Everton FC v Chelsea: scouting report
A detailed look at the Blues’ Goodison clash against Jose Mourinho’s men as they seek their first win of the new campaign
Roberto Martinez and Jose Mourinho go head to head this weekend
Match: Everton v Chelsea
Date: Saturday, August 30 (kick off 5.30pm)
Manager: Jose Mourinho - otherwise known as the Special One-turned-Happy One. The Portuguese, 51, is in his second spell at Stamford Bridge and, following a trophyless campaign in 2013-14, has spent big over the summer in an effort to get Chelsea back to being the lean, mean, title-winning machine they were when he was first in charge.
Mourinho feels he has a special bond with the London club and their fans. He says Stamford Bridge is his “natural habitat”, “my stadium”, a place where he can be with “my people”.
The feeling is mutual, as Mourinho is a cult hero at the Bridge having won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups during his first spell with the club.
Also a title winner with Porto in Portugal, Inter Milan in Italy and Real Madrid in Spain, he boasts a medal collection to rival Samuel Eto’o’s.
Form: Pretty flawless so far. Two wins from two, five goals scored and only one conceded.
However, both wins came against newly-promoted sides - away at Burnley (3-1) on the opening day and at home to Leicester City (2-0) the following week.
The trip to Goodison is by far Chelsea’s biggest test so far.
Mourinho left nothing to chance in pre-season, arranging no fewer than 10 warm-up fixtures - twice as many as Everton. The only defeats came against Werder Bremen (3-0) and Besiktas (1-0).
How they’ll set up: The biggest change to Chelsea’s line-up this season has come in goal, with Thibaut Courtois replacing Petr Cech, the club’s undisputed number one for a decade.
In front of the young Belgian, everything looks pretty settled.
Chelsea’s 4-2-3-1 line-up was unchanged for their first two fixtures, with the tried-and-tested back four of Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry and Azpilicueta situated behind Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas, a £30m summer capture from Barcelona playing as a deep-lying creator, the perfect foil for his more defensively-minded Serbian partner.
Ahead of those two, Andre Schurrle, Oscar and Eden Hazard provided the ammunition for £32m summer signing Costa, who has settled in well since joining from Atletico Madrid. The Brazil-born striker, now a Spanish citizen, put an indifferent World Cup campaign with his adopted nation behind him and was on the mark against both Burnley and Leicester.
But his tight hamstring at Goodison, while not stopping him from playing, may deny him the full 90 minutes - paving the way for either Fernando Torres or Didier Drogba, although the latter is more likely. Blues fans need no introduction to either of those.
Sum them up in 140 characters: Expensively-assembled, ruthless and battle-hardened. Full of good players who you love to hate (Terry, Fabregas, Costa, Drogba).
One to watch: Thibaut Courtois. A young goalkeeper with the world at his feet - or should that be hands? - the Belgian has dislodged Petr Cech from his position as undisputed Chelsea number one. Like the man he has usurped, he is every inch the modern goalkeeper - athletic and commanding with excellent distribution.
Courtois was sent out for a three-season loan stint with Atletico Madrid after signing for Chelsea from Genk in 2011, quickly becoming one of the key components in Diego Simeone’s emerging side.
He added a La Liga title to his Europa League, Copa del Rey and Super Cup medals last season (only to suffer Champions League final heartbreak against city rivals Real) before being selected ahead of Simon Mignolet for Belgium’s run to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
And he’s still only 22.
On Saturday will find himself coming up against former Chelsea men Romelu Lukaku and Samuel Eto'o.
Source: Echo
