Jose Mourinho, the king of Stamford Bridge?
The return of Jose Mourinho to Chelsea captivated the imagination of journalists and fans across the footballing globe.
Re-branded as the happy one, the world waited expectantly for Mourinho's first game in charge of Chelsea. What was delivered was an un-easy victory. Despite winning 2-0 vs Hull; I couldn't help but feel worried.
Jose Mourinho had arrived saying: "Every player should play for Chelsea and not themselves", however in my opinion this is not just the players who should be working for Chelsea, Mourinho should be playing for the team as well.
The team isn't as physically big as the team of 2005, the defence isn't as strong, they prefer to play quick football now and finish games off as oppose to defending 1-0 leads.
Towards the end of the first Mourinho reign he was found out a bit with his tactics, holding 1-0 leads didn't particularly work and he was a sacked for a reason as some Chelsea fans seem to forget.
So far in his second reign there have been obvious mistakes. Too many midfielders, changing the team to quickly, refusing to play Juan Mata, Fernando Torres and Azpilicueta, insisting on sticking with Lampard and Terry, so here's a look into the problems at Chelsea at the moment.
Now, it would be stupendously ignorant to write off Jose Mourinho and his boys this early in the season because regardless of his early mistakes he is a great manager and a legend of Chelsea.
He is without a doubt good enough to win a major trophy this year however it will not be in a way that is sustainable.
Last season under Rafeal Benitez, Chelsea managed to play quick, exciting football and were successful. It poses the age-old question: 'Would you rather play exciting football or win football games?'
Well in this extreme case I must say I believe Chelsea to be more likely to win games playing exciting football because of the side they possess. The system they play with suits quick, free-flowing football and a type of football that pushes the other team back, so far in all the games Mourinho's side haven't shown any of that.
Against Hull we started sharply and dominated, and as a fan I was thinking about the possibility of scoring five or six goals. Then Mourinho had his way at half-time and the second half was dull and dreary.
Perhaps this is a good tactical move but was it really necessary?
The next point is of course the most controversial of all; the Spanish problem.
Case in point comes from his time at Real Madrid. Mourinho's refusal to play Casillas, who is without a doubt a world class keeper, and his problems with Ramos, are now eerily similar to his refusal to start Juan Mata, Cesar Azpilicueta.
Juan Mata's case speaks for itself, one of the best playmakers in Europe and even a goal scorer, he lead Chelsea through some games last season single handedly. Now, he has been known to disappear in some big games, especially against Manchester City, but all the same is arguably Chelsea's best player.
Cesar Azpilicueta is a Spanish international and last season looked very promising indeed, now he is reduced to appearing just once this season because of Mourinho's love affair with John Terry. Mourinho won’t play Ivanovic at centre half because of Terry, meaning he has to play Ivanovic at full-back. I personally would feel a lot safer with Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill and Cole at the back with Luiz in midfield.
Finally the topic that always sparks debate, Fernando Torres.
Whatever your opinion on Torres, the facts are the facts and Torres scored 23 goals last season and was involved in more goals than most Chelsea players, behind just Mata and Hazard.
Similarly Didier Drogba, in all his time at Chelsea, only managed to score plus 20 goals twice (albeit 33 and 37). The Ivory Coast striker averages around 17 goals a season and it is perfectly passable to expect Torres to achieve this too. Of course I can't expect Torres to reach the heights of one of Chelsea's best ever players but I do believe he can prove the doubters wrong.
The way Chelsea play means the forwards don't score as many goals as in other teams.
However I will concede that at times the Spanish number nine has been abysmal, but he has started the season sharp and I resent the comments he is non existent.
Towards the end of last season Torres won more headers than any other Chelsea player, this shows that his can play as an out ball as well. He no longer looks as sharp as his Liverpool days and I sometimes think he suffers from this illusion.
Regardless of his past days he scored a great goal against Bayern and was rewarded with being dropped for two games, being replaced by an unfit player who has spent his past couple of years playing in a league nowhere near the tempo of the Premier League. You must believe that he has only joined because he is a former Mourinho-boy.
So it must be said the start to Mourinho's second spell doesn't look promising, however I will reiterate the point that Mourinho is a great manager and I do have faith in him, although it wavers on the matter of the Spanish trio.
I would hope Mourinho would heed all of the cries for Mata and Torres from the Chelsea fans.
He is undoubtedly a great manager and I hope that he hasn't lost his way.
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