John Terry, Nemanja Matic, and Eden Hazard were excluded from the starting XI, while Radamel Falcao, Loic Remy, and Oscar didn’t travel with the squad. Chelsea’s poor start to the season involves several key players suffering from a loss of form, leaving the manager to reassure that no player is “untouchable.”
“You have to be a fantastic player, but you have to be consistent,” said Mourinho.
“In this moment we have fantastic players, the players that gave us the title last season. But football is about today, it’s not about yesterday. In football you have to be consistent in your performance, in your emotion.
“To be a winner you don’t need to win all the time, but to be a winner you must have a strong mentality every game, every day. At this moment I don’t have untouchables.”
Stylistically, the matchup suited a Chelsea side that’s been equally underwhelming in the final third — Julen Lopetegui values possession-based football, enabling the Blues to play reactive. Both sides, however, fielded speedy wide players and combative midfielders, therefore shunting natural creativity from open play.
Porto encountered difficulties breaking down an organized Benfica outfit a few weeks ago, and Mourinho was keen to adopt a similar approach. Mourinho’s selected attackers are suited to thrive in a counter-attacking system, and here, they were expected to receive space to exploit on the break.
Mourinho’s attack was prominent from the offset, with Costa working the left channel to tee up Cesc Fabregas, whilst subsequently towering over Maxi Pereira to ignite a Willian break that forced Iker Casillas to deny compatriot Pedro Rodriguez. Fabregas, fielded in an advanced midfield position, often dropped deeper to help retain possession, but also found pockets of space to launch forward passes.
The hosts dictated the tempo of the match for large spells, but failed to bypass Chelsea’s narrow defence with penetrative passes in midfield. Chelsea, however, displayed two distinct weaknesses in recent weeks that Porto were free to exploit.
Opposing managers intentionally instruct tricky wingers to isolate Ivanovic on a weekly basis due the lack of protection on the right. Likewise, at Newcastle,the Blue’s suffered mental lapses prior to conceding both goals, suggesting that they may be susceptible defending set-pieces.
Initially, Porto’s front trio were too narrow, witnessing Vincent Aboubakar and Yacine Brahimi pick up the ball near the halfway line to evade challenges from Pedro and John Obi Mikel en route to goal. With Maxi pegging Willian into his half, Brahimi’s reluctance to isolate Ivanovic was peculiar – though it may have been down to Bruno Martins Indi’s sporadic ventures forward.
Andre Andre’s opener stemmed from Brahimi’s driving past Pedro and Ivanovic from the left to test Asmir Begovic. The Algerian was also involved in the buildup to Maicon’s winner, following an Ivanovic slip, which resulted in Brahimi tormenting the Serbian and Fabregas to earn a corner.
The first half was considerably poor with both sides wasteful in possession, but where Chelsea focused on compressing space between the lines, Porto’s midfield trio swarmed Fabregas and Ramires when they received the ball. Though Aboubakar and Costa were excellent on the night, the limited creativity and penetration offered a lacklustre showing.
Hazard’s introduction came minutes after Maicon’s winner – Mourinho stated he intended on introducing the Belgian prior to the goal — meant Fabregas moved alongside Ramires in midfield, in an attempt to rescue a result. Now there was additional space in midfield for Porto’s midfield to dominate. Porto were unfortunate not to increase their lead in this period, as Mourinho quickly turned to Nemanja Matic to offer protection in central areas.
“We wanted to win and we showed that on the pitch,” said Lopetegui.
“They are an incredible team and we are very happy to get the win, but maybe more so for the attitude and mentality we demonstrated on the pitch. The win is a fair reward and it also means three points.”
Though it’s true Porto were dominant in phases during the second half, neither side played particularly well, here.
Porto were sloppy in possession throughout the first, but while their inability to penetrate is widely concerning, they conceded too much space between the midfield and defensive band. Chelsea’s attacking quartet easily stormed through midfield — though desperate tackles halted quick breaks — and the centre-backs were severely exposed against Costa. In truth, they gained control of the match when Fabregas moved deeper.
Chelsea’s issues are more complex: the away side was out-muscled in midfield — placing a question mark on Mourinho’s decision to drop Matic — and though the intent to rely on speed in transition was logical, once again, defensive and mental lapses proved decisive. The combative duo of Mikel and Ramires doesn’t offer creativity from deep, and though Fabregas occasionally contributed in the first half, the Spaniard failed to dictate the tempo.
It’s shocking to believe that Chelsea was the best defensive in England last season, as their recent displays resemble a fatigued, disjointed side that’s failed to improve both individually and as a unit. Further pragmatism may aid Chelsea’s blip, but individual errors at the back combined with a spineless midfield won’t do Mourinho any favours. Perhaps it’s time to go back to the basics.
