Is Mourinho playing a vanilla scheme before a super season or are the Blues actually struggling?
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The hosts were looking better and better as the game progressed, and they were seeing more of the ball but clear-cut chances were far and few in the opening exchanges for Jose Mourinho’s men.
Beginning at half-time, Chelsea made nine changes in the second half, with Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, Gary Cahill and Nemanja Matic among the first-team stalwarts to enter the fray.
At the 34′ mark, Fiorentina finally broke the draw with a stunning goal from Gonzalo Rodriguez against Begovic that silenced the crowd at Stamford Bridge.
“He has had minutes in the different matches”.
Chelsea, who start their Premier League title defence at home against Swansea City, won two of their four pre-season friendlies, both on penalties, and also lost the Community Shield match against London rivals Arsenal.
Jose Mourinho has defended Radamel Falcao’s low-key start to his Chelsea career and re-iterated that he is unsure whether fellow striker Diego Costa will be fit to face Swansea City on Saturday.
‘He’s very good for the situation, ‘ the Portuguese boss said.
“But the next day he’s not comfortable so now we don’t know if he plays or not”.
Fiorentina also sent on nine substitutes, including Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi, who missed the entirety of the 2014-15 season following the third serious knee injury of his career. “I’m happy with his evolution, very happy to be fair”.
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But Mourinho insists he still had formidable options if Costa is ruled out. The last one was Sousa’s first home game in charge of the Italian side and the supporters will have been very pleased with what they saw against the European champions. “It is not a good feeling for him, it is not a good feeling for me”. Fiorentina responded with an attack of their own which forced a superb fingertip save from the Bosnian shot-stopper in the Chelsea goals. The question now is whether or not we will be seeing the real Chelsea this weekend too.
