If Mourinho let them go, it's because they didn't fit into the pattern of play he wanted at the club. The way Chelsea are playing now is the way he will have them playing in future, and that should be a cause for concern. One only need look at Manchester United, who are experiencing similar problems but with less effective personnel and Mata stranded wide left. Both sides consistently enjoy good levels of possession, yet score relatively few goals. The enormous number of wasted cross United threw into the box in their 2-2 draw with Fulham was indicative of a side lacking ideas and flexibility, a similar narrative to Chelsea's increasing struggles to break through team happy to frustrate and only occasionally break with a small number of versatile players. Man City and Chelsea may be on more or less equal footing in the league right now, but it's hard to see City's fluid, dynamic football being as troubled in future by immovable opponents as the regimented, uncreative Chelsea, overreliant on moments of magic from Hazard or turns of fortune in the dying minutes. A Lukaku-esque strongman would certainly be a help in giving opponents a greater physical challenge to contend with (for that reason, Mario Mandzukic would probably be a wiser transfer target than Diego Costa), and be an easier target for Ivanovic's inconsistent crossing, but new personnel will only get the club so far when playing a system rapidly threatening to become outdated. Right now, Chelsea are only really effective when opponents commit men forward, which is where Man City naively fell apart, expecting Mourinho to park the proverbial bus as every other team before them had done at the Etihad Stadium, only to give Hazard and Willian a suicidal amount of room to break into. Similarly, Newcastle came to Stamford Bridge with the intent of attacking, and ended up on the receiving end of a Hazard hat-trick. Mourinho tried to play the same way on his return visit to the Etihad, but his side were easily undone by a home side having learnt from their mistakes and adapting to maintain defensive stability even while dominating in attack. Similarly, Everton and Roberto Martinez showed on Saturday how even a side with ambitions beyond playing for the draw need only use a little patience and organisation to establish a good balance between defensive and offensive potency. Looking further afield, let's also not forget how Barcelona were once the unquestioned top dogs of Europe, until being thrashed home and away in last year's Champions League semi-finals by a Bayern side using their opponents' overconfidence and tactical familiarity against them. Times change in football, and with an increasing number of teams challenging for the top spot in the Premier League and the top prize in Europe, Mourinho can no longer afford to his familiar methodology on the basis that it was effective ten years ago. The warning signs were there during his troubled days at Real Madrid, and while he may be sitting on top of the table with Chelsea right now, it would seem a grave mistake to rest on those laurels with a resurgent Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham on his tail, a United side in the rebuilding process and a City team which will only grow stronger. Mourinho may take pride in his teams being hard to beat, but that won't win him many titles if everyone else is too. Do you think Mourinho's tactics are out of date or are the Blues on course to dominate the Premier League for years to come? Let us know in the comments below!
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
