Will European Results Affect Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger's Next Clash?
Starting where they ended in 2014/15, Premier League clubs looked generally shambolic during their opening matches of the 2015/16 Champions League group stages.
Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal lost 2-1 to PSV Eindhoven, Juventus and Dinamo Zagreb respectively. Neither of the English trio were convincing, while their competition were largely worth the price of admission.
Of the four EPL outfits tasked with Champions League duty, the club who gave England's best European account is currently the domestic worst.
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Chelsea are 17th in the Premier League, have lost three of their opening five league matches and have the worst defensive record of any top-flight club. Despite this woeful form, the English champions beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-0.
If Jose Mourinho's team had lost against the Israelis, shades of Rosenborg and 2007 would surely have echoed throughout Chelsea's base. Memories of the Blues drawing 1-1 with the Norwegians and the Portuguese leaving two days later—under mutual consent—during his first stint in west London might have crept into their collective conscious.
Luckily for Roman Abramovich, his manager did not place him in an uncomfortable position with the 4-0 drubbing—but Mourinho will not yet feel completely out of perilous water. An admittedly straightforward tie with Maccabi Tel Aviv is now followed by the visit of Arsenal in the Premier League.
Mourinho and Arsene Wenger strayed from their preferred starting XIs in Europe. The Portuguese and Frenchman both made six changes to their teams, and while Wenger can easily revert to the squad who beat Stoke City 2-0 last weekend, Mourinho has a slight selection crisis.
Chelsea's 3-1 loss at Everton was birthed in horrible defence, lacklustre attack and general sluggishness. The side that played Tel Aviv at least looked hungry. The changes (Baba Rahman, Gary Cahill, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Willian, Oscar and Loic Remy) gave the Blues a sense of revitalisation. Each having individual points to prove, and hardly making mistakes, could European form translate to English success?
Mourinho must ask himself the question.
Ahead of their 11th Premier League clash, Wenger has never beaten Mourinho domestically (excluding this summer's Community Shield). Stumbling out of the blocks, this weekend felt an opportune time to play the Stamford Bridge club—but midweek results have dented Arsenal's momentum and buoyed Chelsea's in the same breath.
To divorce competitions is impossible. Managers often assert every match is taken as they come, without much focus on what lies ahead, but in reality (past the propaganda of expectation), most realise their jobs include projecting not only the present but the future as well.
The rested bodies of John Terry, Nemanja Matic, Branislav Ivanovic, Petr Cech, Aaron Ramsey, Hector Bellerin and others will more than likely be seen on Saturday, which makes the Champions League results somewhat misleading, but the notion of confidence cannot be dismissed.
Chelsea have been down in the proverbial dumps, licking their wounds, hoping a good Samaritan would come along to nurse their ailing form. Maccabi Tel Aviv were ideal candidates. Should the Blues fail to capitalise on a winning mentality—gone for nearly one month—their issues will return to the fore.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have not been spectacular in the Premier League but are within reasonable distance of league-leading Manchester City. Their result against Dinamo Zagreb, while certainly unwelcome, could be viewed as a wake-up call.
Few Gunners have played to their full potential, but positive results serve as deodorant. Losing could provide Wenger leverage to correct issues difficult to tackle when mediocre performances earn points.
Heading into the weekend's early kick-off, Mourinho and Wenger must not only solve questions of their squads but confront—once again—their own misgivings about one another.
Every pre-match press conference before a Chelsea-Arsenal game, with the two protagonists involved, invariably becomes engulfed in personal jabs, professional squabbles and consensual ire.
Complete with ignored handshakes, specialist in failures, shoving duels and voyeurs, the two managers are the Premier League's begrudging married couple: Never getting along but always joined at the hip—much by their own making.
Conflicting form, conflicting results, conflicting managers, conflicting styles: All signs point to an intriguing match at Stamford Bridge this weekend, one that neither side can afford to lose.
*Stats are via WhoScored.com; transfer fees are via Soccerbase where not noted.
