Mou Resorts To Old Pragmatism!

Chelsea started last season like a house on fire and led the campaign from start to finish. But sometime along the line, precisely midway to the campaign and especially after a 5-3 hammer by Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Day, Mou dropped Champaign football and reverted to his old tested and trusted philosophy of pragmatism as they claimed a league and Capital One Cup double.

Chelsea’s unexpected travails to the start of this campaign are well documented. But since their 1-0 league reverse to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, the Special One has reverted to pragmatism, and the results are starting to show.

Three consecutive clean sheets and two wins show the signs are beginning to look up. Ok, we shouldn’t read too much into a 1-0 home success against lowly Norwich City or an away 4-0 bashing of modest Maccabi in the UCL. But their most recent goalless draw against Spurs at White Hart Lane cannot be sniffed at, never mind that Chelsea had 48 hours extra rest than their North London hosts.

Truth is the Blues did a professional job on Spurs to avoid a repeat of the New Year annihilation, just as they also came very close to stealing maximum points.

For a team so jaded in confidence a couple of weeks ago, three straight clean sheets and two victories out of three will give them the necessary fillip to trudge on from the ashes of their poor start to the campaign.

At the height of public scrutiny of his stewardship three weeks ago, I gave Mou a task of claiming a minimum of 15 points from Blues remaining seven league matches of 2015. The goalless draw at Spurs makes it four points from two league matches. And with three easy fixtures still coming at the Bridge and an away fixture to high-flying Leicester City among remaining two tough road trips, the Special One looks very well on the way to achieve the minimum target I set him.

The Portuguese tactician is already dreaming of “a good December”: “I have my team back playing as a team again, we have better spirit. I look to the future we have three matches at Stamford Bridge in December and Manchester United and Leicester away. I think a good December awaits us.”

But wait a minute, I disagree with Mou’s assertion that that was Chelsea’s best performance of the season: “It was the best Chelsea performance of the season, against a dangerous team,” the Blues boss argued. “My players did everything to try and interpret my defensive ideas with the ball. We had control of the game and had the best chances. My team deserved more than a point.”

C’mon Mou, yes, you had the best chance of the match, but every other thing was in Spurs favour except the scoreline. But never mind, it was a good point away to a dangerous team like you said.

And still on the same subject, can we say Chelsea have turned the corner, going by their recent form? Blues faithful, share your thoughts with us, will ya?