Chelsea: Is "The Happy One" bringing happy times to Stamford Bridge?

When Mourinho came back to manage Chelsea this season, it was considered the best signing that Chelsea could have made this season and it was not even for a player! We know Chelsea have not been shy to open the purse to get top talent into the club and similarly Mourinho, wherever he has coached has not been shy in spending money either.

Mourinho has hinted that he is in for the long haul this time and frankly, an ambitious club like Chelsea are better off with a success hungry coach like Mourinho. And if he is in for a few seasons, it makes sense that he is going to do some serious shopping. But, no one can question the resources that Chelsea has its disposal this season. Agreed that the forward line is disappointing by Chelsea standards, but we have seen lesser known managers do better with even meagre resources.

After the manager troubles that Chelsea have had, it is almost considered blasphemy to say anything that isn’t in praise of the “Special One”. It is true that Mourinho has managed to keep Chelsea within range of Arsenal and Manchester City in the Premier League and did OK in the Champions League.

That is nothing short of a miracle considering how they have played this season and there definitely is something about how Mourinho reads teams and their strengths and weaknesses. But that being said, he has, in my opinion, got the team selection very wrong for several games now and stubbornly continues to stick with it. Mourinho is a guy with strong opinions and I get that, but here is how I read it.

Defence

Cahill is a hard worker, but isn’t world class. Luiz is world class (in my opinion), but continues to lack concentration and discipline. Terry, the crowd favourite, is getting a lot of games this season, but he has made quite a few mistakes this season. That being said, these 3 are more than enough to do the job and lets not forget Ivanovic is a centre back and a really good one at that.

As full backs go, who is the best left back Chelsea has? It’s Ashely Cole! Play him! Who is the best right back Chelsea has? It’s Azpilicueta! Play him there! Mourinho almost obstinately wants to play Azpilicueta at left back.

Since Azpilicueta cannot kill a fly with his left leg let alone kick a football, there is absolutely no width going forward on the left flank. And with Hazard already a right footed player playing on the left and cutting in, Azpilicueta is basically only a defender and adds nothing on the attacking front. And even defensively, he isn’t brilliant at that position. He is as good or as bad as Ashley Cole could be.

Now lets go to the other flank shall we, the right full back position. Ivanovic is a fighter and gives his best, no doubt. That being said, he is not the smartest or the quickest of footballers out there and doesn’t necessarily mix attack and defence too well.

Since the left flank is all but dead, most wide balls come in from the right and Ivanovic gets up front many times but his crosses are horrendous. As a comparison, take a look at the crosses that Sagna puts in and you will know the difference in quality. I have seen Azpilicueta put in a lot better crosses last season and he would continue to do so, if only Mourinho played him there!

Midfield

Chelsea absolutely need a deep lying playmaker, but that cannot be the reason for why Mourinho selects the players the way he does. Other than Ramires and Hazard, there are 3 spots that are up for the picking and you see week in week out that Lampard gets into the squad.

He has been a great servant for the club, but he is slow in attack and these days is almost useless in defence. He weakens the defence and is one of the reasons why Chelsea is leaking goals on set plays, because he never moves into position when the player he is tracking has moved (as can be seen in Skrtel’s goal in last night’s match against Liverpool).

Mikel is another reason for defensive frailties that Chelsea are facing these days. While he is way better in defence than attack, Mikel is weak in the air. For a holding midfielder, that is a very big minus. But we see that Mourinho never plays Luiz in midfield, even though he has done a good job of it last season. I am not saying Luiz is perfect for the job, but of the choices Chelsea have, I dare say, he is the best deep playing midfielder Chelsea has today!

Coming to the attacking side, Mourinho wants his attacking midfielders to help with defence. While that is an admirable trait to have for an attacking midfielder, I would expect the attacking midfielders primary role is to be attack!

Mata is absolutely critical for counter attacking moves. He has been Player of the Season 2 seasons in a row and yet Mourinho just won’t play him. No one in the Chelsea team (including Hazard) can pick a long pass like Mata does and yet Chelsea would rather play Willian who has done precious little in terms of attack in the games he has played or Schurrle, who again has only impressed in pieces.

Forward

There isn’t much Mourinho can do here. He is going to do some buying and the situation will change. There are enough reports that say that Torres is the worst Chelsea buy in history. Though it is true that Torres has not been the player the Stamford Bridge loyalists expected him to be, you can see that he gives a lot when he is on the pitch.

He has scored a few and has made a few for others. He should be the de-facto front line man. If not for Torres, I would think Ba, who was brilliant for Newcastle and has lot of Premier League experience would be a better option than Eto’o.

I completely agree that Eto’o has been a brilliant player for Barcelona and later during Mourinhos reign at Inter Milan. But he is way off Premier League’s pace. Torres is quicker than him and Ba is stronger than him. He surely is a better poacher than many even today, but to me he is just as definitely third in the pecking order at Chelsea. But Mourinho has him as second or sometimes even first choice striker! So, again some stubbornness shown by Mourinho.

Chelsea are 3rd in the league and a hard earned win against Liverpool is exactly what they needed going into the New Year. Mourinho has done very well to keep Chelsea within striking distance of the title and kudos for that. But his team selection could work against him in January as Mata and maybe even Luiz look to go elsewhere to get regular first team football.

And as we know, the best talent isn’t available in the January transfer window and even if they are, definitely not at the right price. While we are only half way done with the season, this is a season like no other and every decision could be pivotal in the title race. Hope Mourinho has a better plan in mind than what I can see, and if so, I definitely will be the ‘happy one’!