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Chelsea's relegation party

by Arda Alan Işık

ISTANBUL Jan 19, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Arda Alan Işık Jan 19, 2016 12:00 am
"We were down when we started. We were one point off the relegation zone, but now we have a little bit more room to breathe. We have two difficult games coming up - Everton, who have a very good away record - and then Arsenal. If you don't gather points there, you don't know what the others do. The Premier League can surprise you," Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink said before the crucial Everton game at home, and his warning proved to be right. Chelsea were down by two goals after two-thirds of the game had passed. They only saved a point in the last minute with a chaotic offside goal. Nevertheless, if Everton had been a bit more careful and dominant, the result would have been catastrophic for Chelsea.

The obvious truth is, this is still Jose Mourinho's team, no matter if Hiddink takes Nemenja Matic off or puts John Obi Mikel on. The main idea, which is based on Mourinho's cowardly strategy, is to catch the opponent when they make a mistake when they are building the play or sending long balls to Diego Costa, who has rarely found space to show his athletic skills this season. However, as the Everton game pointed out, almost every opponent knows what Chelsea is capable of and how can they score, thus no one leaves space in their half and they basically let Chelsea sabotage their own counter-attacking game by pushing forward without a serious plan. What is happening is crystal clear, Mourinho and Hiddink's expired methods are not enough for the Premier League.

Everton, on the other hand, should not have relied on Chelsea's offensive deficiencies that much. At one point, they were two goals ahead and Chelsea were out of control, but still they did not utilize Romelu Lukaku's one-on-ones with lonely Chelsea defenders at the back. To be honest, coach Roberto Martinez resembles Jose Mourinho a bit when it comes to offensive plans. Everton are great when the opponents are on the offensive, but they are unable to control the game and carve up the opponent's defense when they are supposed to attack. If Everton want to be known more than a tough opponent, they have to build an offensive model around Lukaku, Kevin Mirallas and Gareth Barry.

Pochettino is on the right line

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino made a lot of "football beggars" happy when he showed Sunderland and their coach Sam Allardyce's primitive and unfriendly tactics are destined to lose against neo-total football. Pochettino's team executed a well-designed pass circulation model near Sunderland penalty box and circulated the ball patiently. If their defenders had been 10 meters closer to the Sunderland half, the score could have been 7-1. Nonetheless, with a lot of young and promising players, I am sure that Pochettino will surprise the Premier League soon.

Sunderland, in contrast, seem like a Premier League veterans club, with old fashioned players and coaches. Allardyce religiously implements the most traditional ways of counter-attacking and has no promising idea on how to interpret time and space. Put a lot of people in defense and kick the ball to the other side, hoping to have the God of chaos on their side. If Sam Allardyce and his methods continue to run the team, their Premier League days might end soon.

A denunciation

D-smart, which is one of the Turkish TV platforms run by Doğan Holding, issued a lot of false bills to my name, harassed me with phone calls every day and threatened me with filing a lawsuit. I denounce their unethical and illegal means in front of my readers.
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