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.

Manchester United - The New Formation

Few days ago I blogged about what formation Barcelona should use this season to maximise their potential given the players they have. I ended up a with a 3-4-1-2, deduced from the brilliant system Louis van Gaal used with The Netherlands for virtually the whole world cup, regardless of the opponent. And it worked! As a result, the Dutch squad overachieved and van Gaal was already drawing dreamy glances from Old Trafford.

Manchester United find themselves in a precarious situation now. After the legendary reign of Lord Moyes, they are out of the Champions League and face an uphill task to reorganise their squad in order to challenge domestically and crawl back into the coveted top-4. Ironically their performance off the pitch during the same period in the sponsors’ market has been blockbuster. And that only adds a further weight of expectations on the coach and the players after the fine mugging job pulled off by Woodward.

Chief among the on-field problems for the club is the major issue of reorganisation of personnel and how to setup the team. Should he continue with the same formation of yesteryears or is it better to change to the brilliant 3-4-1-2 he engineered to perfection with his country?

Pivotal to answering that are three key points:

1.     Two of United’s three best players, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, are world class strikers and must be played simultaneously and as such.

2.     The third amigo, Juan Mata, should be played in the hole.

3.     The team needs restructuring at the back and in midfield.

Wayne Rooney is a phenomenal player. Although he hasn’t done any justice to the ‘White Pele’ title that was brandished on him, he has contributed significantly at least at club level, scoring 17 and assisting 10 goals in the league last season - from midfield. That’s right. The farce of playing Rooney in the ‘number 10’ role despite the number on his back must end. It’s a travesty that it has gone on so long. While wise old coaches who have infinite times more knowledge than this amateur blogger have played him there, in my opinion Rooney is a natural striker and that’s what Mourinho was going on about when he attempted to lure him to Chelsea last season. Football is a game of opinions and everyone has a different interpretations of things. Mine is that United would benefit if Rooney is paired with van Persie upfront.

Juan Mata is a curious little fellow. If ever there was a player that demonstrated what being played in the right position can do to a player’s confidence and performance, it is him. In my humble opinion, Manchester United should build their team around Mata. He’s younger and will possibly hit greater heights than the two strikers in front of him. Juan Mata has statistics to stake his claim. At Chelsea he scored 12 and 20 goals respectively in his two full season and assisted at least three dozen per campaign. He won the best player award at Chelsea both times. All, from that ‘number 10’ position. His position on the field must not be up for debate. In his natural habitat he is worth 50 million Pounds. Elsewhere, probably 15.

Elsewhere, in midfield and defence, it is a different story. At the time of writing this article, it has been long confirmed that Man Utd have signed Andre Herrera and the arrival of Nigel de Jong looks very much on the cards. If they sign de Jong, with those two the team would have added two very good players who would be starting week after week. That leaves only the defence with much sorting out to do as they already have one of the best young goalkeepers guarding the net.

Having added the 19 year old Luke Shaw to the ranks, Man Utd have taken a small step in the right direction but their centre-back conquest needs to take shape soon if they want to avoid further embarrassment. Strengthening in that area is a must for Manchester United. While I understand that it is not a case of fantasy football, the three best options for the CB position currently are Mats Hummels, Mehdi Benatia and Raphael Varane. Depending on availability and other factors, the club should go all-in to get at least one of the three elite players.

Turning my attention back to the principle subject of this write-up, if van Gaal indeed decides to play 3 at the back, as he himself suggested he would, this is what the current team without the possible ins and outs might look like.

‘The beauty of playing with three centre-backs complimented by wing-backs on either side is that the team can easily switch from a 3 unit defence to a 5 unit defence without major alteration.’

This squad ticks ‘almost’ all the boxes in my opinion. There is quality, industry, and most importantly, balance. It is filled with tireless players who are known to put in a defensive shift whenever required. To some extent, however, it lacks one of Man Utd’s trademark characteristic: pace. As I said, this is a preview with only those players that United have on their books at the moment. They have announced their intent and capacity to add to the squad. With the funds available, trust van Gaal to add to his cast before he prepares to dazzle at the Theatre of Dreams.