‘Man City had a point to prove and they came on aggressively from the start.
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Perhaps what is more worrying is the prospect of Jose trying to convince his players that they were good. “That’s one of the reasons why Barcelona let Chelsea take him“.
It was unfair but it means that everyone is talking about Terry today instead of the fact that Mourinho got it badly wrong for the second week in a row.
Sergio Aguero, who could have had a first-half hat-trick, scored first for City in the 31st minute when he side-footed a perfectly-placed effort past Asmir Begovic before Vincent Kompany scored for the second game in a row with a front post header from a David silva corner with just over 10 minutes remaining. With Oscar unavailable, Mourinho could have used another attacking player like Juan Cuadrado at the expense of Matic to devise a 4-1-4-1 formation or could have gone for that make or break intention by throwing one from Falcao or Remy into the pitch. Manchester City had it in 2012-13, and then again in 2014-15. Maybe we draw against them last year and before we lost, but always we dominate Chelsea. Every City player can be proud of their performances because they made Chelsea look awful.
“The coach did the pre-season just as he needed to, our fitness is fine, we just need to win a game and everything will change”. We have a style of play where we play very high with a lot of space, so a lot of individual challenges are required. He also explained that his surprising decision to remove John Terry at half-time – the first time he has withdrawn his captain in 177 league games – was purely due to a desire to add Kurt Zouma’s pace to the back four and move Chelsea’s defensive line further forward.
Asked if the five-point deficit to City is a worry, Ivanovic said: “I don’t think so”.
So dominant last season when cruising to the title, Chelsea have looked under-cooked so far.
After two games, six goals, two clean sheets and a ruthless destruction of Chelsea, those rash words are being eaten with a slice of humble pie. How much longer can he go on for?
Chelsea have conceded five goals in their first two Premier League games and Begovic is keen to get back to winning ways, starting with their visit to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
“Even when we lose a game, he has some great ideas on and off the pitch”.
It will take more than a plaster to heal the gulf in class that exists between these two sides and Mourinho knows it – even if he will never admit it.
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Given the off-the-field storm Mourinho created during the week by demoting team doctor Eva Carneiro from the bench, you nearly knew whatever happened on the field at the Etihad Stadium would be an afterthought – so much as the defending league champions losing to last year’s runner-ups 3-0 can be an afterthought.
