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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  This season will be all about José Mourinho
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This season will be all about José Mourinho

Last season's 'Little Horse', Chelsea are all set to mount a serious Premier League title challenge

Mourinho on the pitch during warm-up before the start of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea on 27 April, 2014. Photo: AFP Premium
Mourinho on the pitch during warm-up before the start of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea on 27 April, 2014. Photo: AFP

José Mourinho likes to be the centre of attention. Which is why the Portuguese manager of Chelsea would have hated the last couple of months. All the attention was on Joachim Loew and his German side, Louis Van Gaal and his mentoring of the Netherlands, what Van Gaal can do when he takes over at Manchester United, and the failure of Brazil’s tactics. Now that the Fifa World Cup is over, attention is again focused on Mourinho ahead of the English Premier League, starting 16 August.

Return of the Special One

Mourinho returned as Chelsea’s first-team manager to Stamford Bridge last summer, after a gap of six years. His first term had ended after a very public fallout with the football club owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

During those six years, Mourinho had stints at Inter Milan and Real Madrid. At Inter, he won the Serie A title two years in a row (2009-10 and 2010-11), with the second year being the record-breaking one. Nerazzurri became the first Italian club to complete the treble—Serie A, Coppa Italia (defeating Roma in the final) and the Uefa Champions League (defeating Bayern Munich in the final).

The tenure at Real Madrid was more volatile—the constant bickering with the press, pitched battles with arch-rivals Barcelona and infighting within the Madrid camp, allegedly because long-time Madrid players Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas didn’t take too kindly to some of Mourinho’s management methods and on-pitch tactics.

All that turbulence is behind him now, however.

The “Little Horse"

At a press conference after a Chelsea match last season, Mourinho made it clear that the team at the time just wasn’t good enough for a title challenge “The title race is between two horses and a little horse that needs milk and needs to learn how to jump. Maybe next season we can race." It made things rather uncomfortable for most people at the Chelsea Football Club. No one really knew how Abramovich would react.

React he did not, possibly realizing the merit in Jose’s observations. The problem was simple—some players were just not fitting well in Mourinho’s vision. He likes his teams to build attacks from the back, and keep the door tightly closed to any opposition attacks. There was no striker with a physical presence of Didier Drogba (Diego Costa should do that role in the forthcoming season). The midfield didn’t have the creativity (now solved by Cesc Fabregas’ signing) and the left-back position didn’t have someone strong (Filipe Luis has now been signed). Yet, to their credit, Chelsea were always lurking near the summit, eventually finishing just four points behind Champions, Manchester City.

Mourinho’s team is now starting to take shape. The likes of Juan Mata, David Luiz and Demba Ba have been shipped out. Fernando Torres could be moved along before this transfer window closes on the midnight of 31 August. The ageing Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole have moved to the Major League Soccer in North America, and Italian Serie A, respectively. The likes of Andre Schurrle, Willian, Oscar and Eden Hazard have now understood the way Mourinho sets up his teams to play.

The transfer business this summer has been done precisely, and swiftly. No waiting for the World Cup to finish. Diego Costa (signed from Atletico Madrid), Cesc Fabregas (from Barcelona) and Filipe Luis (another signing from Athletico) are strengthening the attack, midfield and defence, respectively. Surer of what his best 11 will be, and that he has the correct players for his tactics, Mourinho is a picture of confidence. “If I didn’t think we would win the Premier League I would go home and let somebody else take charge of the team," he said last week. The little horse has grown up.

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Published: 28 Jul 2014, 06:47 PM IST
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