Tuesday 18 August 2015

Unilad.co.uk & Football Pundette Presents...







Jose Mourinho will have you believe that Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City was a ‘fake result’. He will also try to convince anybody who is subjected to listening to him that his side were the better team in the second half of the game.



Despite his best intentions, these two outlandish statements alone are proof that Jose isn’t always capable of manipulating the media. His bullish remarks not only lack integrity but also fall completely into the realm of nonsensical. For this was the day when the manager of the Champions substituted Mr John ‘Captain Leader Legend™’ Terry for the very first time. A day where he stood on the touchline perplexed with not much of a Plan A, let alone a Plan B. A day where City played his team completely off the park. 


At one point, in fact several, Jose remained frozen to the spot, looking around him, dreaming up excuses.  It was a day where appealing for free kicks, waving invisible cards and hacking opposition players down with ill-timed tackles in a bid to aggravate led to nothing but a crushing defeat. Where Cesc Fabregas could have bothered to turn up, Branislav Ivanovic was completely out of his depth and Eden Hazard looked bloated from overindulging post-title win. Chelsea were lethargic, lazy and lacked ideas and direction. City were anything but.

 
Jose may have been able to deflect any criticism after Chelsea’s title defence began with 2-2 home draw to Swansea onto club doctor Eva Carneiro, but here there was nowhere to hide. Despite his desperate attempts to make poor JT the scapegoat this time, a move that made no sense seeing as Gary Cahill is equally as slow and was left on the pitch, the Champions were left brutally exposed by a City side who were not only physically superior but were stronger in every position on the pitch. The 3-0 score line was far from a fake result. In fact it doesn’t tell the whole story. It should’ve been a lot more.



Manuel Pellegrini’s only change from the side that beat West Brom 3-0 was to bring Sergio Aguero in for Wilfried Bony upfront. As soon as Martin Atkinson blew his whistle to declare the day’s proceedings open, City were a force to be reckoned with. Aguero, Golden Boot winner last season and human assault rifle, almost scored within the first minute but Chelsea’s second choice goalkeeper Asmir Begovic stood firm. This became a running theme throughout the first half, with the Bosnian thwarting Pellegrini’s smiling assassin time and time again. Chelsea’s defence were ran ragged and were repeatedly bamboozled by the pace of Raheem Sterling, the trickery of David Silva, the power of Yaya Toure and the sheer wonderment of Aguero. Assertive and professional to a tee, City’s focus was unequivocal. They meant business.

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