Prior to the match at Anfield on Sunday, the buzz was around the news that Jose Mourinho was planning to field a weakened team against a Liverpool team that has outscored everybody in the premier league this season, and to be frank it made a lot of sense given the fact that barring a mouthwatering collapse from both the Anfield team and Manchester city it is impossible for Chelsea to win the league and also given that they have the upper hand in their champions league semi final tie, Mourinho had all the right reasons to rest his star players and so it was believed that Liverpool would add another high score victory over yet another elite team but The self dubbed special one had other plans.
Finally it was Sunday and Mourinho named his starting XI and it was a truly weakened team (without the likes of Cech,Terry,Oscar,Hazard,Eto’o and co) that was presented, Tomas Kalas was among those entrusted with keeping Suarez and co. at bay but even the best defenders in the league have not been able to tame this Suarez inspired Liverpool team but just like he did with Rapheal Varane against Barcelona and Messi in particular, Kalas was as solid as a rock lounging in tackles after tackles and credit is also due to Mourinho for this young lad’s clearly nervous but steady performance. Mourinho also proved once again why he is regarded as the master of tactics not just because of the victory at Anfield but the way it was achieved. Liverpool are known to exploit spaces behind their defense and that space was what Chelsea never created for the Anfield side, just see the goals they scored at Anfield and you would understand what I am trying to say, the goals were scored with two or less players up field which meant at least 8 outfield players were protecting the space in their half, in other words Mourinho made his team adapt to the tactics of Liverpool just like he did during the first leg of the champions league semifinal against Atletico Madrid and earlier in the season against Manchester city at the Ettihad.Mourinho also showed that he can win without his key players on the pitch just like he defeated Barcelona in his last season at Real Madrid without Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting XI.
Chelsea might not win the league this season but just as the man himself said they were small horses in the title race but in the end they would have defeated the eventual league winners at their own backyards be it Liverpool or Manchester City. In a nutshell, no matter his style or method of play and like him or hate him, Jose Mourinho is and will remain the master of Tactics.
Source: DSG
