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From MAZACAR to WIZACAR

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Remember the season of 2011-12 when Chelsea FC won the UEFA Champions League? Many impeached Chelsea’s defensive strategy. They accused Chelsea of ‘Parking the Bus’.
What Chelsea exactly did was they occupied almost all defensive space by letting the opposition have possession and then countered as fast as possible without committing too many men forward. Some may call it ‘Parking the Bus’ but it worked unlike AC Milan who failed miserably.
The Scenario changed when Chelsea signed Oscar from Internacional and Eden Hazard from Lille. These signings brought a drastic change in Chelsea’s playing style under Roberto Di Matteo. Chelsea’s attitude changed from defensive to attacking. The mid-field trio MAta-haZAard-osCAR had been life saving substantially after Drogba’s exit and signing of Torres being a flop. They provided young and fresh legs with quality play making resulting into an influential mid-field partnership. Chelsea scored 147 goals, their best ever in 2012-13.

Juan Mata

Primarily a left winger, Mata can also play as an central attacking mid-fielder . After joining Chelsea in 2011, he impressed all the fans with his ingenious game-play and adapted quickly to his role in mid-field. Mata’s quality of creating chances from set piecesis what makes him special. Mata scored 33 goals and provided 58 assists throughout his chelsea career with a pass completion rate of around majestic 90%, crowning him Chelsea’s player of the year for the last two years.

Eden Hazard

Joining Chelsea in June 2012, he became the fourth Belgian to join the club. Already considered as world’s finest youngster, Mourinho believes that he has the potential to emulate Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the Pinnacle of world game. He played a major part in the trio partnership being Mata’s companiate in mostly every match. He has scored 21 goals in 59 appearances. His creative approach for trying new things is what makes him a class apart  player.

Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Júnior

Oscar is a mid-fielder who can also play wide. He has a reputation of good pass and move football with fluid and creative runs. Major qualities are ability to carve out chances in difficult positions and sharp shooting. He has scored 21 goals in 96 appearances for Chelsea FC. He is often compared to Kaká.

Mata’s Outcast:Mid-fielders are now expected to possess a certain combination of attacking prowess with a tendency to help out defenders. José Mourinho’s managerial style revolves around this philosophy, whereby players are not limited to just one function: defending or attacking. In which case, the players he has at his disposal must fit this ideology. José perceived Oscar to be his number 10 instead of Mata who he thought didn’t fit into his style of play. Mata’s frequent omission from the starting eleven jeopardized his position at the club and was later sold to Manchester United in the January transfer window.

Mata’s Replacement:Willian Borges da Silva

In August 2013, Chelsea commandeered the Willian deal while he the Brazilian was already in London having a medical at Tottenham. Due to Mata’s lack of defensive qualities and Willian’s great defensive work rate, Willian became his first choice. Willlian is certainly ahead of teammate Andre Schurrle, who tends to drift in and out of the game. Willian constantly tracks back for defending and isn’t afraid of putting in a tackle with outstanding technical ability. This is how Willian currently lines up for the blues:

Thus, the new magnificent Chelsea trio is WIllian, haZArd and osCAR(WIZACAR).
This mid-field partnership has started 9 out of Chelsea’s last 10 matches. WIZACAR are doing great, they might win it all!



Author:
          Ketan Vazirabadkar (@kets_vaz)
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