With Chelsea Football Club’s own version of God returning to Stamford Bridge over the summer, big things were expected. Jose Mourinho was back and was expected to bring in a raft of signings to turn Chelsea from Europa League winners to champions of England once more.
However, it never materialised, and instead of blowing teams away they’ve had to settle for a start that has been average but nonetheless leaves them just off the top of the table. So, just who has let Mr Mourinho down?
Willian
Okay, hands up. Who even remembered that the Brazilian had signed for the club? After the furore of whether he was signing for Spurs or Chelsea, he has almost disappeared off the face of the earth. But in all seriousness it has been a disappointing start to his Chelsea career for Willian. Despite scoring against Norwich, he has made just two league appearances and a couple of European appearances and has done little to justify the £32m scramble that arose for him. In a team that is packed with midfield creativity it seems difficult to understand just where he fits in and, judging by his early performances, it may be the bench.
John Obi Mikel
Is social media got to pick sides, I don’t think many would pick this man. Often earning criticism for doing very little seems to bang on the mark, as this year I’ve not seen much to convince me he should make the team. Even Michael Essien, who isn’t as good as before several injuries, must be better than Mikel. Obviously managers see him in the same mould as Makelele as the player responsible for breaking up the play, but he unfortunately isn’t in the same class as the Frenchman. Mourinho must see it too as Mikel has struggled to retain his place in the side and has only played in half the games so far this season, a trend I can see continuing.
David Luiz
Most surprising for me is the form of David Luiz this season. When the Brazilian first came to this league he was sometimes brilliant, but often a calamity waiting to happen. However, last season he had turned into a classy defender, able to step out of the backline and pick a pass out with either foot. With rumours that he could be on his way to Barcelona in the summer and further rumours that Mourinho doesn’t rate him that highly, Luiz may not have much longer at the club. Just four appearances this season haven’t given him the chance to get a run of form going but, as we saw with Casillas at Real Madrid, if you fall out of favour with the ‘special one’ you may not get another chance.
Fernando Torres
I had a few qualms about putting Torres in this list. His performance against Schalke almost swayed me not to, but his Premier League games have been beyond poor. We have seen Torres scoring plenty in Europe but, for some reason unknown to everyone, he can’t do it in the league. No goals in six games makes Carlton Cole look like a better alternative. Torres has been the ongoing joke ever since he joined Chelsea, the £50m price tag not helping one bit. His lack of fight and his wayward finishing is baffling to everyone who saw him at both Atletico Madrid and Liverpool, where at the latter he was almost unplayable. Chelsea fans will be hoping to see more performances like the one against Schalke than the six league games.
Samuel Eto’o
Some may say that Eto’o can’t be a bad signing because he was a free transfer. Well, in some regards, those people would be right. Mourinho must have been hoping that he could return the Cameroon striker to the form he had at Barcelona and then when he managed him at Inter Milan, where they won the Champions League together. But so far we have yet to see it. One goal is all we have been treated to and my next point is why it has been a bad transfer. Torres, Eto’o and non-existent Demba Ba have one league goal between them. Romelu Lukaku has five. Lukaku was allowed to go on loan on the last day of the season, meaning that Mourinho either thought that he was going to get someone in, or he believed that Ba, Torres and Eto’o would score enough goals between them. For that reason alone Eto’o was indeed a poor signing and one goal is the only fact needed to show he’s been below average so far.