All but confirmed is Jose Mourinho’s return to Chelsea. It will be an extremely significant moment when it is official, simply because of our history. He was and still is loved by every Chelsea fan, simply because he gave us our untouchable image. It was evident that this image ceased to exist after his departure. Carlo Ancelotti brought back what was a considerable amount of self-respect and power to the Chelsea name, but after his exit, we were back to square one. Therefore I couldn’t be more thrilled that Jose will make his return, even though I do fear for the long-term, if he does leave us for a 2nd time.
Mourinho is and was known for his tactical mind games – Something that Alex Ferguson hated, to a point where he knew what was coming when we played against his lesser Manchester United team. In the year that United won the title off Mourinho’s Chelsea, Jose still managed to bag two trophies. Such was the power of a man we knew as a football wizard.
However, it was not just the mind games that made Mourinho unique. Mourinho was very versatile and open when it came to being able to change a formation, before and during a game. He would read a report his scout would provide (This fella’ named Andre Villas-Boas?), and create a team and formation for every individual opponent. This is something we haven’t been able to do since Ancelotti changed our 4-4-2 diamond to 4-3-3, our most comfortable formation.
Should Jose make his return, one can be sure that we will no longer have to remain a 4-2-3-1 team, but will be capable of changing our shape without leaving dangerous spaces. This is one of Jose’s expertise. He knows that a 4-3-3 enables our defensive midfielder to drop back, covering our back four, which allows two midfielders to join in a 5 man attack. This also allows the two wider midfielders to cover the left and right wings, which also means that our wingers won’t have to do as much defensive work. This is where midfielders like Lampard and Ballack were useful. They would enable us to stretch play, while reading a game quick enough to perform their defensive duties. This is why we were lethal when it came to counter attacks and getting out of the blocks at pace, under Ancelotti. In contrast, a 4-2-3-1 with one faster midfielder and one slower, but equally fast at intercepting, midfielder leaves us cover for the back 4, but the 2nd faster midfielder joins a congested attack, which restricts us from playing it wide and switching the play. Therefore, if not executed properly, we are prone to leaving massive spaces when teams counter attack, as we’ve seen against teams like Manchester City. 4-2-3-1 is most useful when the defensive midfielder is a player that can cover a lot of ground in very little time, and make tackles that will not see them carded.
Jose is even comfortable playing a 4-4-2 against the appropriate opponents, which only strengthens the argument that more than having an identity, we need to be great on the field.
In midfield, for a 4-3-3, I definitely see David Luiz anchoring, and would like to see Oscar pushed out to that wide right, which does give him the licence to move forward and overlap our right-winger. I believe Mata should be played on the right-wing, so he is able to cut inside and play between the lines. I do tend to prefer Hazard in the middle, and we will need a suitable cover on the left-midfield, which allows Hazard to replicate Mata’s movement on the wing. Lampard also loved playing in a 4-3-3, it allowed him to get into the box and score those crucial goals. Ideally, for a left sided midfielder in a 4-3-3, someone like Ramires does the job well.
For me, our 4-3-3 should look like this:
Cech
Gary Cahill John Terry
Azpilicueta Ashley Cole
David Luiz
Oscar Ramires
Juan Mata Eden Hazard
Falcao/Lewandowski
Our 4-2-3-1 should look like this:
Cech
Gary Cahill John Terry
Branislav Ivanovic Ashley Cole
David Luiz Gundogan
Mata Hazard Di Maria
Ba/Lukaku
A rare 4-4-2 should look like this:
Cech
Gary Cahill John Terry
Ivanovic/Azpilicueta Ashley Cole
David Luiz Oscar/Ramires
Moses Di Maria
Hazard/Mata/Ba
Lukaku
A lot of editing has been done, and a summary of what I expect to see if the ‘Special One’ does make his return “to somewhere where people love me to be”.
Leave me your thoughts below!
why is Gundogan and di maria here????
we dont need them especially with debruyne and kakuta is also a good player with the help from lucas piazon we dont need to buy anymore wingers just a striker central defender and a CM
Central midfielder – Gundogan. We do need a left-footed winger, and we have been linked with Di Maria recently. De Bruyne, I agree, should be playing for us, but we’re loaning him out, Kakuta will be sold and Piazon is still too young. He needs regular playing time, which he won’t get at Chelsea at the moment!
We are having Lukaku so we don’t even need di maria. I just want Schurrle chaperoned by Falcao and Mourinho to greet Chelsea.
gundogan is the best young holding midfielder in the world recently..i would never refuse a world-class young player though having lots of young players in the squad..being world class is something different?and kakuta is good?he is at vitesse and his performance is very poor and you want him at chelsea?-.-
Absolutely agree ! Maybe we need a CD more than a CM. We have to invest in young players like Dortmund 3 years ago. Look at the U21 team and all the loans around Europe. Don’t need to spend 48 m. £ for a 27 years old striker.
Welkam bak our one and only one, ths is th place to be, home!!!!!! Away from home, come back, bring Essien, Lampard and Drogba(if possible) our Heros, our Legend, our Special ones. Salute 4 th Great one
gundogan?? are you crazy … hahahaha
Probably!
but mourinho recently is playing the 4 2 3 1 with real madrid..so for me you can expect him to continue with the 4 2 3 1 !
Of course, but he knows the league requires being able to be flexible and versatile every minute through the season. We’ve looked great when we have played the rare 4-3-3 (Kazan away).
u must be joking.Chelsea is now adopting fancy entertaining futbol wth our curent formation,u even go as far as to 4get th talents we poses an u tok of di maria ha ha ha.i wuld prefer pelegrini coz of th entertainment philosophy
So crazy to suggest anything other than the new standard formation! What was I thinking?!
Sahil,look and the players we have without thinking of the defense. I think we’re sorted in that department for next season.
For midfield,we only have a few to pick from for a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2. What about subs and rotation? For the attacking midfield,we have a whole bunch to pick from and the reason for this is evident. The club wants entertaining and attacking football yet with balance so the 4-2-3-1 is the obvious choice to build on.
Oscar a right sided midfielder? Please man,he’s a playmaker. Hazard in the hole with all that pace when you have Mata and Oscar to play there? Why restrict Hazard’s pace and wide dribbling skills? Honestly,for me the boy is a younger and shorter Ronaldo.
We can’t dream of players like Gundogan and Di Maria when they are still in contract with their current clubs. Only Gundogan will be a useful option for the deeper playmaking role but this signing is unlikely though I’d love to be proven wrong.
You’re forthright with what you’re saying, but these are the changes I’m expecting to happen. I’m not a manager, of course, but I’m going by what Mourinho has tried in the past.
I haven’t changed anything about the defence. I do think Oscar’s best position is deeper where he is able to create, as well as making quick runs on the right, I’ve said Hazard should start on the left, though I do prefer him in the hole because how he runs at defences, compared to Mata who normally squares play.
A player LIKE Gundogan is essential if we are to strike a balance in a 4-2-3-1, and we are in the hunt for another midfielder. I mentioned Di Maria because he has been linked with us, and he’s one of the best left-footed wingers around. With Bale, almost certainly leaving for Real, I do think there’s something there. I personally would prefer Gaitan, this is all what I expect to happen.
I appreciate the feedback though, you do have great points!
where is lampard??
Your best guess?
i don’t think we need Gundogan romeu is good enough to play next to david luiz he has the ability to keep the ball under pressure and keeps it simple but effective and we don’t need nor should we buy di maria when de bruyne is a good player chelsea fans need to stop and think about ffp we don’t need to buy all these players we are talking about and being associated with in the media its a good and a bad thing to have the media say that we have a second squad of players out on loan we have a lot of young talent out on loan Lucas Piazon has doing well at malaga and he wants to stay he said even if i can play for 20 mins to half and hour he will take that, we also have Nathaniel Chalobah who is on loan at watford and Josh McEachran and i also think we don’t need schurrle we need another striker either falcao or lewandowski and i don’t think we should include courtois in the deal for falcao he should be loaned out to a team in the epl or let him stay and get some playing time rather than have cech in bars all the time he is good enough to play in the first team.
wot abt mikel
This is actually unrealistic. Cant agree at all
1. Jose himself plays real in 4 2 3 1
2. 4 3 3 playmakers control the game from the depth of midfield where as our playmaker mata does that from a more front position as of 4 2 3 1. hence we will also need a 2 man holding midfield as mata playing more upfront
3. david luiz in holding midfield is not realistic against big opponents
4. you are showing transfer possibilities as if playing FIFA in PS. How come Di Maria?
5. Lukaku isnt coming back this season. He has been loaned till the end of 2013014 season already
You want to know what makes teams like Barca, Bayern, Juve, United successful? The stuff I’ve mentioned. Absolutely no place for close minds in the Premier League. Which is why I can’t wait for Mourinho to return. Di Maria is a rumoured target, I haven’t just thrown his name in. Wrong about David Luiz. Cheers for the feedback though, much appreciated!
Let stop this noise we are making. The summer is almost here, all this argument you are doing is nothing and won’t change anything from what the board are intend to do.
Some of us actually enjoy speculating and putting together what could be a multiple trophy winning team, apologies grumps!
where is mikel obi and i would chose piazon to d maria
Mikel Obi should earn a place …….Di Maria is welcomd
Top strikers and the number of goals dey v scored so far in all competitions dis season;
Fernando Torres- 20
Gonzalo Higuain- 15
Sergio Aguero – 16
Carlos Tevez- 17
Wayne Rooney- 17
Karim Benzema- 14
Edin Dzeko- 20
Van Persie- 34
Luiz Suarez- 30
Falcao- 30
Messi- 54
Ronaldo- 48
Cavani- 30
Ibrahimovic-36
Lewandoski-35
U wud agree with me dt d above list contains d best strikers rite now. Fernando Torres via dis list as faired well so far. Stop d discrimination.
Dont forget to include the number of matches they played to justify their goals
why are you not including a holding mild fielder like Michael Obi?is he not a chelsea player?
Who ever is saying that good football can only be played with a 4-2-3-1 formation must be nuts. Anyways formations can always be changed. But I disagree with the players being bought.
Btw after I saw the whole game, m stillbvery sure that Luiz does not belong to DM. He adds a good dimension to the attack but our def is more exposed. I still think he would be a better CB if he learns more discipline. But attacking wise there is no doubting his quality. That third goal was out of this world.
Can you give me a reason for excluding mikel obi..a good holder of midfield situations
I get surprise that many of you don’t see the work of Mikel in our midfild,Jose will never do without him,go nd mark it!!!
am waiting 2 see them in the field.. welcome back the special 1