kayode OGUNDARE
@kaybaba99
Without being immodest, Qasim Elegbede and I have predicted winners of the EPL for the last seven seasons and, safe for last season when we put our money on Chelsea but Man City came from behind to trump everyone, we had gotten the previous five seasons spot-on.
Our tools of analysis have always been the same, year on year, and though the variables may change, the outcome has always been right on the money. And, like I said in one piece two seasons ago, there is a marked difference between prediction (which is what we do) and prophecy, what some readers expect us to do at the beginning of each season.
This season, before a ball was kicked mind you, we pitched our tents with Chelsea and gave copious reasons why we are convinced Jose Mourinho’s men should win a fourth EPL title. Now, with 12 games played, I’ve found five more reasons why I think backing Chelsea for the title this season is a solid investment.
Here are the FIVE reasons why I think Mourinho will lead Chelsea to EPL glory on May 22, 2015:
1. MOU’S SECOND SEASON SYNDROME: In his relatively short but storied managerial career, Mourinho has NEVER failed to win the league title in his second season at any of the clubs he’s previously managed. At Porto, he won the Liga and UEFA Cup in his first season but went one better by winning the league and Champions League in the second season.
In his first coming at Chelsea, he also won the Premier League in his first year and repeated the feat in his second season, thus becoming only the second manager, behind Sir Alex Ferguson, to win the Premier League back to back.
He pitched his tent with Inter Milan and though he won the Serie A at the first attempt in 2008/09, it was in his second season that he really out-performed himself by winning a remarkable treble of league, cup and Champions League.
In Spain, he could only ‘manage’ a Copa del Rey title in his first season but broke Barcelona’s dominance on the league by winning La Liga the following season.
Now he’s back in England and after a trophyless first season can Mourinho pull the magic wand out of his hat this term? Yes, I think so!
2. MANAGER WITH BALLS: Love him or hate him, you have to hand it to Mourinho. He could talk his way out of any jam and can be ruthless when the need arises to take a decision. Of the current set, no other manager has the clout, resources, stubbornness, and doggedness of Mourinho.
Louis van Gaal is still trying to find his feet in the Premier League; Arsene Wenger has lost his mojo and looking clueless by the day; Manuel Pellegrini may soon be writing application letters if results and performances don’t improve sooner than later; and Brendan Rodgers continues to look like the rookie he is with each passing day.
With his rivals in sixes and sevens, don’t bet against Mourinho smiling all the way to the title.
3. COMPETITION FALLING SHORT: If you saw the mediocre performance of Arsenal and Manchester United on Saturday, match it with how Manchester City laboured to a 2-1 win against Swansea at home and then compare these with the clinical way Chelsea dispatched West Brom, then you’ll know that the only team capable of stopping Chelsea is Chelsea, not the opposition.
Even when they didn’t play well, like we saw couple of weeks back against a surprisingly resilient QPR, Chelsea still managed to scrape the vital three points which was all that actually mattered on the day.
While others are enarmoured with playing sexy football to entertain, Chelsea continue to pursue three points week after week with a single purpose determination that can be frightening.
4. MOST BALANCED TEAM: Remember I said my money was on Chelsea to win the league last season? Yeah, the team had won successive continental titles in the previous two seasons and Mourinho had outspent every other team by splurging a princely £110million on new players so you expected the team to be stronger and better than it was.
However, Mourinho bought those players not because they were needed but sometimes just to prove to other clubs that Chelsea had the resources to muscle them out of the transfer market.
Thus the team was grossly imbalanced with good players being surplus to requirement in key departments while other departments lacked quality cover.
This season all that changed with Mourinho actually approaching the transfer market with all his faculties intact. He bought players where they are needed and has adequate cover for each position.
Some of the players are the league’s best in their position namely Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas and, arguably Diego Costa. Some analysts also point at Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta as potential Team of the Season nominees so you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better-balanced team than Chelsea this season. Thus it is not rocket science that they are flying very high this season.
5. COSTA/FABREGAS COMBO: It is one thing to have quality all over the pitch and another thing to have those who have such telepathic connection like Costa and Fabregas who’s admitted to be playing the best football of his life at the moment.
The Spaniard seemed born of the same umbilical chord with Costa and his one of the key reasons why his fellow Spain international is doing so well in his first season in England.
Fabregas has been the main conductor of everything good in the Chelsea team this season and luckily his artistry and industry finds a productive outlet in the ruthless Diego Costa whose determination to score and win is unparalleled.
In my opinion, there’s no better pair than the Costa/Fabregas pair and the results are there to prove it.
Of course there are always potential banana peels that could trip you when you least expect but, like Mourinho said, Chelsea are taking games one after the other so if they trip in one game, they can always make it up in the next one.
He said:“We believe that, when we lose points, the next game we are going to play well again. Against Maribor in the Champions League, we lost two points, but in the next game we were not in crisis. We were at Liverpool to play well again. I don’t believe there’ll be a Chelsea crisis in the season. I believe Chelsea will lose points and matches but not in a crisis of results.”
I absolutely agree with Mou and, like I said, the EPL title is increasingly looking like it has Chelsea’s blue draped over it even with 26 more games left to play. Don’t bet against these Blues!
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