When the full-time whistle went at the King Power Stadium on Monday night, another victory for Leicester condemned Chelsea to their ninth Premier League defeat of the season, with only 16 games played. The result also left Jose Mourinho’s team just one point above the relegation zone and a massive 14 points off fourth place.
So just where has it gone wrong for last season’s Premier League and League Cup winners?
Well to begin with, we must go back and look at the second-half of last season. After brushing aside everyone in their path in the first-half of the season, Chelsea struggled to maintain the level of performance and results began to suffer. They were humiliated by Bradford in the 4th Round of the FA Cup, dumped out of the Champions League in the last 16 by PSG and eventually got over the line to win the Premier League title.
We must now look at Mourinho and his role in the mess of this season for Chelsea. He is a legend at Chelsea, having brought to the Premier League trophy twice to Stamford Bridge in his first spell in London as Chelsea established themselves amongst the elite in Europe.
Mourinho, who is the master at creating a siege mentality when his team is struggling, has failed miserably to do so this season, with a false dawn in September and at the end of November being the closest to his side regaining the form that saw them run away with the League title last year.
However, Mourinho this season has had his attentions focused on matters away from the pitch which include his dispute with Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn, after both were demoted from their first team medical roles when he accused them of not understanding the game as they entered the pitch to treat Eden Hazard during the closing stages of their opening day draw against Swansea.
Mourinho has also decided to concentrate his time and effort on fighting battles through the media, with his press conferences before and after games becoming a source of entertainment for opposition fans and a source of frustration for Chelsea fans, with bizarre attacks on referee’s and on occasion his own players.
He has also failed to motivate his title winning team to retain their title, as performances of a number of players have fallen well below what they produced last season, whilst he has also failed to give opportunities to younger players despite the more established players falling well short of the mark expected from a club that is expected to compete for the Premier League season in, season out.
This also leads to another question about Mourinho this season, his appalling man management of players. His man-management has long been admired by fans of the club he has managed at, with his ability to coax the best out of underperforming players a long-standing strength of the Portuguese manager. This season, his man management has left a lot to be desired, with Mourinho criticizing particular players on a regular basis who have done little wrong, whilst some players escape with contributing poor performance after poor performance.
His poor man management was probably best shown when Diego Costa, who despite his poor form is Chelsea’s best striker, threw his bib in the direction of Mourinho after he was left on the bench against Tottenham. Another player who has been very badly man managed is Eden Hazard.
Last season, he impressed pundits and fans alike with his trickery and ability to change a match in a matter of moments. However, this season Hazard has struggled to find any sort of form and as a consequence his manager has thrown him underneath the bus so many times during post-match interviews, it’s a surprise he’s not on a life support machine. At a time when Hazard needs a confidence boost, he doubts Hazard ‘s commitment to the team, when he really should be convincing him he is the man to turn Chelsea around.
Now it’s time to talk about the players, who have gone from being a title-winning team, to playing like a team who don’t deserve to be in the Premier League. The likes of Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic, Oscar and Diego Costa have all massively regressed and with a few of them, the signs were already there last season. Cesc Fabregas, who started off last season on fire, has simply not been the same since Christmas and Mourinho has failed to deal adequately with the problem. He has also given free passes to the likes of Branislav Ivanovic, who despite having an appalling season, finds his name on the team sheet every game he is available for.
The lack of strengthening at Chelsea in the summer has also raised questions, as Chelsea only added Asmir Begovic, Baba Rahman, Kenedy, Pedro and a past it Falcao to their squad. It also has to be noted that three of those players directly replaced departing players (Cech, Luis and Drogba) and it could be argued that the three players that left were much better than their replacements.
The almost laughable additions of Michael Hector from Reading (who was immediately loaned back to Reading) and Papy Dijiolobodji (who has played for less than a minute since joining) has emphasised the problem Mourinho has had strengthening his squad. Due to Chelsea’s policy of buying young talent and loaning them out across Europe as well as the manager not being the main person responsible for bringing players in, it has left Chelsea with a squad which has been weakened and ill-prepared to start the season.
So, in conclusion, just what has gone wrong with Chelsea’s season? A combination of Mourinho failing to manage his key players properly, the inexplicable poor performances of the likes of John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic and their flawed recruitment strategy has meant that Chelsea are now only one point off the relegation zone and enduring their worst season in recent memory.
