The Sunday Mail
Less than half an hour after the final whistle, Chelsea’s assistant first team coach Steve Holland was overseeing an impromptu training session on the playing surface at Stamford Bridge.
‘The players had two training sessions scheduled for Saturday, but they were crying so much in the dressing room I’ve decided to makChelseas have e a change,’ revealed Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
This is the reward for success, an extra hour or two with the kids at their homes in lead Cobham before they make their way into the training centre to prepare for Sunday’s clash with Southampton.
Chelsea are programmed to win football matches and Mourinho is behind the software. He is football’s equivalent of Steve Jobs.
The hardware is out on the pitch, with John Terry, Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa in a four-way battle for the club’s player of the year award.
Terry is very much the spare man these days, passing over the man-marking duties to his central defensive partner Gary Cahill.
On Friday, in this piercing victory over fourth-placed — but one-paced West Ham team — they delivered towering performances for the leaders.
Terry, without a goal in the Barclays Premier League in his previous 37 matches before Monday’s trip to the Britannia, has now scored in two successive matches. This is a vintage Terry year.
Matic has come on strong, the protective cloak in front of the back four. He snarls, he bites and he won the tackles that mattered against Kevin Nolan, Cheikhou Kouyate and Mark Noble.
Then there is Fabregas, entering Toni Kroos’ exclusive club by taking 142 touches on the ball and sending 103 passes into the path of his willing team-mates. He makes this team tick.
Costa, who looked like a man playing with two left feet on his feet in the first half, dutifully scored his 13th goal in the league since his arrival from Atletico Madrid in the second half.
To put that into context, it took Fernando Torres 62 games in a Chelsea shirt to reach that number. Costa is a goal-muncher.
Everybody is buying in to the team ethic and there was only a smidgen of frustration when the subdued figure of Oscar was substituted in the 82nd minute.
So what has changed in the make-up of this team?
‘We are much better when we have the ball and although we were strong defensively last year, with good organisation, we lacked a bit of creativity,’ admitted Mourinho.
‘The challenge this season was to bring the creativity and dynamic without losing the defensive qualities.
‘At the beginning of the season, there was a bit of conflict between these ideas and we made defensive mistakes, like the three goals at Everton.
‘Now, the team is happy to have the ball. We are a very good team.’
The only problem they have is the inevitable fixture congestion that will come with so much success, but Mourinho has yet to confront these issues. In time, he is sure to.
He has accepted the Christmas schedule, but there are further tests ahead, with the FA Cup, a two-legged Capital One Cup semi-final against Liverpool and the Champions League clashes with Paris St Germain.
‘My players are human, but the point is that every match for us is fundamental,’ added Mourinho.
Chelsea’s manager was certainly pleased with this one, making a cut-throat gesture in Sam Allardyce’s direction a minute or so before Michael Oliver blew for time.
When they play like this, they can finish off whatever team they want. — Daily Mail.
