Chelsea FC: Balancing The Cheque Book And The Midfield, Matic=Debit, De Bruyne=Credit

By now we all know, the “special one” loves attention more than Lindsay Lohan in a club. Yet, nothing has been more controversial on Mourinho’s second term, as a Chelsea manager, than his management of the team’s midfielders. Placing Mata-Chelsea’s current player of the year- on the bench, starting an aging Lampard for most of the season have been only some of the decisions fueling the tabloids. So, it is not a surprise that Chelsea’s transfer season is centered around midfield moves.

In the past decade, the Londoners have prided themselves in having some of the best midfielders around. From Makelele, Robben, Ballack, to Malouda, Deco, Lampard. This season is no different. The current squad is filled with talented players in the middle, thanks to the accumulation of midfielders over the last two seasons. Although, the vast majority are attacking midfielders and such overstocking in attack has left an unbalanced Chelsea squad that even with the departures of Victor Moses, Marko Marin and Romeu, still has no room for everyone and ironically lacks more depth on the middle’s defensive side.

With all that in mind, the “special one” has acquired Nemanja Matic from Benfica. Even after claiming that Chelsea were not going to bring anybody for the midfield during this transfer period -yes, we all have witnessed these misinformations employed by Mou before. Anyway, the Portuguese manager brings Matic (given by Chelsea to Benfica in the David Luiz’s transfer in 2011) with the idea of having a real defensive midfielder that functions as a shield in front of the defensive line, and is capable of dictating the tempo of the match by stopping the rival team and creating a quick transition to counter-attacking football (Mourinho’s preferred tactic).

Moreover, Matic, listed at more than 1.90 mts (6’3”), also gives Chelsea a towering presence in the middle of the pitch, an area lacking since Ballack wore the Blues shirt. The Serbian is known for strong tackling technique, long range passing, strength and keen eye for interceptions. Overall, if Matic can replicate what he showed in last year’s Europa league’s final, where he gave Chelsea a headache in their efforts to overpower Benfica-and him- in the middle of the pitch, Matic can become the anchor that Chelsea craves in midfield.

On the other hand, the surplus of attacking midfielders (AMs) meant that someone between, Mata, De Bruyne, Schurrle, Willian and Hazard had to be sold. I thought Mata was going to be the first one to go from that list, with a plethora of suitors after his services, yet the little Spaniard remains a Chelsea player for now and so it is the “least” talented/used among the other four AMs that it is saying goodbye. Yes, I am referring to Kevin De Bryune. The choice was a no brainer, with Hazard having a monster season, Schurrle and Willian featuring regularly under Mourinho, De Bruyne’s inevitable transfer to Wolfsburg benefits both him and Chelsea. He surely will be a starting player for Wolfsburg, as they chase the two Borussia teams for a Champions League spot next season. And for Chelsea, the reported £16.7m the team will receive for the Belgian, make up for the money spent on Matic.

In conclusion, Matic coming back and De Bruyne departure, look like smart moves, both give their new team, a new dimension, it lacked before and I think with their specific talents are the systems of their respective teams, both are well poised to excel. Hopefully the next Chelsea move are that well planned and solve more issues as the striker conundrum for example.

PS: Matic’s transfer means that Inter’s Freddy Guarín is probably not coming to Chelsea, so either Mourinho did not like what he saw of him in the match between Belgium and Colombia last November or he was not really after Guarín, which begs the question: Was Mourinho attending the match to see Radamel F. Garcia?