Mourinho Has Huge Circle to Square With Shevchenko And Ballack

Chelsea's off season so far has been notable for its Svennis disregard for having enough fit defenders. Indeed had Huth been sold they would now have 2 centre halves and a single left back, not counting Gallas who is whining about subbing either position and demanding to leave. To their team mix they added Ballack and Shevchenko almost forcing a 442 on a team who played 433. In addition they sold Duff and have Joe Cole out injured. They have paid a fortune for Mikel to buy off any action for poaching him. They have allegedly sold Duff to the lowest bid rather than sell him to a competitor. They tried to sell Huth despite having the bare bones of defenders. Crespo has departed to Inter today. Supposedly Bridge, Drogba and Gallas also want to leave the happy ship Chelsea.

When teams get ageing super stars like Ballack and Shevchenko it is tempting to wonder if this is a Madrid style marketing and name recognition buy rather than a managerial choice. Indeed when the Manager is Mr TEAM like Mourinho one cannot help feel one or both buys are not his choice. When they further signal a change in the formation he has successfully deployed for several years eyebrows are even further raised. Equally when a small full back who he very cogently argued is a waste of money is next for a ludicrous fee one really has to wonder.

The Chairman wanted Andriy Shevchenko for 3 years and Mourinho described him as the best in the world, so no problem there? Yet you wonder if that was ever the kind of individual Mourinho wanted. This was a man who won a European Champions League with Porto with the team as all important. He came to England and waltzed to 2 championships with a team based around the work ethic of Frank Lampard and John Terry. This is the man who took every opportunity to tell Joe Cole to not do any tricks even when he had a winning goal to his name. Drogba was complaining that he was used as the first line of defense having to wear himself out harrying the opposition. Indeed Mourinho's idea with his front 3 was to have at least 2 of them be subbed after 60-70 minutes of all out effort. Shevchenko in his early period at Milan produced the statistic he passed to his partner (Bierhoff) once every 57 minutes! Shevchenko's work ethic closing down opposition defenders has never been noticed by this scribe.

To keep Drogba happy entails a 442. Drogba and Crespo might have rotated and accept starting and subbing for each other in a 4321 but will Shevchenko be happy to be replaced late. Will he work hard to close down? Also Chelsea are very strong at set pieces but from what I have seen Shevchenko adds nothing there - ditto Ashley Cole if they get him. Regardless of whether you think teams should devote to a centre forward it is hard to see Sheva as a rational choice of the manager, even when he says he is the best forward in the world. Many a compliment is a euphemism for a barb i.e. when I say Rooney is the most talented English player I have seen, one can note I do not mention achievement nor how he fits into a team or the direction he is taking. Just because Shevchanko is the best forward in the world does not mean he is the best for a team and it is hard to argue any manager would get a player who so fundamentally changes the way the team play.

Even in a 442 with apparently a 4132 type style he is sacrificing width and Essien's engine etc to accommodate Ballack and Lampard. Eriksson sort of tried this but his use of Hargreaves dragged everyone back to distribute and I am not sure Makelele without Essien will not do this. Basically he is swapping 2 wingers and a tackler for a narrow formation. This may also open up the less than stellar full backs Bridge and Paulo Ferreira at present to being run at.

Indeed with a 442 maybe Mourinho believes in Arjen Robben for some reason as a forward but it leaves him with a kid Kalou and 2 ageing strikers in "The Drog" and Sheva. An injury to "The Drog" and Chelsea could lose a lot especially as a short left back would mean he will be even more missed at opposition set pieces.

Ashley Cole's likely arrival may add depth and keep Gallas for his last year as centre half. However as Mourinho pointed out he is too small to help at set pieces at either end - it is ridiculous at corners one of your defenders marks the post. Equally Sheva is hardly going to be the big beast at the near post "The Drog" is. One cannot help feel his one addition is to mark pacy wingers like Messi who terrorised Del Horno last year. Indeed Giuly ripped Chelsea 3 years ago as well. Ashley Cole's likely addition sort of would give Chelsea 2 for every position at the back and assuage Gallas that he is only a reserve centre half!

On the plus side strength in depth in all bar defensive positions has been added to and indeed an injury to Ballack or Lampard would allow a return to the former tactics - Duff's loss and Cole's injury merely allow Phillips the chance to show Chelsea's ridiculous depth there with a 21 million pound reserve. Robben is unlikely to stink all season like last year. Arguably Mourinho's faith in a less than fit Robben has cost Chelsea twice in the Champions League - I felt he should have kept Cole on 10 men last year and taken the ineffective Robben off and against Liverpool Robben showed how precious he is half fit and stank when Cole should have played.

All in all if this were any other manager I would be scathing that he had done more than just accept what the marketing boys gave him. Or that he made the assumption getting super stars, what could go wrong?, and had paid no heed to Madrid '03 to '06. With Mourinho before saying anything one has to at least let him show his stuff. He has done more than anyone could have imagined 6 years ago when he was just a spare part at Barcelona.

What one can say without fear of contradiction is that for Gallas and Crespo the question "how much is enough" is answered - they have things they want more than vast vats of even more money, not that they will not earn well elsewhere. Chelsea cannot just buy them off and Mourinho cannot pretend everyone is happy and working together.