Every time it seems that Chelsea are back on track for this season, it goes bad for them again. Chelsea might have defeated Arsenal in the Premier League the last weekend but that was followed by a 2-1 loss to Jose Mourinho’s former team, FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League.
Although that result does not hamper the chances of Chelsea progressing into the next round of the European tournament, it does hurt the confidence of a club who were expected to challenge on all fronts this season but look a shadow of the side that conquered England last season.
Diego Costa would be completing his suspension in this game and Mourinho has also stated that this period is the worst period of his career. Jose Mourinho would want to get his team going again and he could do with a few top notch performances by some of his players, who mostly have been below par this season.
Play the captain
One of the first things Jose Mourinho should do is play the captain, John Terry. Ever since the Manchester City game, the belief that Terry is one of the best defenders in the league seems to have vanished from Mourinho and the Chelsea centre back has been kept on the bench.
The pair of Cahill and Zouma aren’t doing all that great as well and putting Terry in the centre of defence should provide them with a lot of leadership and at least a little bit of stability and decision making at the back.
The other defensive change that Mourinho needs to do is rest Branislav Ivanovic. For some reason the Serbian is playing consistently for Chelsea even though he was been poor since the start of the season. Jose Mourinho for some reason cannot drop the right back and even handed him the captain’s armband, well he should give that armband back to Terry as they prepare to face Southampton.
Chelsea’s defence is definitely a worry, but their attack is just as poor. While Chelsea’s defence have conceded 14 goals this season, just one goal less than the number they conceded in Jose Mourinho’s first season at the club, the attack hasn’t sparked and sizzled as expected.
Eden Hazard should have started this season like a house on fire but he has been playing rather poorly and isn’t the influencer as he was last season. In fact, most of Chelsea’s attack have been poor and maybe playing with two strikers could solve that problem.
Loic Remy and Falcao together could be the solution to Chelsea’s goal scoring problems and could even become a prolific partnership, that is a big if though, as both players haven’t done all that great for the Blues this season.
Southampton are unbeaten away from home this season and another good performance from the Saints could land Mourinho in more hot soup, something that he would like to avoid in a season that just can’t seem to go right for him and his beloved Chelsea.
Blast From The Past