Chelsea and Jose Mourinho Can’t Lose

Zouma and Fellaini

José Mourinho’s Chelsea did their job Saturday against Manchester United: they didn’t lose. The handful of relegation candidates are tasked with the same minimum expectation week in and week out. Most other teams in the Premier League would no doubt adopt a similar approach were they to also face a recently resurgent Manchester United. It’s important to note that trying to not lose is not exactly the same as trying to win. Rather, it is the conscious decision to simply nullify an opponent as much as possible and pounce when they screw up. Defend deep, keep your players behind the ball and don’t let the opposition play their game. Simple and surprisingly effective.

The difference here, of course, is that Chelsea sat seven points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand before kickoff. In a notably competitive Premier League season, they have been the standout performers. The XI they fielded Saturday cost just south of £300 million. Eden Hazard, the superstar winger who scored the winning goal, is the favorite to win this season’s Player of the Year award. Mourinho himself has won leagues in four different countries and twice held aloft the Champions League trophy. These are the genetic markers of a team that should be able to force their will on any team in the world. So why did they sit back and settle for a 1-0 win?

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The answer is fairly simple: pragmatism. Pound for pound, this Chelsea side could be reasonably confident of a win against any United side, particularly one so depleted in defense and midfield as the XI fielded on Saturday. Other big clubs of the modern era – think Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona or Bayern Munich – would play to their own strengths and also likely trounce a team like United. Whether it’s that he lacks Guardiola’s tactical nous or is simply a realist, Mourinho prefers the opposite approach. In games with thin margins he consistently plays to the the rivals’ weaknesses more than his team’s own strengths.

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Thus, Chelsea conceded the vast majority of the ninety minutes. United had 71% possession, according to Four Four Two’s Stat Zone, and completed a whopping 606 passes to Chelsea’s meager 199. Mourinho actually coined the invective term ‘parking the bus’ to describe a team happy to crowd the area in front of their own goal. Less generous people – or United fans – might be happy to use that same term to describe what happened Saturday, though that belies the complexity of Mourinho’s approach. Far from defending and hoping for the best, this Chelsea team was constructed to defend smartly and, though it might feel counter intuitive, proactively.

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This strategy is no better exemplified than in the selection of one player: Kurt Zouma. Though the Frenchman is nominally a central defender, Mourinho fielded him alongside Nemanja Matic in midfield with precisely one task: mark Marouane Fellaini out of the game. The United midfielder’s aerial talents have been a key element in the Reds’ recent return to form. Long balls played onto Fellaini’s well-coiffed head are played down on the ground for attacking players like Ander Herrera, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata to convert into scoring opportunities. It is an antiquated but effective technique, and Mourinho was determined to remove it from United’s arsenal. To that end, Zouma stayed close to Fellaini, pushing him out wide into areas where balls launched to him from United’s defense would be the least effective. Though they found their way into Chelsea’s third multiple times, the defense kept the quality of United’s 15 shots low and held them off until full time.

Mourinho’s tactics also shined in the all-too-predictable route taken for Hazard’s winning goal. Chelsea defender John Terry aggressively dispossessed forward Radamel Falcao and began a sequence of quick, incisive passes that ended with Hazard darting between United’s hapless defense to shoot through the keeper David De Gea’s legs. A swift and decisive transition in play, from defense to midfield to attack. A goal constructed from the bottom up. It was the kind of moment Mourinho built this team to capitalize on. It sacrificed no solidity in defense while simultaneously exploiting United’s verve to push up and take the game to Chelsea. The goal came relatively early, in the 38th minute, but Chelsea were able to hold onto the narrow lead.

The match was as precise and surgical a win as Mourinho has yet achieved on his second stint at Chelsea. Almost two full seasons in and he has yet to lose to either United, Manchester City, Arsenal or Liverpool, mostly by employing the same negative tactics;which, it should be noted, is not a criticism. Trying your best and still losing due to some mishit clearance or just random bad luck earns you more sympathy than points. Let the Guardiolas of the world find new ways to win. José will be content with simply not losing.