Chelsea: Premier League 2013/14 preview

Romelu Lukaku – Chelsea’s best bet?

Eyeing for the lone striker’s spot are Torres, Lukaku, Demba Ba and possibly Rooney/Eto’o. Lukaku looks to be the brightest option of the three and Mourinho might have to give the young Belgian his chance to lead the line, especially if Chelsea don’t sign another forward.

Mourinho’s reasoning behind Rooney’s pursuit was interesting as he thinks none of the three are ball playing forwards, good at operating in tight areas. Demba Ba is a poacher, Lukaku is still pretty raw although his numbers are very impressive. If Chelsea don’t sign another forward, Torres might be Mourinho’s best bet in this role.

Despite what his numbers suggest – which are very, very bad in the pre-season (149 minutes played, 0 goals scored and 2 conceded by the team) – the Spaniard’s linkup play is impressive.

Chelsea had the upper hand over Real Madrid after Torres was brought in for Lukaku at halftime and coincidentally Eden Hazard, who was anonymous in the first half suddenly sprang to life. The logical explanation is Torres tends to either drop deep or drift to the wings and his movement allows the attacking trio to run into the space.

Chelsea have an abundance of goals coming from midfield but if they sign a better ball playing forward (read Rooney), their attack might be the best in Premier League.

The one area Chelsea seemed to be lacking quality in last season and unfortunately still do is the midfield. Chelsea have bought Marko van Ginkel, who has impressed in the preseason with his work rate and already looks an astute buy, to cover this deficit and Michael Essien’s return from loan gives an option along with Mikel, Lampard or Ramires but none of them give Chelsea solidity as well as creativity in midfield.

Nevertheless, Mourinho seems to be content with the players at his disposal and it remains to be seen if they’re going to be good enough for Chelsea. Gary Cahill has played the most number of minutes in preseason among all the defenders (and also among the whole squad) with Brazilian David Luiz absent with a Hamstring strain.

With Terry, Ivanovic, Azpilicueta and Cole, Chelsea’s defense looks pretty strong. It remains to be seen if the likes of Tomas Kalas and Nathan Ake can manage some meaningful minutes on the pitch.

Mourinho’s Plan B?

Mourinho being Mourinho, always has a plan B. We haven’t yet seen this in pre-season but at some point of the season, we might see a three and a half backline – a move which Mourinho has patented at Real Madrid. It has been used while chasing the match, for example in the second half of the second leg semi-final against Dortmund last season.

While it’s usually Khedira on the right flank, in this case Di Maria was given the entire left flank to charge up and down. Mourinho has extensively used Ramires in the pre-season – the Brazilian has clocked second highest minutes – in a midfield role but the Brazilian with his incredible stamina and pace suits the semi-defender role in plan B better than Khedira or Di Maria.

Indeed, the Brazilian has already had some good things to say about ‘his’ Mourinho and it’ll be interesting to see how the latter uses him, given his penchant for functional players.

Overall, this Chelsea squad looks to be slightly short of balance to be Champions. If you consider a three way battle for the Premier League, this squad looks short of quality when pitted against Manchester City and short of stability and experience versus Manchester United.

Of course, the biggest factor which tilts the odds in Chelsea’s favor is Mourinho. The Portuguese has a win percentage of 71% and he’s yet to lose a game at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League. He might as well lead Chelsea to another Premier League title but Chelsea’s chances will improve drastically if they reinforce their key areas before the transfer window closes on September 2nd.