Improved Chelsea on the Verge of turning around Premier League Season News

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Improved Chelsea on the Verge of turning around Premier League Season

By Shahan Ahmed/Yahoo Sports on December 14, 2015

Chelsea won four of its six Champions League matches to gain the top spot in Group G, making it all the more shocking that the Blues have only managed four wins in 15 Premier League matches to start the 2015-16 season. Manager Jose Mourinho addressed this discrepancy in European results versus domestic results after his side beat FC Porto 2-0 on Wednesday.

“I think we are also not lucky in the Premier League,” Mourinho told the Champions League interviewer. “And lucky [sic] is part of the game.”

Mourinho added: “In the Premier League, it looks like everything goes against us. Every detail goes against us. We are never lucky. The players are feeling that, and I think it is a little bit of an attack to their confidence and their self-esteem.”

While Mourinho sounded delirious and a bit off his rocker to suggest his team deserved more points earlier in the season, in truth, the Blues have been playing better and have been largely unlucky recently. Chelsea is on the verge of going on a big run of results, and the bulk of holiday fixtures provide the perfect platform for the Blues to hop away from the relegation battle and into the Champions League race. Former Chelsea player Joe Cole even suggested Chelsea could win the title this season.

While Cole’s optimism may be a bit skewed, Chelsea's core players have been sharper as of late with Eden Hazard aggressively involved in meaningful attacking moves. Still, Hazard has yet to score a single goal for Chelsea in any competition this season. Like a library book, the 24-year-old is long overdue in opening his scoring account, which has been stuck on 49 goals for Chelsea since May.

Obviously, Hazard is not the only player hinting at Chelsea's resuscitation. Nemanja Matic is back to setting the pace of the Blues' attacks with his passing and timing. He is also back to quashing opposition attacks with strategic fouls and intelligent positioning.

The 27-year-old Serbian controlled the middle of the park against both FC Porto in the Champions League and against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. Only two months earlier, Matic couldn’t get into the team on a regular basis and even went through the embarrassment of coming on as a substitute only to be replaced less than a half hour later. Now, the holding midfielder looks like one of the first names on Chelsea's team sheet once again, though the Blues may look to add cover at the position in January.

Matic’s temporary drop-off exposed Chelsea’s defense and revealed his integral role in Chelsea moving from defence to attack. Having him back at full strength signals a change in play and, consequently, results for the Blues.

Perhaps more important than any other player, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois boosted confidence around the squad with his return to fitness. Widely recognised as one of the top three keepers in the world – with the order up for debate – the Belgian missed nearly three months with a knee injury and returned to the starting lineup in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth (he was not to blame on the goal). Asmir Begovic performed adequately in net as Chelsea’s No. 1 was out, but Courtois’ presence makes Chelsea’s defense undeniably stronger.

Recently, Mourinho caused a soft stir by dropping striker Diego Costa against Tottenham. Actually, Costa caused the public rumbles when he threw his substitutes’ bib in the manager’s direction. While Costa’s exlcusion and bib throw suggested unrest in the Chelsea camp, the manager simply rotated his squad and kept his oft-injured striker healthy for an important Champions League tie against Porto.

Knowing that Chelsea needed a result in the Champions League, Mourinho did not risk Costa against Spurs and only played the Spaniard for the second half against Bournemouth. Against Porto, Costa started and his activity played a role in both of Chelsea’s goals.

Mourinho now has a fresh, hungry and confident Costa begging to get on the pitch with five matches scheduled over 18 days. Costa should surely get the start at Leicester on Monday, and facing the league leader entering this round of play should provide a valuable test for the Blues. If they pass, their confidence could and should push them to collect home victories over Sunderland and Watford before facing Manchester United at Old Trafford and Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Chelsea could be back in the Champions League race shortly after the start of the New Year. But first, the Blues go to Leicester on Monday.

Mourinho believes “Leicester is the favorite,” but the bookmakers believe Chelsea is the pick. It’s more confirmation that the Blues’ luck might finally be changing.

“This is the end of a bad period but we still have always some negative results that bring us back to a position we are not very proud with,” Mourinho said on Friday. “I think the performance against Porto on Wednesday, in a high-level pressure match, I think the answer was so good that I don’t see any reason not to have the same kind of answer [on Monday].

“In the beginning of the season we were miles away from our level but I think in the last couple of months everyone is improving, the team is improving. We had good performances against Porto and against Tottenham. I think we are going in a good direction in terms of the performance of individuals and team consistency – but, obviously, we need results.

"What we are now having regularly is lots of clean sheets, very few goals conceded. We have defensive stability now. We need to score more goals. You could tell me Diego Costa and Hazard, they are not scoring goals but the way they played against Porto, they have to score goals. They have to. Sooner or later, the goals are coming.”

•Photo shows Chelsea players celebrating a goal.

Source Daily Sports

Posted December 14, 2015