Out of the comfort zone: A month since CFC’s last victory

Chelsea fans are not accustomed to seeing their team go too long without a win but this has precisely what happened for the last one month. On 21 August 2013 Chelsea beat Aston Villa 2-1 in a rather unconvincing fashion and have since been win-less in 4 games in all competitions. To some extent, the fixture list hasnt been kind on us but these kinds of results can make or break a whole season.. Or has it already done so? Let us look back at the last 4 games and analyse what went horribly wrong and what remedies can be made.
Manchester United vs Chelsea 0-0 at Old Trafford:

The game arrived too early in the season to be called a classic with both teams cancelling each other out for most parts of the game. With the Uefa Super Cup game in mind , Mourinho decided not to add extra pressure on the boys and it was a dead rubber in the end. The experiment of the false 9 failed miserably once more after we had tried it out against Juventus in last season’s UCL. Andre Schurrle and Oscar were probably our best attackers on the pitch with little impact from anyone else. The defense was tight and miserly with John Terry and Gary Cahill having a blinder of a game. All in all , Chelsea was happy to get that one out of the way and no fingers were pointed at Mourinho or any of the players.
Chelsea vs Bayern Munich 2-2 (4-5 on penalties) Uefa Super Cup :

There was a huge hype surrounding the game as it renewed the rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola form their respective time in Spain. It was also seen as a re-match of the 2012 ChampIons League final which no Chelsea fan could ever forget. The game certainly lived up to the expectation with some exciting football played by both the teams . Torres and Hazard put the Blues in front twice before being cancelled out by Ribery and Martinez respectively. It was the kind of game that no team deserved to lose and it was probaly just fair that the game was decided on penalties. Romelu Lukaku was the unfortunate scapegoat of the night as he missed the last and deciding penalty. Although we lost, we lost with a great sense of pride and went down fighting. There was still no sign of Juan Mata in the team and some eyebrows were beginning to raise over Mourinho’s alleged unfair treatment of the Spaniard. Still , the mood was good and the team’s morale was high going into the next few games.
Everton vs Chelsea 1-0 at Goodison Park :

Everton have been our bogey team for many seasons now and its exactly the way it turned out in this game  as well. The game was played after a two week international break with Chelsea signing Samuel Eto’o in the meanwhile. Alot was written and said about the striker’s age and lack of fitness and Eto’o sadly didnt prove any of his critics wrong. It was just that kind of a game in which nothing was going in for Chelsea. Chance after chance went begging. There was alot of slow passing on the ball and laziness in front of goal is just not acceptable in the frenxied pace of the Premier League. Everton just nudged it by a single goal thanks to Steven Naismith. Mata started but had very little impact on the game and overall it was a very depressing loss knowing we could have won it quite easily had we taken our chances. The lack of a quality striker was the only reason Chelsea lost this game and it could not be blamed on Mourinho. Now the alarm bells really started to ring around Stamford Bridge and around millions of Chelsea fans all over the world.
Chelsea vs Basel 1-2 at Stamford Bridge : UEFA Chamions League :

The new season of the Champions League started with alot of promise for Chelsea . Having been placed in a realtively easy Group E , nobody really expected to see this brand of football being played by Chelsea and such  a shocking start to the competition. The shock loss came exactly six years after Mourinho took charge of his final game of his first Blues spell, a 1-1 draw against Norwegian side Rosenborg. With Willian starting his first game for the Blues, Mourinho put out a strong squad to tackle the Swiss champions only to be disappointed once more by the lack of chances created and converted. Oscar put the hosts into the lead just before the interval in an otherwise satisfactory display in the first half. Chelsea lost the plot in the second half as Ashley Cole had a night to forget as his nemesis Mohamed Salah levelled for the swiss side before Marko Steller won it in stunning fashion for Basel. One of those nights that you just dont want to come again. It was not even close to a performance we have been so accustomed to seeing under Mourinho in Cup Competitons.  Jose’s “Young Eggs” looked alot more young in this match.
What needs to be done :
Mourinho needs to act like a Boss now. These kind of situations are not new to him and every Chelsea fan knows if there is one person who can get Chelsea out of this crisis is Jose. In my opinion, Torres should be given the priority over Eto’o in the striker’s slot as he has spent almost 3 years now with the Blues and has slowly but surely adapted his game to the midfield-dominated style of Chelsea. With too many players fighting for too few positions in the team, Jose needs to sort things out a little and make his mind up as to what is the best XI for us. I dont think side-lining Mata will be of any help for the team as he has been the focal point of the Chelsea attack for the last two seasons. We should re-ignite the partnership of Oscar , Mata and Hazard which performed so well for us last season. In Jose we Trust and he is the perfect manager and the perfect man to solve our problems.
KEEP THE BLUE FLAG FLYING HIGH !