In Jose Mourinho’s second spell at Chelsea he chose this XI for his first competitive match against Hull City in 2013. Can you name who started?
In 2013, Chelsea fans got what they wanted: the return of Jose Mourinho gesticulating down the technical box and a man who navigates a press conference with the same confidence and grace as a professional boxer.
Mourinho’s second spell at Chelsea was set to be rife with trophies and consistency. Surely even the insatiable Roman Abramovich would be forced to give excess leeway to a manager such as Mourinho, one who was already highly regarded in Chelsea history.
Mourinho’s first competitive XI in charge of Chelsea a second time came against Hull City at Stamford Bridge in 2013. The squad looks mightily different then than now with only a few members of that XI surviving at the club just three years later.
The manager started in his favored 4-2-3-1 formation. It’s fun to look back at the nascent days of that second spell as well as delve deeper into what it’ll mean for his first match in charge at Manchester United. Did Mourinho choose veterans and big money players because that’s what he fancies or were they his best options at the time? Is he married to the 4-2-3-1 and will absolutely play it in Manchester?
Chelsea won that game against Hull City 2-0, even with a missed penalty. It was a sign of things to come in 2014-15 when they’d go onto subjugate the league and lift the Premier League trophy, a professional 2-0 victory against an inferior side.
How many of these 11 do you remember and would have been able to name?
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