Is Pedro the answer?
Jose Mourinho’s two weeks in hell during which he collected a single point out of six, after drawing against Swansea (2-2) and losing to Manchester City (0-3), have prompted the signing of Spanish international Pedro Rodriguez from Catalan giants Barcelona.
The question is whether Pedro is the answer to Chelsea’s problems at the moment. My quick flat answer is Pedro may not be the answer to the defending champions problems. I am not saying this out of sour grapes because I am a Man United fan ( Man United did not need him either). Of course, being an attacking wing player who can also play as a striker, Pedro could add pace and keep a steady supply of crosses to strikers. He could also be used as a striker to replace the temperamental and groin injury-prone Diego Costa and the still-without-confidence Radamel Falcao. The question is what happens to Willian, Juan Cuardrado, Victor Mosses and Oscar?
My diagnosis of Chelsea’s two weeks in hell is that their defence lacks pace and is too rigid to cope with young attacking players. They gave away a two-goal lead against Swansea because John Terry could not cope with the pacy Bafatembi Gommis. Mourinho reacted by removing Terry at half-time against City.
This means priority for Chelsea is their defence. One would have thought Mourinho would push for the signing of Everton’s David Stone to replace 35-year-old Terry. Perhaps the signing of 21-year-old Ghanain left-back Baba Rahman from Augsburg, could be the answer.
A trusted left-back could free Ceaser Azpillicueta from left side to play as right-back and use Branslav Ivanovic in his preferred central defence role alongside Cahill or Kurt Zouma. The thing is: Chelsea are not without defence options to replace Terry.
Thomas Kalas now on loan at Middlesbrough is an even better candidate. The 21-year-old made his Chelsea senior team debut in 2014 against Liverpool which Chelsea won 2-0 against Liverpool. After the match, Mourinho was all over waxing lyrical of the lad. Nigeria’s Keneth Omerou now on loan at Turkish side Kasimpasa is another candidate. But since Mourinho does not trust these young players, he will wrestle with Everton for the expensive Stone. Asova!
Now to this week’s games, I expect Man United to win against Newcastle given United’s current good form and cement top position with nine points. Memphis Depay is proving a revelation as evidenced by the two fine goals on Tuesday in the Champions League play-offs against Club Bruges. Besides, United will have home advantage. United fans can look forward to a rewarding afternoon today in an early kick-off. United is winning matches without the strikers scoring goals because all players can score. One cannot ask for more.
The biggest match will be between Arsenal and Liverpool. Arsenal bounced back to winning ways after a shock defeat to West Ham as they beat Crystal Palace 2-1. It was a laboured win, but one that showed they were prepared to put in an extra shift to grind results. They will want to make a statement against Liverpool. Liverpool also look like they mean business this season after a 100 percent start in which they have won both games with a single goal margin. It is a match one cannot afford to miss.
Meanwhile Man City could drop points against bogey team, Everton. Martinez has a habit of inflicting defeats on big teams. City should tread carefully on Sunday. Chelsea could get their first three points on Sunday against West Brom.
