Jose Mourinho has already stated that Chelsea are still going through a rebuilding process and his first attempt cannot be compared to his current side, ‘in transitionÂ’, with a different ‘football philosophyÂ’.
ChelseaÂ’s failure to win any silverware this season is disappointing, but there are a lot of positives we can take from it. A Champions League semi-final and fighting for the league until the final few weeks is something Chelsea have lacked in the past season.
Jose Mourinho is a tactically brilliant manager and no one can deny that. His triumph in the Champions League with Porto is a fine example. He took that winning formation of 4-3-3 when he came to Stamford Bridge in 2004.
Using this formation, Chelsea won the Premier League with a record 95 points, conceding just 15 goals in the process. Chelsea embarked on their most successful era by adding another Premier League title the following season. Mourinho won every domestic title available during his first spell at Stamford Bridge.
He carried the same formation to Inter Milan, which brought instant success in his time at San Siro. However, the change of formation to 4-2-3-1 happened after moving to Real Madrid because the club was not willing to change from their free-flowing attacking philosophy. It brought little success, however, with just two titles in Jose’s 3 seasons in charge (Super Cup doesn’t count).
Upon returning, Mourinho has used the same formation for most of the matches in the Premier League, which has brought mixed results. The 4-3-3 was used in just five matches, in which they scored nine goals and conceded just one.
It’s time Mourinho ditched the 4-2-3-1 and stuck to his famous 4-3-3. Chelsea have enough creative players to adjust to this formation. Oscar and Willian are two attacking midfielders that can show their full potential from this. Matic as a defensive midfielder can cover the back four and give room to the attacking players. Players like Eden Hazard, Schurrle and Salah will get more space when the full-backs join the attack.
It will be interesting to see which formation Mourinho will use next season. Changing to 4-3-3 might be the best move for Jose right now. It has brought success in the past and I am sure it will in the future.
