What is going on at Chelsea?

Juan Mata – A move out wide under Mourinho?

With the six players involved in the Confederations Cup all returning to training at Cobham last Monday, thoughts naturally turned to how they would all get on with working with Mourinho. Of course we all wanted to see and hear what they all had to say about working with him but it was a quote from Mourinho about Juan Mata that has Chelsea fans talking.

When asked if Juan Mata featured in his plans this season after being linked in the press with moves away from Chelsea, Mourinho said:

“Of course he fits into my plans. I have my idea about him, about where he produces better and where he has more difficulty. We will try to help him perform better in those situations. I’ve always liked a right-sided player to be left-footed.

I started with (Arjen) Robben and (Damien) Duff, then (Goran) Pandev at Inter, and (Angel) Di Maria and (Mesut) Ozil. Many clubs do it. It’s more than a tendency.

I like wingers coming in on the inside for the penetrative movement, for the pass, for the shot. And Juan is the only player we have to do that on the right.

On the left we have (Eden) Hazard, Victor Moses, Kevin De Bruyne, Andre Schurrle. Juan is also very comfortable playing as a No10. In between these two positions, he has a lot to give to the team.”

Could it be a return to the 4-3-3 formation that served Jose Mourinho so well here at Chelsea when he first came to the club? His comments about Mata and moving him out wide would open up the debate. Could we see Juan Mata wide right, Eden Hazard wide left and Torres/Lukaku or Wayne Rooney through the middle? They would possibly be supported by Ramires, Van Ginkel and Michael Essien in the holding role?

(One thing is for sure, Chelsea have been installed as Premier League Favourites at 5/4 on this season. We have the squad, we have the talent and now we have the manager so if I was you, I would have a look at these Premier League Multiples and get your money on us for this season!)

David Luiz: Here to stay as Bayern confirm “No move”.

Luiz – going nowhere.

Every Summer since David Luiz signed for Chelsea he has been linked with a move away from Chelsea with Barcelona being linked with a big money move for our Brazilian.

This time with Pep Guardiola now in Germany at the European Champions Bayern Munich, the press had linked the Spaniard with a £30-40m move for Luiz.

As more and more of the press picked up on the initial report, momentum gathered and it seemed as though there could have been some substance in the reports.

This was put to bed late yesterday as Pep Guardiola distanced himself from a move for Luiz and reiterated that he was focusing on other targets which is a relief!.

The Luiz/Mourinho partnership is one I am looking forward to seeing develop this season and I am sure at some stage there maybe fireworks. If Mourinho could mould Luiz into another Ricardo Carvalho then we could have one of the best defenders in the world within our ranks once again!.

Inter Milan: All eyes on team selection tonight.

After our trip to Asia and working on our fitness, attention turns to the second stage of our season preparations in the USA tonight as Chelsea take on Jose Mourinho’s old side, Inter Milan.

All eyes will be on Mourinho as he meets his friends and the players that remain in Milan from his time there as Manager, especially after the Milan President claimed that he would return to manage Inter in three years time!

Also, it will be interesting to see how the team lines up. Who starts? What formation? Will any of the Confederations Six start or be involved?

As I mentioned above, if Juan Mata starts where will he play?

This tournament comes at a great time for us because the levels of competition increase drastically from the teams we played in Asia. No disrespect to any of those sides but with the teams above all taking part, Chelsea will need to raise our game to compete.

I fully expect Mourinho to continue with playing two sides – one in each half tonight and hopefully both sides can play with a good level of intensity to get the game won.