Deserved winners, but not yet one of the great teams
CHELSEA look set to win the Premier League title now — and could even do so at Leicester on Wednesday. They have been better than their opponents this season, and not just on the pitch — the management seems to be right as well. These are the key factors which have helped put them on the brink of the title:
PEACE AND LOVE
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH and Jose Mourinho are dominant figures. The clash of their personalities in 2007 meant Mourinho had to leave the club and ever since then there have been multiple changes of managers, even though the club have kept winning trophies.
Now, finally, there appears to be stability. Mourinho and Abramovich have learnt how to work together and that has been an enormous factor in the club doing so well this season. It seems everyone is pulling in the same direction. You can see that on and off the pitch.
It’s not when times are good that relationships are tested; it’s when the pressure comes that you need harmony. And there was no sense of impatience from the board last year when there were no trophies.
You have to work together or you drain the club of energy. Chelsea seem to have the right mix of personalities. There is Abramovich’s idealism and desire for beautiful football and Mourinho’s knowledge of how to win. Compromise seems to have bred success.
FAMILY SACRIFICE
MOURINHO has told how he had to miss his son playing for Fulham in a cup final in Germany to meet Cesc Fabregas in June and persuade him to join Chelsea. No one wants to miss a family occasion but that sacrifice went a long way to helping Chelsea dominate this season.
Fabregas, Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic have been the key additions to the squad — Matic coming in January 2014 — and the reason why Chelsea have elevated their game.
Fabregas has allowed them to pass their way out of midfield. In many ways he has been a Frank Lampard replacement. He has a very different physique and is a different kind of player but he has been the driving force of the midfield.
Matic added the physicality in midfield as well as energy and Diego Costa added his sheer aggression up front — like Didier Drogba in his prime — and clinical finishing.
No one has played the transfer window better than Chelsea. They got their planning spot on, strengthening the squad but making a profit to comply with financial fair play rules. The foundations of this campaign were laid in the summer.
WINNING UGLY? NOT QUITE
CHELSEA have struck the perfect balance between beautiful and winning football. With the spate of 1-0 and 2-1 wins of late, it’s easy to forget how scintillating they were in the first half of the season. Even on that first Monday night of the season at Burnley, they played some lovely stuff. Then there was that 6-3 win over Everton, 3-0 against Tottenham and, perhaps the high-water mark of their flowing football, the 5-0 win at Swansea.
But as the season has closed in, and tiredness affected the squad, Mourinho has been pragmatic enough to say: ‘I don’t care how we play, I’ll make sure we get over the line to win.’ They’ve been doing that time and time again. You need that to win a championship.
AN ALL-TIME GREAT TEAM?
CAN this Chelsea team be compared to Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles of 2004, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Treblewinning team of 1999 or the Manchester United team who won titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and who, at their peak, had Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney?
Not yet. I’m not sure the manager’s style will ever allow them to be revered like that. Those teams were based on flair, creativity and attack. This side are still held back more than most teams.
Abramovich is said to want to model his teams of the great Barcelona side of 2008-12 but I can’t ever see Mourinho allowing his teams to attack like that.
But it will be intriguing to see what direction the club take in the summer. Will they look to build and bring in an eyecatching attacking talent — like Gareth Bale? Or will they take stock and retain this template for winning trophies?