And Away We Go

So Gameweek 1 of the campaign saw Jose got off to a routine start: 6 points out of 6 to leave him a happy one, but nothing special, considering the manner of victories and strength of opposition (Hull and Villa).

It was certainly a good start as we bagged 2 crucial victories before heading into an early title-decider of a match with United at Old Trafford this week and then a blank gameweek due to European commitments.

However, those anticipating an onslaught of goals or our boys turning up the style felt the victories lacked a certain oomph.

Firstly, the striker conundrum, which has plagued us since The Drog hung up his boots, has yet to be resolved. Pre-season man-on-form Lukaku had to watch from the bench as both Torres and Demba Ba were given a chance to prove their respective cases for being Chelsea’s first choice front men. Both did not convince.

Torres showed better movement and link-up play with the midfield but Ba cut a periphery figure and looked out of place. Both games Lukaku, the one anointed as the Next Drogba, looked dangerous but perhaps not intergrated fully yet with Mourinho’s style.

It’s still early days but one feels that if Mourinho wants to put together a team capable of challenging on all fronts, he needs to solve this last piece of the jigsaw.

Personally, I would go for Lukaku as the first choice. We have talented attack-minded midfielders like Hazard, Oscar, Lamps, Schurrle, De Bruyne, Mata and Moses who can all get involved in the final third and can shoot. A big and strong target man who can hold up play, knock-down aerial balls and tear defences apart with brute strength and speed would be ideal to lead the line. Lukaku can be moulded into that role. Right now, his physique favours such a role but his mindset is in between a predator type striker (Dzeko / Soldado) and all-action front guy (Suarez / Aguero) who wants to be involved in build-up play.

Perhaps the only setback for Lukaku is his work ethic in tracking back and harassing teams who wants to play out from the back. Torres is relatively more hard-working in that sense whilst Ba is an out-and-out striker.

Who knows, Mourinho may just have given Torres and Ba their final chance to impress, all the while knowing that he will pen Lukaku’s name down on the team sheet at Old Trafford. One can hope.

Style-wise, Chelsea still hasn’t settled on a particular one yet. The strains of Mourinho DNA still linger in the Chelsea team, especially the defence. Terry, Cole, Lamps and Cech seem very comfortable hunkering down to play defensive, counterattacking, solid containment style football. However, the new boys with their rapid one-two’s, flicks into space and creative probing game shows glimpses that Chelsea may be evolving into a slightly more open and attack-minded nature.

Mourinho must quickly settle on a style: either go back to Chelsea of 2004-2006 or alchemise the old ways with the new personnel into a new system.

Personally, I feel going back to the past is not the way to go. Chelsea of back then played that way due to the personnel he had and the way the Premier League played at that time. The Chelsea of today would be wasting the ball skills of its current crop of dribblers and attacking wizards if it were to revert to its standard issue.

Mourinho must somehow forge steel and silk to create a team who can attack with flair yet “do a Stoke” when necessary.

Also, defence looks a bit lacking in depth when the calendar busies itself up. Centrebacks of Terry (old, injury-prone these days), Cahill (solid but naïve when it comes to tiki-takaish teams), Ivanovic (very solid, attacking but sometimes prone to mistakes) and Luiz (swashbuckling ball-player with leadership qualities but prone to gross indiscipline) would just barely make it once we start fighting on 4 fronts (league, FA Cup, Carling Cup and Europe). That is why Mourinho cannot afford to let Luiz go (to Barcelona, if rumours are to be believed). And he still needs another cover. An utility type player who could play across the back 4. We need him by the next January transfer window.

Well, those are the only problem areas I foresee. Midfield looks abundant with talent and there has not been much chopping and changing with the main team throughout summer, which bodes well for team fluidity.

Season really starts this weekend with the clash at Old Trafford. Let us hope we can put 3 points (essentially 6 in a title-fight) between us in our favour.