History tells us YOU will park the bus, Jose!

AMONTH before West Ham became the first visiting team this season to keep a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho remarked: ‘Boring is a team that plays at home and cannot score.’

He added: ‘It’s boring because you go to your stadium and fill your stadium to see victories. There is not a home fan in any club in the world who goes to the stadium and expects his team not to score or win.’

It was way back in, er, December 2013 — not quite Victorian London — and followed a goalless draw at Arsenal, a good point for Mourinho; one to steady a wobble and spark an upturn in form for his team.

Chelsea have seemed far more serious title contenders since. They may lack the goal power and swagger of Manchester City but they have been solid during the last five weeks with enough individual creativity to find a goal or two in most games.

Having happily drawn 0-0 at Manchester United and Arsenal, however, it will be intriguing to see what tactics Mourinho deploys at City on Monday. Surely he won’t, as he would say, park the bus.

Gary Cahill claimed Chelsea will not go to the Etihad Stadium showing such limited attacking ambition as West Ham did at the Bridge on Wednesday but he did admit they would try to be ‘cagey’ and ‘tight’ against a team who have scored 115 goals.

The casual slur about ‘ 19th century football’ could return to haunt Mourinho, regardless of the fact that it was inaccurate according to Matt Taylor — not the West Ham midfielder but the professor of history in the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University in Leicester.

‘During the 1870s, it was not unusual for teams to line up with six or seven forwards,’ Taylor told the BBC. ‘Their priority was to attack, with defending left predominantly to two backs. Over time, many teams chose to move one of their forwards into a deeper position. This became the centre half, who was to be the pivotal figure in a 2-3-5 formation — the pyramid system — that became standard from the late 1880s.’

Sam Allardyce was still congratulating his team on the point earned at Chelsea when he sent his postmatch email to West Ham fans.

‘Our solidarity and our resilience meant it wasn’t luck, it was sheer brilliance,’ wrote Allardyce. ‘Chelsea resorted to moaning and groaning and waving their arms trying to intimidate the referee to get something out of the game they couldn’t get in general play.’

In the 21st century, it has become tactically acceptable to play with one recognised striker, or even with none as Mourinho did at Manchester United in August.

He realised it would be suicidal to take risks at Old Trafford with the players at his disposal, just as he did at the Emirates in December. The question is: dare he copy the approach on Monday, five days after his comments about West Ham? City average four goals per game at home this season.

Since Mourinho tightened the team at Arsenal, Chelsea have conceded only two in nine games and will spend the weekend plotting how to thwart the Premier League’s most prolific team.

‘ We won’t be as defensive as that,’ said Cahill, when asked if West Ham’s tactics might be worth copying. ‘It’s not often you can get away with it for so long. In the second half we bombarded them. I don’t think you can do that against City. Ultimately, big teams will find a gap and score. It was frustrating to say the least, just the amount of time West Ham took out of the game. Goal-kicks and free-kicks must have taken 20 minutes. Nine times out of 10 you don’t get away with that.

‘We need to get a positive result. We know how difficult it will be. We will try to keep it tight because they are banging in goals left, right and centre. We’ve shown we can go to the big clubs and get results.

‘It’s important to try to keep it tight. We’re doing really well at the back but it’s going to be the ultimate test. It will be a bit cagey. It will be like when we went to Old Trafford. Concentration will play a big part and maybe a bit of individual brilliance from someone.’

Or Mourinho could take the 19thcentury option and play 2-3-5. That might surprise Manuel Pellegrini.