We'd been happily chugging along as the underdogs all season. Sure, some lauded us with lavish praise because we had the 'Jose factor'. One of the greatest managers to ever grace the Premier League dugouts had returned, and many believed that his guidance could take Chelsea from transition into the stratosphere.
Things have been a bit unpredictable though. In fact, most periods were we've actually played rather well seem to precede the more miserable events and the last week has demonstrated that yet again. Winning at the Eithad - in the arguably more important affair - THAT Monday night looked to be the turning point; the moment where Mourinho's little horse would gallop off into the distant furlongs. A nicely taken hattrick by one of world football's men of the moment Eden Hazard followed as our credentials looked concrete. The train was in full swing, until derailment occurred at the Hawthorns. The pressure as the league leaders and newly title favourites seemed to play havoc, and this was a different Chelsea. Despite essentially the same personnel, this was a different Chelsea again who were steamrollered out of the FA Cup by Manchester City on Saturday.
Many have been pointing fingers at the cause of this mini hiccup on the road to glory. Lack of rotation blah blah blah. The absence of a top quality striker means we can't defend blah blah blah. Whatever you may think it all boils down to, I would say that this hitch has been caused by the absence of one of England's most adored centrebacks: John Terry.
A man given the cold shoulder by The Interim One, John spent a lot of last season on the touchlines, in full-kit waiting for success and the tabloid abuse. Many thought he was past it but it all changed in the summer. The man who made Terry Chelsea captain all those years ago had returned, and the faith had no signs of disappearing. When eligible, John Terry has played at the heart of the defence in the League and Champions League. The 'past it' jibbers have certainly piped down.
Marshalling the erratic David Luiz is a challenge that few can master (Thiago Silva seems to have the reigns on him, but few others do). Gary Cahill certainly tries but as a defensive partnership, Cahill and Luiz just doesn't work - no matter how highly they might be rated on paper. Even Terry struggles to keep the frizzy-haired geezer from straying off to wack long balls and fancy, dipping costless-kicks but he does a much better job at it than Cahill. Terry's leadership cannot be doubted by any and all season he's helped orchestrate a defence in front of the steadily declining Petr Cech who isn't having the greatest season himself. The Ivanovic - Cahill - Terry - Azpilicueta back four has been the spine of the season, and it's when Chelsea have looked at their most secure - although the stint with Cole at left back and Azpiliceuta a right back was solid too. Like I've said, when this line up has been chopped and changed through injuries or suspensions, Chelsea have looked unsteady.
But of course, this obviously isn't the reason. No, Chelsea's entire failings are down to a lack of a world-class striker. At least, in the eyes of media.
Now, I think it's time someone started signng the praises of Samuel Eto'o. Sure, Chelsea's 3 strikers have all had splendid peaks elsewhere and there is frustration that they're unable to replicate that here but the signing of Eto'o on a costless in the summer wasn't bad business at all. After seeing Cavani and Falcao go elsewhere, the signing of Eto'o was a bit of an anti-climax to most but he's certainly growing in popularity - at least in my eyes. A hat-trick against Manchester United will ensure a place in my heart for any player but whilst he may not bring the regular goals that Luis Suarez does (given his 34 shots and 1 goal in his last 7 games), Eto'o has brought with him a trait that few praise him for: link-up play.
It's something that was often the struggle with our three attacking midfielders. The striker was often isolated and hardly got the ball and played i tto our fleet of attacking weaponry. Eto'o hasn't exactly come and became Lionel Messi mark II, but his link-up play exceeds that of Fernando Torres and Demba Ba. Eto'o struck up a good partnership with Willian whilst at Anzhi and has found a spark with Eden Hazard - shown beautifully by his 2nd goal - Newcastle. The ability to link up with these attacking gems has enabled the team to flourish with Hazard now finding himself in amongst the goals. Eto'o doesn't play for his own personal glory, he appears to have adopted that team spirit we all love to see, and I salute him for it.
Another point I referred to earlier was the lack of rotation in the Chelsea team recently, and people believing this to be a cause for the 2 poor recent performances. Ever since "resting players" replaced the term of "being dropped", football is obsessed with rotation. As some say, the key to a title winning team is a big squad, not one player who can carry you and mask over your teams cracks *cough van Persie*. Whilst yes, rotation is good for keeping players fresh, I do see the temptation in Jose's mind of keeping the squad largely similar. If you've found a successful formula, why change it? Recently though, players have been starting to a look a little fatigued, even Ramires who is having a torrid spell. Rotation will be limited though, with Salah and Matic both ineligible for the Champions League, although the squad is good enough to cope. Schurrle could well be brought back in from the bench after a bizarrely long spell without too much game time and Lampard and Mikel will have big roles to play soon. Jose will need to rotate as few players will be able to play every game but he can't do it excessively and break the rhythm of a team that were all singing from the same songsheet.
Everton visit Stamford Bridge this weekend so there is a good period of rest between now and then meaning we can all sit back and enjoy Manchester City - Barcelona. The period could certainly serve us well with the chance to take a breather. With Terry rumoured to be back for the weekend, fortune could well be coming back into our favour as we approach the crunch end of the season. I'm still keen to see Salah play more minutes over the coming games, and he could well be a welcome boost in our quest for success.