When Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea from Ken Bates in 2003, very few could have predicted the tremendous phases and direction that the club was about to embark upon.
The arrival of Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho signalled the
first phase of the Roman Abramovich era. The Portuguese manager built one of
the strongest and stingiest defence the world has ever seen. This defence was
anchored by the strong duo of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.
This legendary side won the double (Premier League and FA
Cup) whilst shattering records en route to the aforementioned trophies. Jose
Mourinho’s men conceded just 15 goals in 38 league matches (a record that still
stands).
Since then (even after Jose Mourinho left), Chelsea has been
synonymous with having a stingy defence to the extent of being labelled as a
boring defensive team. But that tag (boring defensive team) is slowly wearing
off and right now, it has been completely washed off since the arrival of
Thomas Tuchel.
The German manager has completely transformed the club from a
boring defensive team into an entertaining juggernaut. Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea
in 2004 and Thomas Tuchel’s current team are similar in their defensive
strength and very hard to beat.
But the difference between both teams
is that while Jose Mourinho’s team sat back and counterattacked, Thomas Tuchel’s
team is entertaining, attacking and full of flair. Most surprising is that the
entertaining football does not in any way affect the defensive actions.
It is not an easy task for a club to change the culture and
footballing identity. For example, Barcelona is synonymous with tiki-taka
football and it would be a huge task to change that philosophy into a defensive
one.
Chelsea has embarked on a huge transformation and the club
should be praised for having the belief, focus and determination to do it.
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