It is a known fact that neither UEFA or FIFA has proposed strict rule on which pattern of play to be effected by football clubs but today Chelsea's style of play has often been criticized especially when they are in dire need of a result.
Over the years, Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho has been known to be a result oriented man, wether by hook or by crook and that has worked for him overtime.
In fact this style of football has been labelled by some as negative football. Ask Barcelona in 2010 in a UEFA champions league match, semi final to be specific....
Just last week the world saw a tip in the Semi final tie against Athletico Madrid, as the Blues made it difficult for the Spaniards to penetrate nor come close to their goalie in open play.
That's what the all defensive tactics does, looking more like a 4-6-0.
When this season's English Premier League looked to have tilted towards Liverpool with the Anfield side being on top while Chelsea and other contenders trailed with a few points that could change. Liverpool had their destiny in their own hands confronting Chelsea in a situation where a win would mean a lot to their title hopes and a loss wouldn't do them good.
MOU's men made it difficult for the Brendan Rogers tutored side and it was all about who could break the ice. Chelsea eventually secured a win through Demba Ba and William to close in on points.
When asked if he would employed the same tactics, Rogers answered,
"I think there were two buses parked today, never mind one.
“Jose’s happy to play that way and he’ll probably shove his CV in front of me and say it works, but it’s not my way of working. I like to take the initiative in games, try to dominate and let my players express themselves.
“We were the better team on the ball and we were the team that wanted to win the game, I don’t think there’s any dispute about that, but it’s hard to reinforce it when you lose.
“It was difficult because they virtually played from the off with a back-six, they had ten players behind the ball for most of the game, and we just found it difficult to break them down. They’re a very experienced group of players.
“But for me, we’ve got a way of working and I take great pride in that, and we might not have got the result today but we’ve seen over most of the season that we’ve made great strides and we’ll continue to do that.
“It’s a defensive style of football , the polar opposite to how we work. If it gets results, great. Jose got his result today and he’ll be happy with that, but it’s the total opposite to how we work.
“It’s not difficult to coach to have ten players right on your 18-yard box, but it obviously makes it much harder to break through and they do it well.
“What the game will certainly do is prepare us for Crystal Palace, we’ll have to deal with long balls forward, long throw-ins and lots of players behind the ball, which we’ll be prepared for now.”
Obviously Rogers doesn't buy the MOU idea of getting a result by whatever means but the politics of parking the bus seem to be a working tactics right now. Not everyone will play like Barcelona or Bayern or even Liverpool.
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