Jose Mourinho returns ‘home’ to embark on a second stint in charge of Chelsea in search of another league title for last season’s Europa champions.
Following the news of Sir Alex’s retirement and Roberto Mancini’s rather bizarre dismissal the special one will be quietly confident he can make an immediate impact on the Premier league and rule domestically once again with the famous London club.
Chelsea arguably have the best midfield on paper in the division which has been bolstered by the recent acquisition of Andre Schurrle from Bayer Leverkusen. A midfield containing Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, Ramires, Frank Lampard, Oscar is more than enough quality to dominate any game of football. Along with this they have many other players who can play in midfield and is key to their chances as Chelsea had to play over 60 games during last season’s campaign.
However, it is clear to see that Chelsea lack a world-class centre forward who can notch almost 30 goals in the league and challenge the likes of Robin Van Persie and Luis Suarez to the golden boot. Fernando Torres did show signs of improvement last season but still only managed 22 goals in all competitions after being involved in well over 60 games. Although relatively cheap for Chelsea’s standards Demba Ba has not fit the bill at all and seems to me quite similar to when Charlie Adam signed for Liverpool after some fantastic displays for Blackpool. The play is designed around them at smaller clubs whereas at Chelsea the focus last season was on a five pronged midfield attack which saw the emphasis put on Mata and Hazard. Torres and Ba managed 10 league goals between them for Chelsea last season whereas Lampard and Mata accumulated 27 goals between the pair.
A ray of sunshine for Jose however was the emergence of Belgian star Romelu Lukaku who notched 17 league goals whilst on loan at West Bromwich Albion. It was clear to see he not only could finish but his pace and all round play was fantastic and could provide real competition to the current Chelsea forwards. Personally, for Chelsea to reach that next level Abramovich needs to shell out big money and sign Edinson Cavani from Napoli. Cavani has stated he is flattered by the interest from Mourinho who has made him his summer target but also is aware that a decision will have to be made by July 20th. The Uruguayan has a buyout clause of £53m which runs out in August so if any of the English clubs want to sign him they will have to act fast. It is yet to be seen if any players will leave the club to free up a move for a striker but I’m sure Mourinho has something in the pipeline.
Source: DSG
