Jose's Little Horse Needs To Grow A Pair

Article by e-Chelsea Correspondent Robert Wake

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A journalist had the temerity to ask Jose Mourinho what he thought his Chelsea team had lacked during Saturday’s surprise defeat to Crystal Palace. He said, I cannot say it, but I can write it. He wrote ‘Balls’. His explanation of this was even more enlightening. "Clearly we have some players, because of their profile, who find it difficult to perform in some profile of matches.”You have Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill and Azpilicueta and they perform in the sun, in the rain, small pitches, big pitches, aggressive teams, non-aggressive teams, possession teams, not possession teams and they perform every game from day one to the last day. "And you have other players who are fantastic in some matches and disappear in other matches." There were no names mentioned, but clearly the inference was on the attacking trio of Eden Hazard, Andre Schurrle and Fernando Torres, possibly along with David Luiz who was withdrawn for ‘tactical reasons’ at half-time. This is clever management from Mourinho, getting into the players heads straight after a poor performance, and directly before a Champions League quarter-final, but his comments also rang true to many supporters.

The facts do not lie – Chelsea performs better against the better teams, and has often struggled against supposedly lesser opponents. To date this season, Chelsea are unbeaten against Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United this season, our only defeat against a top seven side coming against Everton. However, in a season that has produced the most open title race in years; The Blues have lost away to Stoke City, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, and were held at home by West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United.

There is a distinct pattern to all of our five league defeats, in that they have all come immediately before a Champions League fixture, and in four of the five, Chelsea have failed to score. So perhaps Jose has a point, perhaps the players are sub-consciously saving themselves for what they perceive to be the ‘bigger’ fixture, and are lacking the required levels of concentration and intensity for what is often seen as a big game for their rivals. Perhaps it is simpler than that. Much has been made of Chelsea’s lack of a goal scorer this season, and it has never been more apparent than in these often narrow defeats to seemingly inferior opposition. That issue is certain to be addressed during the summer, certain bookies have stopped taking bets on Diego Costa joining the club, and if Jose believes there are players who do not have the winning mentality, then they will doubtless be allowed to leave.

Jose has always maintained that this season is one of transition, and that next season his little horse will be ready to race. Though there may still be twists and turns to come, it would appear that the little horse has hit one fence too many to get over the line in first place.

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