The Cautious Horse

Chelsea are undefeated this season in all competitions. In the league they have won all but two of their matches, against the two Manchester clubs and both those matches were played away from home. Things don’t look so bad at the moment eh? However volatile the league table may look currently, the toughest test Chelsea faced so far this season were these two matches. And the score line was the same. 1-1. Go one step further and chip in the Champions league results too. Two victories, one draw so far. Score? 1-1.

Chelsea's 'Little Horse' is all grown up but is cautious around the big boys.

Now if there ever was such a result as a ‘good draw’ for a top team like Chelsea it would have to be a hard fought 0-0 against an equally strong opposition. The second best would be 1-1. No need to panic. Time to move on. Except, there is a trend in all three matches and it is somewhat disturbing. Chelsea were leading in all three, only to go on to relinquish the lead, and somewhat tragically in the last minute against Manchester United last night. The question is, were the matches winnable? One was at home to a German team in crisis. The other was against a Manchester City side that was down to 10. The third against a team that was taken to the dead by Leicester City. No disrespect to either.

The thing is, Chelsea isn’t a ‘little horse’ anymore. Outside of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and perhaps Manchester City, Chelsea have the most complete squad in Europe at the moment. There is no need to be defending a 1-0 lead from the 60^th minute against Manchester United, whose defence has been woeful. Chelsea looked content with a 1-0 score line against 10 men at the Etihad. It shows too much respect to the opposition. And Jose Mourinho will perhaps be thinking the same. You only need to look at the games City and United have lost this season to get a full understanding of what could have been for Chelsea. Manchester United haven’t been coping well against counterattacking oppositions. City have struggled against the likes of West Ham who have upped their game and are actually playing very good football. And if you consider Schalke, well, they have been a tragedy this season.

Mourinho has been using John Obi Mikel as a 3-point insurance policy. While it makes tactical sense to do so, should he really be brought on to facilitate a 1-0 lead with over one-third of the game still to play? Against Manchester United there was absolutely no threat after Drogba scored the wonderful header. The devils had their backs against the wall and were there for the taking. But Mikel’s addition changed the winning formula for the worse by inviting unnecessary pressure from a world class attack. Oscar’s withdrawal meant that Chelsea’s attacking impetus was lost. They defended deep and paid the price. Imagine if such a thing happened in the Champions League knockouts this season. It did last season against Atletico Madrid when Chelsea decided to defend a 1-0 lead at home. But let bygones be bygone.

This season has only just begun. With only a quarter of the season gone, Chelsea sit at the top with 22 points, 4 ahead of second place Southampton. If Chelsea reproduce the same numbers in the next 3 quarters, they’ll end the season undefeated with 88 points, perhaps clinching the Premier League title along the way. However, it may be a slight underachievement considering what Jose Mourinho’s new-look Chelsea are capable of. With a little more self-belief and aggression it could easily have been a 100% record in all competitions. The season is long and full of twists. For it to be successful you need to grab what is in front of you and some. On the whole, Mourinho would look back and think he let 4 points slip through his fingers. And why wouldn't he? His stallion could have galloped out of sight if only for a few whips of encouragement.