Mourinho’s second coming hasn’t really begun the way many had envisaged. After dismantling Hull city on opening day, Chelsea have flattered to deceive since then.
Lucky to beat Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge later that week, the blues have now gone four straight games without a win.
It’s too early to sound out the alarm bells, but why are Chelsea not performing? The club’s most successful manager is back, and armed with a mouth-watering squad to boot.
The blues’ current travails can be traced back to the just-concluded transfer window. Sure, Willian, Schwarzer, Schurrle, Eto’o and Van Ginkel are very good squad additions, but were they what the West Londoners urgently needed?
Let’s look at two shortcomings in the transfer market that have come back to haunt Mourinho.
Failure to sign a top-notch striker
With Demba Ba and Fernando Torres having picked up from where they left off in the league last season, the number of chances created by Chelsea playmakers are still crying out for someone to take them.
Samuel Eto’o’s record in European football speaks for itself. However, the blues seem to have got their man four years late. Though still a decent finisher, the Cameroonian’s pace and acceleration - that made him such a feared striker - have long gone.
He may well end up with goals at the end of the season but his acquisition was a real gamble, and Mourinho should have pulled out all the stops to get a guaranteed goal-scorer like Cavani or Falcao instead. Rooney’s pursuit was always going to end in failure.
Failure to bring in a world-class defensive midfielder
Had Mourinho succeeded in his attempts to lure Danielle de Rossi from Roma in the summer, the story might have been very different.
It’s not that Chelsea don’t have enough defensive midfield options, just that what they have at the moment, apart from Ramires, are not good enough for various reasons.
Mikel is inconsistent, Lampard is not a DM, Van GInkel is still raw at this level and Essien is out of favor and/ or past it.
During the Portuguese manager’s trophy-laden first spell in charge, he had the legendary Claude Makelele and a youthful Essien to call upon. This pair was arguably the best in the business then.
He should have repeated the trick this summer by signing a world-class partner for Ramires. Yes, De Rossi may be Roma through and through, but what about Khedira, Vidal and even Lars Bender?
