jose Take Notes: £30m Samba Star And Midfield Domination Can Help Chelsea Against PSG

As Chelsea face Paris Saint Germain at Stamford Bridge for the second leg of their quarter final clash with the French Champions, there are certain things that the Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho needs to ensure so that they can challenge their opponents and make a comeback after having a 2 goal deficit from the first leg in Paris.

It was a tough game for Mourinho’s Chelsea in Paris where some crucial defensive errors led to goals and heavy criticism of strikers followed soon. Despite bouncing back with a 3-0 win over Stoke, Mourinho knows that PSG are all together a much tougher team and will need his star players to perform at their best.

Mourinho will take some peace from the fact that most of the media pressure would be on PSG as they have now become the massive favourites to go through to the semi-finals. Mourinho can let his side play without that extra burden of expectation and pressure by the media and can punch above their weight on Tuesday.

According to me, there are three basic things Mourinho will have to inculcate in his players.

1. Hold on to possession and be assured in midfield.

Chelsea need to be assured in possession as they do have the attacking midfielders to cause damage to any side in the world. Assured passing and strength on the ball will be the key. Build-ups will need to be fast but in an assured manner. Slow build-up will help PSG midifelders Motta, Matuidi and Verratti to dominate proceedings in the centre. Willian, Oscar and Hazard are agile, fast and stylish flair players and hence Jose would need to prepare his team so that they can link-up much better than last time, especially as PSG won’t try to attack immediately, instead choosing to counter attack using the pace and power of Lavezzi, Lucas and Cavani.

Without Ramires in the holding midfielder role, Lampard can fall short of pace if asked to defend counter attacks. Hence Chelsea attackers will have to duly ensure that they don’t lose possession in the opponent’s counter-attacking positions.

2. Get Willian in central positions

In the game against Stoke City, Willian showed how an energetic Juan Mata would play. Creative as well as box to box, Willian can influence the game very strongly from behind the striker. The central three in the midfield for PSG are solid and strong but they aren’t known for their pace. Willian can do what Ramires does, but in a more productive way as he can help to keep possession as well as help Lampard and Luiz in some defensive labour. He offers the dynamism and energy in the centre.

3. As Eto’o remains doubtful, Torres will have to be specially mentored.

Fernando Torres is again low on confidence but he has a great opportunity to get some back. Samuel Eto’o is doubtful as he is not completely fit, which may compel Jose Mourinho to choose Fernando who is shy of shooting. Paris Saint Germain defenders aren’t going to make the job easy for the Spaniard, and he’ll have to shoot whenever he gets any hint of a goal.

The whole team will have to keep shooting and play freely without the pressure. If Eto’o does start despite being semi-fit, he will have to be very alert in the penalty box.

Jose Mourinho will have to specially condition Torres in such a way that he has the idea of how to create chances for himself and get his shots away. Maybe a failure in this task can prove to be the only reason why Mourinho’s Chelsea may fail to go through to the semi-final stage as there has been no confidence in the forwards.