If José Mourinho could have found someone else to blame, it is for sure that he would have grabbed the opportunity. Dodgy ref, unfair scheduling, Uefa conspiracy; given half a chance, he would have reached angrily into his old playbook of targets. Yet on Wednesday evening, and for the second year running, Chelsea’s exit from the Champions League left him almost lost for words.
It is not often that Mourinho says he is short of answers, demanding time to go back through the tapes to analyse, but it is not hard to see the cause of his befuddlement. In successive seasons, Chelsea have been beaten in Europe by precisely the rugged qualities he usually expects from his own players.
Last season it was Atletico Madrid under their streetwise head coach, Diego Simeone. Atletico showed immense nerve and aggression, far more than Chelsea, and the Argentinian talked proudly and colourfully after a stunning 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge of his team’s “big balls”.
For this campaign, Mourinho believed that he had hardened his “small horse” into something nearer thoroughbreds with a strengthened spine in Thibaut Courtois, Cesc Fàbregas, Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa, all with big-match experience.
So it was a shock to see them felled by another team with larger cojones in Paris Saint-Germain, who were not afraid to take the battle to Chelsea, even with ten men, away from home.
Advertisement
Mourinho had goaded PSG, expecting his own players to be able to look after themselves in a feisty confrontation. The Chelsea manager must have known the type of battle he was provoking — and, in any case, most opponents now seek to get their retaliation in first against Chelsea, and especially Costa.
Yet Mourinho ended up accusing his team of being mentally weak; probably about the worst insult he can think of when the game for him is about grinding out victories by whatever means, toughing it out, winning at all costs.
According to at least one figure at Stamford Bridge, it was not the sort of discovery, on such a big night, that the manager will accept resignedly. A few changes are predicted, and which way they will point can be easily foreseen.
Under pressure, people revert to previous behaviour patterns. In Chelsea’s case, that means Mourinho 2.0 is increasingly likely to resemble the first, formidable incarnation.
That was an archetypal Mourinho team; bullying, relentless in their physicality. For those who think that Costa already gives the present side a mean streak, and exaggerated aggression, expect more of the same.
Advertisement
We had wondered if the Portuguese might carve out a different style this time, given the number of playmakers at Stamford Bridge, but a second disappointment in the Champions League has left question marks over the fortitude of a few.
One of those, undoubtedly, is Oscar, in whom Mourinho has never had complete faith and who has found his reliability questioned again.
It was five minutes before half-time when Mourinho showed his first real agitation of a trying evening. Oscar had just been booked for kicking the ball away when he chased down PSG into the corner and felled Marco Verratti.
Given that Bjorn Kuipers, the Dutch referee, was anxiously trying to regain control soon after the wrongful dismissal of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it was reckless behaviour. Mourinho sprang off his bench, screaming at Oscar, pointing a finger to his head to say “think”.
Five minutes later, he was telling Oscar to get to the showers, hooking him at the interval. To some, it was a surprise that Oscar started at all. The Brazilian’s work off the ball has improved under Mourinho’s unceasing demand for tracking back, but, for all his gifts, he still seems flighty for the manager’s demands, without Eden Hazard’s match-changing speed and directness, or Willian’s energy.
Advertisement
He signed a five-year contract this season, but that does not mean he cannot be offloaded if Mourinho, as expected, decides to inject more muscle.
Size is not everything, as Verratti, at just 5ft 5in, proved by towering over the Chelsea side, but Mourinho will have hated the way his midfield failed to impose themselves, both on and off the ball.
They had not played for a week, so there is little excuse for fatigue. Maybe Mourinho will find failure in his own preparations, setting up a team who seemed unsure whether they were meant to be chasing a win or defending a goalless draw, but you can be sure, too, that there will be jolts in the dressing room.
Fresh doubts have been cast over Gary Cahill, already struggling to hold back the rise of Kurt Zouma. We wait to see whether Juan Cuadrado’s renowned zest as a right back converted to right winger can add dynamism on the biggest stage.
Mourinho spoke this week of promoting youth, such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but his main ambition will be to harden up a team who can beat most domestic rivals, as winners of the Capital One Cup and clear favourites for the title, yet still lack the ruthlessness of the best Mourinho teams.
Advertisement
In six of Chelsea’s eight biggest games this season — including both ties against PSG and twice against Manchester City — they have taken the lead only to draw. That will be anathema to a coach who sets such stock in eliminating risk, closing down games by fair means or foul.
Chelsea have undoubtedly progressed from last season through Matic, Fàbregas and Costa, and the Barclays Premier League was always the main, and very reachable, target. But if they do win the title, as they should, the expectation will grow on Mourinho to add the European Cup that has eluded him over his two spells at Stamford Bridge.
And you can be sure that he will not tolerate them going out with a whimper again or allow himself, for a third year running, to be almost lost for words.
Chelsea’s half-measures
In their past 12 games, Chelsea have often fallen away after half-time. Given that José Mourinho has picked his first-choice players more frequently than his rival managers this season, rarely rotating, perhaps tiredness is a factor
Advertisement
+11
Chelsea’s first-half goal difference in past 12 games (scored 13, conceded 2)
-2
Chelsea’s second-half and extra-time goal difference in past 12 games (scored 7, conceded 9)
The average number of minutes played in all competitions this season by 11 most-used players at the Premier League’s leading six clubs
Chelsea
2,982 min (equivalent of 33 full games)
Liverpool
2,870 min (32 full games)
Tottenham Hotspur
2,512 min (28 full games)
Arsenal
2,502 min (28 full games)
Manchester City
2,365 min (26 full games)
Manchester United
1,896 min (21 full games)
Words by Bill Edgar