Chelsea FC – Is Mourinho the reason behind Torres’ psyche and the Mata conundrum?

In football there are three kinds of personalities among players: the alpha male, the brave heart and the prima donna. Sometimes a player can have two or more of these personalities mixed together, but in the case of top class players they mostly operate under only one of them. The alpha male is the player that puts his will openly on the pitch and back in the players locker rooms. He has to be the one deciding everything from who takes the free kick to who plays, ex: Didier Drogba. Then, the bravehearts, are those players that mainly act as a the alpha male of the team on the field but are willing to compromise and do anything for the group, ex: Gerrard. Last, there are the prima donnas, those players whose top class talent makes them both strong and fragile at the same time. They have to be the alpha male of their team or at least of their position on the team but without being vociferous about it, ex: Messi.

This last kind should be the particular interest to Chelsea fans, not for including Messi, whom anybody would want on their team, but because of the “El Niño” Torres psyche: Torres is a perfect example of prima donna, he thinks he is better than everyone else, quietly.

Since starting against Tottenham, back in September, Torres has shown signs of steady progress. He has been tormenting defenders and scoring goals. We all attribute Torres’ good form to the confidence given by Mourinho and the continuing appearance of his name in the starting eleven sheet. Yet, that same confidence in him and recurring starting role was deposited in Torres by none other than Rafael Benitez and the result were not even close. Even under Benitez, Torres’ demeanor was gloomy and full of frustration. He never seemed to enjoy himself or playing. Hence, Torres’ recent good form and attitude, has a different source. It has more to do with the way Mourinho finds a player’s true character than in giving him confidence.

Mourinho is an expert in getting the best out of his players as shown by his previous stint with Chelsea and the two seasons he spent at Real Madrid. Back in the late 2000’s he transformed Drogba into a monster any defence would fear, among reinventing other players; then while in Madrid he shooked up Benzema getting the best out of him. So, expert in such a rare trade (putting players in context) Mourinho, in his return to Chelsea, quickly identified what Torres needed to be successful. The Spaniard needed someone to be strict, methodical and respected by him and the team, while giving him the confidence to be the number one striker. (Benitez only had the Spanish contingent respect so there was no hope)

With everything aligned in training and in what getting support by the manager entails, Torres needed one last piece to succeed. He needed to believe true the thought that defines all prima donnas: “if I am better than everybody else at nobody should be above me”. The response by Mourinho to that belief, was the last piece on the puzzle needed to make Torres a great player again, it is also the answer to the conundrum surrounding Mata: the manager needed to bench the team’s best player.

By leaving Mata out of the starting lineup even though he had been Chelsea’s best player the last two seasons, Jose killed two birds with one stone. He gave Torres the notion that nobody is above you to fulfill his prima donna needs, and made Mata -a Braveheart- the opportunity to improve in defense and as a player to be selected in the starting eleven. In other words: Mourinho=Genius.

The Portuguese manager knew not only that he needed to bench Mata to let Torres’ personality at ease, but also to make el Niño hungry for goals again. Because as shocking as it might sound Mata’s excellent attacking form the last two seasons made Torres indirectly lazy. With Mata guaranteed in the starting lineup Torres knew he was not the main focus of the attack and therefore did not work as hard as he should have been, or does anybody remember Torres attacking defenders the last two years the way he did with Vertonghen?. Now, with Mata uncertain to play, Torres had to step up and being “better than anybody else”. So far in the striker role he has been exactly that, a hard working, thirsty number 9.

Such thirst or hunger to be more concise, has spread all over the team or do you still think the two successive “easy defender back pass” goals were coincidence? If the hunger for goals and for achieving results through hard work had not permeated the whole team, those two goals and a couple more including the ones against Schalke in Germany would have not happened. Mourinho has taken control and if the team keeps working under his industrious philosophy, by the end of the year Chelsea will be top of the league by some distance, and the Portuguese manager could add one more title to his mantle: Therapist.

PS: Arsenal have been on first place for most of this campaign, yet I believe is only the reflection of their softer schedule. I predict that by the time they meet Chelsea in late December, there will be a gap between them of more than five points in favor of the Stamford Bridge Blues.