Jose Mourinho - The master of mind games or just a good tactician?

Jose Mourinho – The best tactician in Football?

It was yet another fantastic outing for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where they beat PSG 2-0. The result means Chelsea qualify for the semifinals on the away goals rule. And yet again it was that man, the special one, Jose Mourinho, who made some telling decisions which had a great impact on the game.

Before the game, it looked like PSG will go through given their performance in the home leg. Jose said before the match “I believe, my players believe that we can turn it around”. And it showed in the game. The players worked tirelessly in what was a well deserved victory. It didn’t start well for the hosts though, when Eden Hazard, their main creative force, had to be substituted due to a calf injury. Jose sent out Andre Schurrle, to replace Hazard, and his impact was there for all to be seen.

There was a clear spark in their attack and Schurrle opened the scoring 32 minutes into the game. There was only one team on the field that looked like scoring in the first half. But 1-0 was not enough for the hosts as PSG still led on aggregate. In the second half PSG came back stronger and attacked well on the counter. They had a glorious chance to level it which Cavani eventually scuffed. Then came the masterstroke from Jose, getting Demba Ba in for Frank Lampard. This move turned out to be the one that would bring the downfall of PSG. Ba had a chance early when he came in, but the keeper made a good save.

Then Jose sent out Torres for Oscar. Three strikers, direct football, something that PSG could not cope with. In the 87th minute, a deflected shot from Azpelicueta found its way to Ba, who put it in the back of the net. Celebrations began at Stamford Bridge. Jose ran to his players, not to celebrate, but to tell them that the game is not over. And then after a testing 8 minutes, the referee blew the final whistle and the whole of Stamford Bridge erupted with joy.

The fact that Jose has always been a character in the media makes us think that all he says are part of his mind games. But are they?

At the start of the season he said Chelsea’s priority was finishing in the top 4. He said that they are not favorites to win the title. Everyone thought mind games. He once claimed Chelsea were just a “little horse” that needs feeding to become a big horse. Everyone said mind games. But the last 2-3 weeks have shown us that he may be right after all. They lost to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, teams whom you expect Chelsea to defeat.

But the way they played showed us why they are the “little horse”. They never looked like scoring at Palace, barring one or two saves that they forced the Palace keeper into. They were not up to the mark at Villa. Similarly, they also made mistakes in Paris which could have been avoided.

This shows that Jose expected mistakes of this sort to occur at some point during the season. He has been criticized for publicly saying that his side lack a goal scorer. He openly admitted that Chelsea need a striker. The statistics of the three strikers show that he is spot on. It would have been different if Chelsea had a prolific goalscorer like Rooney, whom he tried to bring to Chelsea. If Chelsea did have a goal scoring striker, the story of the season could have been a whole lot different.

The only mind games he has played this season are the ones we sometimes also refer to as tactics. He has been brilliant tactically. The game against City at Etihad was a prime example of his tactical prowess. So was the second leg against PSG. He knows that there is still a lot of work to be done if Chelsea are to become a real force like Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid. But the job is in the hands of the right person.

No matter what happens at the end of season, silverware or no silverware, Jose and everyone at Chelsea FC will be happy with the progress made this season. As Jose has always maintained, they will be stronger next season. No mind games there.