Jose Mourinho's attention to detail has Chelsea in fine form entering Premiership's busy festive season
Rarely does a Premier League team emerge from the shadows, launch a spectacular run of form in the latter part of the season and finish the campaign as champions. But there are the very odd exceptions that lead many to retain some optimism during the festive period.
Currently, many believe Manchester United are outsiders for the title. Ten points behind Chelsea, they have struggled to attain consistently high performance levels though recent results have been impressive. Still, people’s perceptions are clouded by history and those iconic English soccer moments, however rare that may be.
From the last 10 seasons, the team in front on New Year's Day has been crowned champion seven times. Yet, there are those that will counter with isolated examples of dramatic comebacks. Like when Manchester United sat in fourth place in early January 2009, eight points behind then-leaders Liverpool but finished the season in first. Arsenal waged an incredible turnaround in 1998 when they were 12 points off the pace post-Christmas yet pipped a stalling United to the title. And then there's the common reference point: United's spectacular recovery in early 1996, when Newcastle were 12 points clear with 15 games left.
But despite United's late charges to the front being fondly remembered, they weren't exactly commonplace. Far more often, the club controlled entire Premier League seasons. In the last decade, they've won four league titles - three times they led the field in early January. On the one occasion they didn't (2008), they tucked themselves right on the shoulder of leaders Arsenal before an inevitable overtaking.
There's also the question of leaders mentality and whether a team can cope with setback. With so many games strewn across the festive period, clubs will drop points amid the chaos. Recovery time is minimal and for players and managers not used to the ferocity, it can prove a damning experience. Where the majority of top-flight sides spend a week recovering between games, during the Christmas period, they'll have 24 or 48 hours. It means getting through assignments while operating at just 75 or 80 percent – similar to what players and teams in the NBA, NHL or MLB must do regularly.
And that might just give Jose Mourinho the edge in his head-to-head with Manuel Pellegrini. Whereas Manchester City have been forced to deal with the high-profile losses of Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, Edin Dzeko and Steven Jovetic, Mourinho's meticulousness when it comes to injury prevention has ensured minimal player absences. It's no surprise to learn that the club currently have just one player nursing a knock ahead of their next game with West Ham on Boxing Day – Eden Hazard, who was scythed down by Stoke's Phil Bardsley during Monday night's encounter.
Speaking earlier this year to Dave Hancock, former Chelsea physio, he was glowing in his praise of Mourinho's operation.
“With my experience of working with 14 top managers over 16 years, that was something I really admired about Jose. He had a system, which was very short, sharp and intense,” Hancock said. “He could periodize his sessions, he allowed players to recover, psychologically he knew what buttons to press with each individual player and that’s one of the reasons he’s one of the greatest coaches in the modern game.
”He used to pride himself on not having any injuries in training. I think Jose had studied it when he was at Barcelona and then with Rui Faria, his assistant coach. They had a philosophy and they studied and understood what was necessary to play to that game, the speed and intensity of it. The training techniques they put in place were high-intensity, very game-specific.”
Mourinho doesn't do collapse. It's not in his nature to oversee a team that's mentally weak and the Chelsea squad is overflowing with big, experienced personalities who like to win. The club hasn’t claimed a Premier League crown since 2010 – the longest dry spell since Roman Abramovich took control. There's plenty of hunger.
But, Pellegrini is a wily adversary. Last term, City were an irritant to Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea – they just wouldn't go away. In the final strait, they showed immense character to rack up five successive wins and take the title by two points. Right now, there's little between them and Chelsea, and both managers will be acutely aware of that. Despite City's injury concerns, they're the league's most in-form team and have won their last eight in all competitions. They'll also look to the festive fixture-list with relish. Games with West Brom, Burnley and Sunderland are on the horizon and anything less than nine points will be a shock and massive disappointment.
At Stamford Bridge meanwhile, things are slightly trickier. Chelsea welcome in-form West Ham on Boxing Day before travelling to Southampton. They will face Tottenham on New Year's Day. Unsurprisingly, Mourinho has already delved into mind-games territory, commenting on the difficulty of the fixtures compared to Chelsea's rivals. But he'll do well to get inside Pellegrini's head – the Chilean is immune to the theatrics.
With such contrasting characters at the centre of the story, maybe that's what makes this such good entertainment.
