When previewing Chelsea's season, it is difficult to
anticipate what exactly would class as a successful campaign; on the one hand,
all the noises coming from the Fulham Road talk of a long-term strategy and
building for the future. On the other, the Messiah has returned.
The reinstatement of Jose Mourinho, the club's most successful manager, in the Etna-esque Stamford Bridge hot-seat has seen the Blues installed as favourites for
the title by the bookies.
But is it really as simple as that? Will the same
equation yield the same result, 9 years down the line? Manchester City's
billions were not around the last time the Special One played with Russian
Roubles; neither were the new kids on the block in France sweeping up Europe's
best players.
Judging by business done so far this summer, the
transfer strategy is not likely to be as aggressive as in the past, with young,
dynamic players like Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel brought in, as opposed
to the tried and trusted allies of the first era. Although, there is one name
that, in many ways, links the past with the future: Wayne Rooney.
The conclusion of the transfer saga of the summer could have a major bearing on the Europa League winners’ season. With Romelu Lukaku, Fernando Torres and
Demba Ba already at the club, there are certainly options should the Rooney
deal fall through. However, the Manchester United man could be the difference
between a good team and a great one, as discussed here.
Mourinho's teams tend to rely on a talisman - whether it
be Didier Drogba or Cristiano Ronaldo - and Rooney could be the man to fulfill
that role. At 27, he is very much the present to Torres' past and Lukaku's
future and could act as a great link man for the abundance of creative talent
around him.
Although Schurrle and van Ginkel are undoubtedly part of that pool of creative talent,
this could be the year where past transfer fees start to bear fruit and the
likes of Eden Hazard and Oscar build on very promising debut seasons to become
two of the league’s prominent figures.
Not to mention the performance-boost potentially generated by the homecoming of several loan players; in
particular, the highly regarded Kevin de Bruyne, who worked wonders in an
exceptionally poor SV Werder Bremen team last term and could yet perform a key
role in a variety of positions. Lukaku himself comes into the squad on the back
of a stellar season at West Bromwich Albion and will be looking to impress and
eventually establish himself as Mourinho's main man up front.
Michael Essien also returns to the fold, having spent
a year with his past/present manager at the Bernabeu, and could be an integral
cog as the squad’s only genuine holding midfielder, particularly with Jon Obi
Mikel's future increasingly under threat. If ‘the Bison’ can return to the form
of a few years ago, before his injuries took hold, he really could turn out to
be - at the risk of sounding like Arsene Wenger - like a new signing.
One of the more intriguing newspaper stories to emerge since May has revolved around
the notion that Chelsea's new chief is not a fan of club Player of the Year for
the last two seasons, Juan Mata. The Spaniard has been consistently excellent
since moving to the capital from Valencia and it seems absurd to think anyone
could not rate him as one of the most creative and effective players in the
league.
Although these suggestions have been emphatically
denied by all at Stamford Bridge, it will be a worry for the Blues' faithful
that the rumours simply will not go away. After all, his presence does mean
that the arguably more talented Oscar is shunted out to the wing and there are
question marks over whether he would fit in to Mourinho's favoured formation.
However, with the season fast approaching, it appears
all in SW6 should be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief and put the
persistent speculation down to newspaper skullduggery. Mata's guile will be a
huge weapon as the Londoners attempt to wrest the Premier League crown back
from their rivals in Manchester and will serve as an excellent contrast to the
more direct approach of those alongside him.
As well as Mata, there are others in the squad who may not be rated as highly
by the Portuguese as by some of his predecessors. Nothing about David Luiz, for
example, immediately identifies him as a Mourinho favourite-in-waiting and it
will be interesting to see whether he will be deployed in his natural position, of central defence, or in midfield where he occasionally shone in the last campaign
under the ever-popular Rafa Benitez.
With or without Luiz at the heart of it, there will be
scrutiny of the back line. During Mourinho's first spell in charge, the team
was built on a solid rearguard that still holds the record for fewest goals
conceded in a season. However, John Terry is no longer the player he was in
2005 and his injury-ravaged body was all too often exposed last season. The
jury is still out on Gary Cahill as a top-class centre half and Mourinho has
already stated that he sees Branislav Ivanovic as a right back.
With apparently
no new signings en route in the defensive department, it appears as though
hopes are being pinned on a partnership of Terry and Luiz and, while this has
the potential for perfection, it also has all the ingredients to be a recipe for
disaster, particularly with no Claude Makelele-type character to shield them.
The emphasis appears to be on attacking football this time around and, with the
talent at their disposal, why shouldn’t it be? With 14 points to make up on
last year's champions, Manchester United, a lot will rely on the impact of the
'3 amigos' as well as that of whoever is handed the job at centre forward.
The new regime will want to win absolutely everything
and having strength in depth will be key to their assault on all four
competitions. One of Mourinho's big regrets from his previous stint was not
winning the Champions League and he will want to put right that wrong while, at
the same time, re-moulding his side into top dogs on these shores once more.
They say 'never go back' but will the Special One
prove to be more Heynckes or Keegan? In any event, it should be fantastic fun
finding out.
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