Chelsea v Sydney FC: 7 reasons you should be excited about Jose Mourinho’s side’s visit
THE star quality of Jose Mourinho, a sold out ANZ Stadium and a chance to forget the FIFA cesspit for 90 minutes: it’s good to have Chelsea in town …
IT surely couldn’t have escaped your attention that the Premier League champions are in Sydney this week.
And whether it’s the star quality of Jose Mourinho, a sold out ANZ Stadium, some of the best players on the planet on show or just a chance to forget the cesspit that is Sepp Blatter’s FIFA for 90 minutes: it’s good to have Chelsea in town …
THE MANAGER
If his team brings star quality then Jose Mourinho is something of a sporting supernova. That could as easily describe his self-regard - which is genuinely planet sized - as his coaching, but eight league titles at four clubs, two UEFA Champions League wins, seven domestic cups and a Europa League for good measure prove his inflated sense of his own ability is not without foundation.
At the pre-match press conference, conducted hours after he got off a long-haul flight and previewing what is essentially an end of season jolly for his title-winning side, he still managed to convey the aura of a man acutely focused on the matter in hand as if it were a cup final.
His charisma certainly had the assembled press corps weak at the knees — with roughly nineteen from 20 questions directed at him (allowing for a statistical margin of error of five per cent).
Sydney’s coach Graham Arnold, usually the gruff star attraction himself, was relegated to little more than window dressing. Charismatic, self-assured to the point of narcissism and eminently quotable, the man is box office. He named his team in an act of bravado then played the perfect host by gamely playing faux humility.
“For us it is very important as a club, when we have not been here for a long, long time, and as we come as champions we have an even bigger responsibility,” he said on the match. The locals swooned. The ego has landed.
THE STYLE
Towards the end of the season just gone, with Chelsea sauntering towards the title and none of their prospective challengers able to muster anything of the sort, Chelsea ground out a draw at Arsenal that effectively downgraded Arsene Wenger’s side’s chances from slim to non-existent. Chelsea’s critics immediately went in to playground name calling mode and branded them boring.
Much debate ensued. Chelsea were accused, not for the first time, of ‘parking the bus’ (suffocating good teams with a defence first approach). Mourinho retorted that what he found boring was not winning anything meaningful for a decade - a pointed dig at Arsenal and Wenger. Winning isn’t boring, he suggested, but losing is.
And yet the debate was misleading. Chelsea rocketed to the top of the Premier League in the first half of the season playing expansive, attack-minded football, employing their bountiful offensive weapons at will. They won 6-3 away at Everton. No one called them boring after that.
It was almost December before they failed to score in a League game, after starting the season in August. Only Manchester City scored more goals than they did. Even in that match against Arsenal they were the ones forcing the issue for the first half hour, only settling for the pragmatic point once the clock ticked down.
Mourinho’s teams are not boring, they are effective — if blowing a team away is the most likely route to victory then that’s what they’ll do. If not, they play the canny game.
And anyway, in an end of season friendly against weaker opposition than they are usually faced with, where, for once, performance rather than points is what matters, you can expect the Portuguese to take off the shackles and give his attacking players freedom to roam. He’s already said his front three will be Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Loic Remy. Expect goals. And plenty of them.
THE PRESTIGE
Move over Tottenham Hotspur. It doesn’t get any bigger in a sporting context than Chelsea. They have taken the football world by storm since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich brought the club 12 years ago and their arrival on our shores should be a real cause for celebration.
Sure, they possess the financial clout many sports can only dream of, but it never goes to waste.
They know how to win trophies. Merely living on potential fails the test.
Just over 12 months ago the Los Angeles Dodgers entertained the Arizona Diamondbacks at the SCG in the Major League Baseball opening series.
The year before then EPL champions Manchester United graced Sydney for the A-League All Stars clash.
Fourteen years before that United’s famous treble winners played Australia at ANZ Stadium in front of almost 80,000.
But if the fervour showed by Chelsea’s diehard fans at Sydney Airport upon their arrival on Saturday is any indication, this could potentially be better.
Mourinho has promised to play a full strength squad. That includes John Terry, Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic, Loic Remy and - the jewel of the crown - Eden Hazard.
Mourinho never does things by halves. He is obviously out here to endear Australia to the Chelsea brand.
They may not be playing in Berlin next weekend for European Champions League glory but that’s just Sydney’s gain. Savour the moment sports fans!
THE SUPERSTARS
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Manchester City are the five richest clubs in the world. Surprised not to see Chelsea in there? Don’t worry, they are sixth - and climbing fast.
The club is reportedly worth around $2 billion which obviously allows them to bring in a star player or two, or three, or four.
Here’s five players fans should be clamouring the see.
Eden Hazard: recently voted EPL player of year, the Belgian star has taken his game to an elite level this season. Goals, assists, beautiful touch, the 24-year-old winger has it all.
Diego Costa: the Spanish striker took the EPL by storm after scoring seven goals in his first four games. The master poacher had his fair share of critics as the season progressed but Jose Mourinho will be content that his transfer was $60 million well spent.
John Terry: controversial veteran defender who keeps producing the goods as he enters his mid-30s. Named in the EPL team of the season, Terry has racked up almost 460 appearances for Chelsea.
Nemanja Matic: no frills central midfielder who became an indispensable part of Jose Morinho’s side. Shields the back four superbly and provides a rather large physical element to proceedings.
Branislav Ivanovic: marauding right-back who has proven himself on the big stage time and again. Not only is his defending invaluable but he also gets forward to score some valuable goals.
THE HISTORY
The last time Chelsea rocked up on our shores, way back in 1974, they were a very different proposition to that which arrived this week. Though that vintage did at least stick around a bit longer, with a seven-match schedule over 19 days — the kind of congestion that would have Mourinho spewing and claiming conspiracy against his side. And the travel? Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and, erm, Wollongong all hosted matches, or tried to, the game in Queensland being called off due to a waterlogged pitch.
That side had just narrowly avoided relegation from England’s top flight, and even lost their fixture against a New South Wales XI. The foundation of the Premier League and the influx of Russian money has transformed Chelsea.
Australian football, too, has begun a, slightly less dramatic but still seismic change of late, with the A-League flourishing and Australia champions of Asia. Our second best club team measuring themselves against England’s best is worth a look, if only to see how far both sides of the equation have come in the last 40 years.
THE ATMOSPHERE
It may be diluted by the fact that there are no points or a trophy to fight for, but ticket sales have been exceptional, to the point where the ANZ Stadium is predicting a record attendance for any sporting event, with temporary seating brought in to swell the number available to over 83, 000. Even many of the cathedrals of football in Europe don’t hold that number and so the atmosphere should be something to behold.
How the loyalties of those attending will be split is one of the intrigues of the night, but with the voluble Cove, Sydney’s raucous group of diehards, in full voice and Chelsea’s legion of Australia-based followers likely to be giddy at the prospect of watching their side in the flesh for a change, expect drama (good natured, of course) in the stands as well as on the pitch.
THE REDEMPTION
It’s safe to say football’s credibility has taken a battering over the last seven days.
The arrests of FIFA executives in Zurich, Sepp Blatter’s re-election, the antics of Jack Warner and UEFA’s intransigence have all cast a dark shadow over the game.
Football Federation Australia’s decision to jump into the camp of Blatter’s rival Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein has also left many local fans on tenterhooks.
Will there be any ramifications? Is Australia’s standing in Asia safe?
So the visit of the EPL big guns is a more-than-welcome distraction. Tottenham - and Harry Kane in particular - endeared themselves to the city late last week. But Chelsea will take it to a new level.
Enjoy the show!
Originally published as Chelsea v Sydney FC: 7 reasons you should be excited about Jose Mourinho’s side’s visit
Sky Blues farewell Socceroo in $2.5m deal
A Socceroos defender isn’t expected to play for Sydney FC again as he prepares to pledge his future to English club Portsmouth.
Socceroo to join exodus to UK club
Another talented young Australian player is set to join English Championship club Portsmouth.
New signing eager to impress for Sydney
Sydney FC has lost an attacker on loan to Perth, but has welcomed the arrival of another forward.