Friday 17 April 2015 15:52, UK
Jamie Redknapp expects Chelsea to adopt a defensive approach against Manchester United on Saturday Night Football and reckons Jose Mourinho could use Kurt Zouma to stop Marouane Fellaini...
Jose Mourinho would bite your hand off for a draw against Manchester United on Saturday night.
Yes, Chelsea are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand, but they haven’t been playing with the same spark they had earlier in the season, while United have been very, very good.
Wayne Rooney has looked a real threat up front and Juan Mata has come in and been brilliant, too, scoring some important goals.
But the man Chelsea have to stop – and this is remarkable, considering how poor he was last season – is Marouane Fellaini.
Last season he was a laughing stock. That sounds harsh, but the fans would have carried him off the field he was playing that badly. But now, the Belgian is United’s go-to man and got a standing ovation when he was subbed against Man City.
It’s been an incredible transformation for him – and all credit to Fellaini.
A lot of players would have sat back, taken their money and asked for a transfer. Fellaini didn’t. He got his head down, got on with it, and has produced some really good performances.
I don’t think he’s going to be a long-term solution at United but I have to hold my hands up and say, ‘well played, you’ve done well and changed the opinion of you’. It’s not easy to do that in football.
A lot of players would have sat back, taken their money and asked for a transfer. He didn’t. He got his head down, got on with it, and has produced some really good performances.
So much so, we’re asking, ‘how will Chelsea deal with him?’ The answer is that Mourinho will probably bring Kurt Zouma into midfield to try to match him physically.
I hope he doesn’t do that – with Zouma and Nemanja Matic in midfield, it won’t be great for the game. But, given the impact Fellaini had against City last weekend, I’d expect Mourinho to go with that option.
After all, Mourinho likes to adopt a safety-first approach against the big teams – we've seen that against Man City home and away this season – and I fully expect him to set his team up to get a point on Saturday night, with the hope that Eden Hazard can produce something special on the counter-attack.
With Diego Costa out injured for their past two games, Chelsea have had to look to Hazard to make the difference against Stoke and QPR. They struggled to break down both of those sides and, but for a bit of magic from Hazard, could easily have dropped points.
I’m sure that’s an area they’ll look to address in the summer – they need to get a striker in to offer a back-up for Costa.
Didier Drogba has been one the best but you can’t keep relying on him at 37, while Loic Remy, although he’s a good finisher, has had his own problems with injuries.
However, it won’t be easy. Everyone wants a top striker and at Chelsea the system they play, with one up front, means they will have to find a forward who is happy to accept Costa will be first-choice when he’s fit.
Return
While Hazard has been one of Chelsea’s main men this season, a two-time player of the year returns to Stamford Bridge on Saturday in Mata.
He’s really hit a run of good form recently and scored good, important goals against Liverpool and Manchester City.
However, when people say Mourinho made a mistake in letting him go, Jose only needs to point to the league table to show he made the right call.
That doesn’t make Mata a bad player – he’s very, very good. But football is about opinions and Mourinho didn’t feel the Spaniard was dynamic enough for his team.
Louis van Gaal has found a way to fit him into his team and make it work, while Mourinho has preferred a different option – and it’s difficult to argue with the success he’s had.
It will also be difficult to argue if he adopts a conservative approach against United, as much as we’d like to see an exciting, open game.
Chelsea have earned the right to play the likes of Zouma and Matic in midfield and go for a draw. They’ve built up a good lead in the league, and who can blame Mourinho if he’s happy to take a point from this one and pick up the remaining points he needs from the following five fixtures?
I’m going to go for a draw – and that will suit Mourinho fine. He knows defeat, with Arsenal to play next, would open things up a little bit at the top and he can’t afford for that to happen.
Watch Chelsea v Manchester United live on Saturday Night Football from 4.45pm on Sky Sports 1 HD
