Azonto Epistle 25: The EPL Just Got Started

“This week, I watched every Chelsea vs Man City game and the difference was mental not technical” (Jose Mourinho’ post match press conference).
Last week, we spoke about the winning mentality about this team and their performance against City up to the last minute where Fernando’s “belief” to chase after every ball till its over, paid off with a tight angle goal. It was written clear in the faces of the boys that they were never content with a draw and you could feel something was bound to happen, either for the worse or for that sweet moment. They kept on believing till the last. That winning goal came as a result of the winning mentality being forged among the boys, in the first half, Torres chased another ball that many believed it was impossible to get and he wouldn’t have done that in the past, where he had to crash the advertising board, there and then, I saw the fire in El Nino’s eye. He was brimming with confidence and even when he missed a sitter, he kept his head down, believed in himself and atoned for it with that run into the box which many strikers don’t do or can’t do. It was about the belief, confidence and the winning mentality at work. From the blast of the whistle, you could see the Jose’s Chelsea, a different attitude, playing with urgency and purpose. The boys had just stumble upon a new found belief, the belief that they can beat every team at the Bridge, a new fortress, their home where QPR can’t come there to desecrate.
Playing against Manchester City has always been the difficult match for us in recent years although they were the one who stopped our run under Jose’s first coming thanks to Nicholas Anelka. We lost our belief to beat them and in our matches last season, it was not about their superior ability, it was more of our mentality, “we feared them” as Hazard put it. In the Capital One Cup, we played better than them at Wembley but we feared Yaya Toure, we couldn’t contain him and before we realized that we could take them on, it was too late. Jose Mourinho’s ability to identify this mental blockage against City makes me respect him more as a manager who understands every part of the game including the ability to fix the problem of the mind. It is Jose alone who could do this, or perhaps they got me to do it for them. “The difference between City and Chelsea last year was not technical, it was mental”. Lets thank God we have Jose Mourinho as our manager, no one will be able to do this, because to be able to identify it is different from being able to fix it. To fix it, you needed someone the players can trust, someone who will himself or perhaps herself (if there is any) be able to inspire them with what he has done and what he/she is capable of doing. I tell you, not many will pass this test apart from Jose. It is what Alex Ferguson relied on as a manager to get his team going even though they might not be the strongest squad.
Finding Our Identity
The business end of the league is drawing near as the month of November is staring at us. This is the moment you feel the league has started and will take full shape in December. This is also the time to find your feet and figure out the major core of your strongest side. It is no time to tweak things up as Pellegrini did. It didn’t show confidence and Jose quickly identified it that “he was showing respect”. That was more diplomatic from Jose but to me when you have a great squad full of attackers and you choose to play a defensive mid fielder (Toure) as your number 10 and screen your defense with two more defensive midfielders, in Javier Garcia and Fernandinho, it is  more than a sign of respect, it is a sign of fear and lack of belief in your usual team. It is great that Pellegrini has showed us that “respect” and this will run through many of the big matches we will play. Jose kept it simple and came up with a very predictable lineup. It is the lineup which is beginning to be more of our starting lineup. Before the match he spoke of our search for ‘identity’ and it is what we need at this time of the season. A pragmatic manager must be able to fix this out by now and Jose is doing exactly that.
Against Schalke in the midweek, it was yet another crucial match which we didn’t  need to drop points. The difference was not that we played better than them generally, but the difference was that of tactics and organization. It was a well organized team, put up to just win and come back to London and they did just that. It  goes to show the other side of our team, where we defended perfectly as a team and made stunning counter attacks. After all , Guardiola calls him ” The master of counter attacks” it is better to be called the master of something than “nothing of anything”.
The Stamford Bridge Fortress is being built and the biggest acidic test has just been passed. We will not get ahead of ourselves yet but when you look at the fixtures we have played and that of our rivals, you should know we are in for something special. If after playing Manchester United away, Tottenham away, Everton away and Manchester City at home, we  have 20 points lying behind Arsenal who have 22 points and have played only Tottenham at the Emirates, then you know what to expect ahead. In the Next 3 or 4 fixtures, we play Newcastle (Away), Westbrom(home), and Westham (Away).
Arsenal plays Liverpool (Home), Manchester United (Away), and Southampton (Home)
Tottenham plays – Everton (Away), Newcastle (Home), Manchester City (Away), United (Home)
City plays- Norwich, Sunderland and Tottenham(Home)
Liverpool- Everton (Away), Fulham and Arsenal (Away)
United – Fulham, Arsenal (Home), Cardiff (Away) and Tottenham (Away).
The league just got started and thanks to Manchester City and our last five games, our team is taking shape. The bookmakers have now began to change their predictions or perhaps confirmed it. On my personal twitter account, I made the prediction before the game that “We beat City and the League is ours in April” although I won’t , make that here, I’ve just told you what is in my head. Feel free and tell us all what is in your head too. Cheers!!
KTBFFH!
By: Seth Adusei (twitter @sethaadusei)