trough. So, what exactly has gone wrong for Mourinho’s men, who currently sit at 16th in the table?
Sluggishness in play
The swagger and the arrogance with which Chelsea played throughout the previous season was lovely to see. It was if they wanted to say- “We’re the boss and we run this place”. This season, everything has changed. Shoulders have dropped and there’s no desire to win games. It’s as if the players have made up their minds about the fact that they’ve won everything that’s there to be won.
There’s no intention to do so something out of the box, there’s no desire to run at the defense or play a pass upfront that could’ve led to a goal last season. A fear of failure crept in after losing one or two games.
Slow Transition from sectors of the park
Chelsea had earned a reputation for building up play in a blink of an eye and catch the opposition on the break. They played quick, incisive passes from the defense to midfield, midfield to attack to create opportunities.
A big reason for a series of poor results has been a considerably slow build up play and the transition from the different sectors of the park. I’ve seen them taking too many touches in the midfield when trying to create opportunities and there’s a dearth of runs from the midfield areas too.
The concept of side ways passing,which Louis van Gaal was criticized for last season, is slowly coming up as morale in the dressing room hits rock bottom.