Chelsea won the Premier League last season almost at a canter and are favorites to retain the title again this season. Mourinho already had a strong squad from last season but given the fact that all his title rivals strengthened during the off season, it was clear that Chelsea weren’t going to have it easy second year in a row. After the departure of ageing Drogba, Mourinho quickly went out and got Radamal Falcao.
Efficiency in the transfer market was Chelsea’s strength last season and lack of it may prove to be their weakness this time around. Their failure to get targets, most notably defender John Stones has left many at Stamford Bridge frustrated. The frustration increases even more watching a stagnant Chelsea backline struggling to emulate the form of last season.
In the opening match of the season, Chelsea struggled to break down a solid Swansea side and were pegged back twice after taking the lead. Thibaut Courtois was sent off, which meant Asmir Begovic would get his first start against Manchester City at the Etihad stadium. The real weak link in the Chelsea team was Ivanovic who struggled all afternoon against the speed and trickery of Montero. This was far from the start Mourinho wanted from his team, given that next up was a daunting trip to Manchester.
Manchester City looked radically different from the side that ceded the title so weakly at the turn of the year. Manuel Pellegrini’s men who took the initiative within the first 20 seconds of the game and simply got stronger from there. Sergio Aguero inspired City to an emphatic 3-0 win against the defending champions. The highlight of the match was Mourinho’s decision to substitute club captain John Terry for the first time in 177 league games over the two spells. The situation wasn’t critical but if things didn’t change it could have got really worse for Mourinho.
Chelsea responded to their humiliation at the Etihad with a 3-2 win over West Brom at the Hawthorns. Chelsea’s new £21.1m signing Pedro Rodriguez had a sparkling debut, scoring one goal and then assisting another. It was a lot of entertainment from start to finish, with Chelsea hanging on for more than half an hour with ten men after John Terry was shown a red card for bringing down Salomon Rondon. Things were just turning from bad to worse for Terry.
On the occasion of Mourinho’s 100th home game in the Premier League, he endured just his second defeat, against Crystal Palace, and leaving his team eight points behind Manchester City. No one could deny Palace deserved their win, Goals from Bacary Sako and Joel Ward, which sandwiched a header from Radamel Falcao for the home side, showcased the glaring faults within the heart of this Chelsea team.
Currently out of the top half of the table, Mourinho needs to quickly get his mojo back and get his men working as a team again. Some of the senior players in the team need to pull their socks up and emulate the performance of last year, if they want to have any chance of competing against a confident Manchester City team.