Reflections

After reviewing today's defeat, it occurred to me that Mourinho's selection of Mazacar and Luiz were certainly factors which were conducive to our poor performance. Firstly, a 4-2-3-1 formation is not tailored to harness the full capabilities of Mata, Oscar and Hazard, as none of them are conventional wingers; and they have used in a team designed around the use of two. By virtue of comparison, last season, Benitez frequently opted to select an attacking trio of Moses - Mata- Hazard/Oscar; a selection which enabled there to be an element of pace, and ultimately a direct approach with the use of at least one traditional winger, without compromising the technical ability present within the team, and so a team much more attuned to a counter-attacking ethos. Notable examples of this system include Sunderland away, Norwich away and Man United away. Given this, Willian and Schurrle should be rotated and utilised in most games, as their strengths (namely the abovementioned) perfectly conform to this style of play.

Furthermore, Luiz should also be dropped altogether and replaced with Cahill, as we are far more defensively organised with a back-four of Ivanovic-Terry-Cahill-Cole, then we are with any other selection. Even Luiz' strengths are no longer evident in his style of play; yes his lack of defensive rigidness is well-documented, but his passing was poor today and he was frequently caught in possession.

I do understand that defeat is also part of the natural progression within a season, but these issues do need to be addressed.