The start couldn’t have been any worse for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea’s title defence in the English Premier League. The team that almost looked unbeatable in the EPL last season and lost just two matches in their 2014-15 title campaign is at the 17th place in the league table this season and have lost three of the five matches they have played so far. Though it's just the start, hope Mourinho can fix the champions soon.
Before the season began, Chelsea suffered a 1-0 loss to their north-London rivals Arsenal in the FA Community Shield at Wembley. That result wasn’t much of a reflection on how Chelsea are going to play in the EPL because they were coming after a long break and the players also didn’t take the tie as a challenge. But what followed has become the real worry for the Chelsea fans.
They made a disastrous start as Swansea City held the 10-man Chelsea to a 2-2 draw at Stamford and Thibaut Courtois was sent off for a foul on Bafetimbi Gomis. The next match was a tough one and last year’s runners-up Manchester City thrashed them 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium. Manuel Pellegrini’s men were too good for Chelsea. John Terry was substituted at half-time by Mourinho as their defence looked completely out of sorts against City’s attack while the midfield lacked creativity and firepower. The EPL champions finally got their first victory in the league in the next match but were made to sweat for a 3-2 win at West Bromwich and Terry was sent off for a last-man offence on Salomon Rondon.
The win against West Brom gave them some confidence but the result in their next match was a shocker. Mourinho suffered only his second Premier League defeat at Stamford Bridge as Crystal Palace registered a stunning 2-1 triumph to set the cat among the pigeons in the Chelsea dugout. The Blues were now in big trouble and were expected to make some big changes in the team for their next match against Everton. But Mourinho didn’t make any radical changes and Steven Naismith, who came on as a substitute in the 10th min for Everton, scored a magnificent hat-trick as Roberto Martinez’s team outsmarted Chelsea 3-1 at Goodison Park.
It is not just the results that should worry the Blues. It is still early days to predict the final outcome in the league but the way Mourinho's team has reacted should be a big cause of concern for the club. On most occasions when Mourinho’s tactics were outmanoeuvred, the team didn’t have a Plan B. The draw against Swansea was unexpected and the Swans exposed the fragility in Chelsea defence that has not yet been fixed.
Chelsea’s back line has always been their strength but this season it has been their weakest point so far, having been breached easily by the opponents. Cesc Fabregas, who plays deep in the midfield, has looked nothing like what he was during the start of last season. Nemanja Matic was the key player in Chelsea's title win last season. He was the one who used to protect the team's defence and give the ball back to the midfielders. Matic, along with his Serbian teammate Branislav Ivanovic, have started miserably this season. While Matic has lost the ball easily to the opponents, Ivanovic has been accused of being too slow and not making much effort in intercepting the forward line of opponents.
Gary Cahill has been out for most matches, Mourinho has been skeptical to play Terry who featured in almost every league match last year, and their star goalkeeper Courtois is out with a knee injury until January.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Baba Rahman were brilliant in Chelsea's 4-0 win against Maccabi Tel Aviv in their first match of the Champions League and Mourinho should look to bring in some fresh blood in defence in their next EPL match against Arsenal.
The transfers done by Manchester United are finally working for them while City have been outstanding and have won all five matches they have played in the league. Arsenal and Liverpool have not been consistent but they have been much better in comparison to Chelsea and if the Blues' don't improve their game soon, forget the title defence, they won't be even able to qualify for the Champions League next year.
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