What We Learned: FC Bayern Munich 2-2 Chelsea FC (5-4 on pen.)

We undeservedly lost the UEFA Super Cup match against Bayern Munich in Eden Park, Prague on Friday. After having the lead two times through Fernando Torres and a brilliant solo finish from Eden Hazard on extra time weren’t enough to finish off the Champions League winners as they managed to equalize through UEFA player of the year winner Frank Ribery in the first half and through a last minute goal by Javi Martinez.

But, its more satisfaction on many fans who analyze the game in a smart way as we proved we can challenge the top teams of the world time and time again even with this young squad we have at the moment. Andre Schurrle, Eden Hazard and Oscar were all 22 starting behind Fernando Torres in the attacking mid and they dominated the likes of Phillip Lahm and Alaba on the wings as they worked relentlessly through out the 120+ minutes.

There were more positives to take away from the Super Cup defeat, now let’s look at the 5 of them to his how we fared against last season’s treble winners…

1. Jose Mourinho has truly transformed last season’s inconsistent team…

What we have come to learn from our last two games against Man Utd is that the young players are on a verge of reaching their maximum potentials and with Jose Mourinho’s mentor ship, the future is bright for the likes of Hazard, Mata, Oscar, Luiz, Ramires and Andre Schurrle. Any one who watched the 7-0 aggregate demolition of Barcelona in the hands of Bayern would think our Europa winning team will easily be demolished as well. But, that was not the case as we fought till the last possible moment to get our hands on the silver ware and we were close. As Jose simply put it in words, ‘The best team clearly lost’.  And in football, we have to accept anything can happen and playing for a long extra time period with 10 players is really tougher than it seemed for a lot of teams.

2. Jose is a master tactician and is the best in that mold (YES, better than Gardiola)…

Jose Mourinho proved Friday night like many other top games he had that he is a master tactician and Pep’s tiki-taka playing Bayern couldn’t break through Chelsea’s defense for longer periods in the match. Jose knows how Pep wants his teams to play and he countered that threat in a fashionable, resilient way. If it was not for Frank Ribery’s individual effort and Javi Martinez’s lackluster goal, We could have won the game very much deservedly. Some fans might try to criticize that we did not play an offensive, passing game but, it’s important to remember that the style of football should always depend on the opponent you play against. And Jose is truly is special in such kind of big games on how he prepares his players and instill a winning mentality on to them.

3. We come to learn why Oscar is hugely being favored on the No. 10 spot over Mata…

Both Juan Mata and Oscar are really talented attacking players but, many fans and media were wondering why Jose Mourinho is favoring Oscar to play in that No. 10 role behind the striker over two time Player of the Year Juan Mata. We finally learned this reasons in the last two games we played against Man Utd in the league and Bayern Munich in the Super Cup on Friday. Oscar relentlessly worked hard in tracking back and man marking Toni Kroos really well. He was the catalyst in Chelsea’s transition from Defense to attack against the Bavarians and unless the Spanish Magician Juan Mata improves his all around game like Defending and dribbling fast like wingers, he may have a tough time to cement his name in the starting 11 of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.

4. Eden Hazard is a future Ball’n Dor winner in this Chelsea team for the coming years….

Eden Hazard clearly showed his maximum potential at this stage of his career by performing brilliantly despite playing against the likes of Phillip Lahm and other superb Bayern Players. His defensive play has really improved and under Jose Mourinho we are coming to see a really matured and visionary Eden Hazard that has a great potential to win the Ball’n Dor in the next few seasons a couple of times when this Chelsea team starts to fully dominate and rack up silverware just like Bayern and Barca have done in the last couple of years. And seeing the way he dribbled past Lahm and Boateng to unleash a low, powerful strike through Nueur was a great sight to see. He was clearly in my opinion, the Man of the Match despite Chelsea missing out on the Super Cup in a glimpse.

5. Has Jose almost found his untouchable starting 11 against Bayern…?

With David Luiz coming back from injury in a brilliant fashion against the German champions lead to us Chelsea fans to wonder, Has Mourinho finally found his perfect starting 11 for the Blues’? And the answer could be yes if all the players who played manage to be consistent with how they played against the Champions Of Europe. The only doubt with how many times we will see that display from is Fernando Torres as he has been inconsistent for better parts of his Chelsea career. But, the striker dilemma looked to be solved once and for all as Torres shown he is still a clinical striker and having wingers like Schurrle and Hazard playing out wide, He has every chance to capitalize on that performance and cement his status as Chelsea’s starting No. 9. We have also Mata to be transformed by Jose into a right sided winger and Jose has admitted he will do that as that’s where he sees Mata’s future rather than as No. 10. But, the Spaniard has to battle it out against new signing Willian, Torres has to battle it our with Eto’o and Lukaku waiting on the touchline to capitalize on any misfortune against El Nino. The back four looked solid and indispensable with Ivanovic bossing the RB coming up against the likes of Ribery and other top wingers. Luiz and Cahill are proving to have a solid and complimenting partnership as Luiz can provide an impetus going forward and helping the transition from defense to attack of the Blues’.

Friday’s match was a master piece from Jose as he almost outsmarted his rival Pep Gardiola in every battle the teams put out until penalties. If it was not for Lukaku’s inexperience in those tough situations, we could have won the game easily won the game. Those moments like missing that penalty will be a huge learning curve for Lukaku as even Terry missed a penalty at the top moment of his career in Moscow to win us our first UCL. Drogba similarly was red carded in the latter stages of that game which we could have won despite some small details. The same can be said about this Super Cup defeat as we can bounce back and prove to be title challengers for every tournament we play in this season.

Thanks for reading and please leave us with your opinions about the 5 points we brought to you on this week’s WWL. You can follow me on Twitter @FahmiCFC for more and Ktbffh!!!