‘Defensive’ Chelsea? Jose Mourinho’s greatest wind-up yet
Imagine Frankenstein verbally ripping into his own monster. Not in a ‘dear god, what have I created?’ completely understandable kind of way, but in a ‘look at you, made of rotten flesh, rusty screws and dead limbs – how disgusting’ kind of way. You’d accuse Doctor Frankenstein of hypocrisy, arrogant detachment from his own sins and, in some senses, betrayal. Yet, after his comments on Saturday evening, I put those same accusations to Jose Mourinho.
The Manchester United manager once again found the perfect equilibrium between directly insulting a counterpart and giving just enough away for the media to accurately interpret – a thinly veiled swipe in typical Mourinho style. After a 2-0 win over Watford and ahead of Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Burnley, the Portuguese simply couldn’t help himself, drawing on the differences in style of play between his side and his former employers. That’s right, the only manager to lift the title to the soundtrack of ‘boring, boring Chelsea’, accusing Chelsea of being… well, boring.
“Chelsea are a very good defensive team. They defend very well and with lots of players and I think in this situation a very defensive team wins the title with counter-attack goals and set pieces goals so I don’t think they will let it slip but football is football.”
Admittedly, the statistics do back up the notion that Manchester United are a more open team this season. Whilst they’ve struggled for consistency in front of goal – managing just four more strikes than West Brom, the eternal beacon of unentertaining football – they average more possession, more efforts at goal and more created chances per match than the pace-setting Blues. Likewise, they’ve scored a higher percentage of goals from open play and perhaps therefore inevitably, a lesser percentage from set pieces.
Yet, statistics do not tell the whole story and Chelsea’s fine football came earlier in the campaign, not least including a 4-0 romping of Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. That came amid a spell that saw the Blues score 16 goals in the space of four games. The Red Devils, on the other hand, have scored four goals in a single game on just one occasion this season – against lowly Leicester City all the way back in September.
Chelsea have now reached a point in the season where results are far more important than performances. When you’re ten points clear with 13 games remaining, no more statements are needed – just enough draws and wins to get over the finish line. Perhaps that can be achieved in a relatively entertaining style, but Stamford Bridge season ticket holders certainly won’t have been bored over the last few weeks; let’s not forget, just nine days ago, Eden Hazard scored arguably the goal of the season against Arsenal.
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And those with longer memories than Mourinho will remember how Chelsea saw out their last title under ‘The Special One’ in 2014/15. Whilst the first half of the campaign saw the Blues rip the Premier League apart, the second witnessed eleven games in which they failed to score more than one goal, including five draws and one 3-0 defeat – ironically, at the hands of West Brom.
Alas, we come back to the subject of criticising the monster one has created. Whilst 3-4-3 has rarely been a formation of the Mourinho playbook, there’s no question Antonio Conte’s side still contains traces of the one the Portuguese left behind. In fact, David Luiz, Marcos Alonso and N’Golo Kante are the most noticeable changes in personnel and although there are some notable differences in style, Conte’s maintained Chelsea’s historical defence-comes-first approach.
That not only harks back to the west London outfit’s last title under Mourinho, but also his first spell in charge. Whilst managers have brought attacking variation to Stamford Bridge during the intermittent period, some (Carlo Ancelotti) far more successfully than others (Luiz Felipe Scolari), Chelsea’s philosophy throughout the Roman Abramovich era has mostly been one of physicality, organisation, direct football and opportunism: Chelsea keep their powder dry until a telling moment gives them the lead.
Mourinho is correct in admitting the same tricks won’t work at Old Trafford, a club that has a long history of attacking football and became rudderless without it during David Moyes and Louis van Gaal’s unpopular spells in charge. But blasting the Blues for not having to meet the same criteria is beyond comical in its hypocrisy – in fact, it might be Mourinho’s greatest wind-up yet.
Of course, there’s plenty of competition on that front, ranging from ‘voyeur’ to mocking Liverpool fans with overzealous celebrations at Anfield. But what’s most important is that Conte doesn’t get drawn in.
Mourinho is hoping his comments will create a hysteria around Chelsea’s style of play that can slow them down in pursuit of the title, the kind of unnecessary negative pressure that swelled around Stamford Bridge during his two spells in charge. The sweet irony, however, is that Mourinho would be doing the exact same thing if he was in Conte’s position right now. In this Brexit-Trump-reactionary world we now live in, Mourinho’s latest condemnation reeks of post-truth.
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