Chelsea's Conte Resurgence and Mou's United Collapse
"It is not about the money, it is about what you achieve on the pitch"- Ronaldinho
Soccer is an unpredictable game. Leicester City proved it last year with their thrilling march to the title. Also it is not about money, rather it is about the passion and skill you show on the pitch. At the moment, Chelsea's hunger and discipline is earning many plaudits especially after the shambolic season they had last time out. Antonio Conte has them drilled to pressurize their opponents and play an exhilarating brand of football. His tactical innovations and ability to get the best out of his players is changing the shape of football. Manchester United, on the other hand have been utterly disappointing. They were hailed as title favorites after pending in excess of $170 million in bringing in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A's player of the season. Jose Mourinho was supposed to save a faltering club in the shadow of Alex Ferguson. All he has done has brought more misery. They had a bright start to the season but have fallen away defensively and in front of goal. The contrasting style and fortunes of these 2 clubs was perfectly demonstrated in Chelsea's 4-0 drubbing of the Red Devils.
First of all, Antonio Conte has resurrected a team that seemed to be lazy and demotivated last season under the 'Special One'. He has injected energy, work rate, defensive solidity and tactically revolutionized the team. He came in and knew exactly what he wanted to change about the team. He quickly realized that they needed more defensive solidity so he bought David Luiz and Marcos Alonso. He added energy to supplement Matic's strength in midfield in the form of N'Golo Kante. Moreover he astutely let a few players leave and brought in a back up for Diego Costa. The real magic came however when he switched to a 3-4-2-1 which encouraged pressing and fluidity. It also gave Hazard freedom and Pedro the license to roam. He has instilled discipline in his players and his passion on the touchline creates an electric atmosphere for the supporters. Tactically the formation is very solid with 3 center backs and 2 wide midfielders. In defense it can almost become like 5 at the back with Kante and Matic shielding to make it very hard to break down. However more often that not, Chelsea win the ball back quickly and with fluid passing and Hazards genius break defenses down in a matter of passes. If Chelsea can keep this up, they can emerge as real title contenders, somewhere Manchester United were aiming to be back in August.
Everything started so well for Jose Mourinho at United. He brought in world class signings and they all seemed to click instantly. Zlatan was scoring, Pogba was creating and Bailly was a revelation. Fast forward 2 months and they are in dire straits. The 2-1 loss to their cross-town rivals started a downward spiral that saw them score only 1 goal in October. Zlatan cannot seem to score, Mkhitaryan is nowhere to be seen and Pogba lacks a partner to help him in the middle of the pitch. They are still playing good football but cannot score as they spurned 39 attempts on goal against Burnley in a 0-0 draw. Mourniho lacks the tactical flexibility and motivational skills to encourage his players and appears to be losing the plot. Many believed United were genuine title contenders this time but City, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea are in much better form and the players seem to be enjoying their football. Mourinho has to drop some big players and change from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 to get the best out of Pogba and Mkhitaryan. He wouldn't do too badly by learning from what Conte has done to his former club and employ a pressing style of football and giving freedom to his creative players. So far he has shackled Pogba and Mkhitaryan, allowing them to play their natural game, is paramount to United aiming to reach Champions League football.
All in all, we have 2 clubs with very different managers and fortunes at the moment, something no one would have expexted at the beginning of the season looking at the squads. Whatever happens to both these clubs, this season of the Premier League looks to be a nail biting encounter with only 1 point separating the Top 4 and Liverpool emerging as genuine contenders, who knows what will happen this time. Will Jose Mourinho resurrect United? Can Chelsea win the league? Vote down below in the poll and leave a like, comment and subscribe! :)
-Zorawar
