Tag Archives: Chelsea

Tactical Analysis: Chelsea 3-0 Leicester City | Back 3 works magic for Conte

“Chelsea welcomed the defending champions of the English Premier League at Stamford Bridge. The Blues dominated the game and achieved a crucial 3-0 victory. With this past weekend, Chelsea continues challenging the top 3 in the table, while Leicester are still struggling for an away victory. Antonio Conte is the 3rd manager of Chelsea since Claudio Ranieri took charge of Leicester City. The game found a certain style: very ‘Italiano’ under 2 managers who came from the Apennine Peninsula, especially given that Chelsea played with a 3-back formation.” Outside of the Boot (Video)

Why the Premier League is the reason for England’s international struggles

“The mere appointment of an Eddie Howe, Jurgen Klinsmann or anyone else as the England manager would never be enough to seek solutions for the state of the English national side. The problems are more deeply rooted than some conceive. Selecting Michael Keane or bringing in a fresh approach to the side and changing the way the team plays won’t transform the whole scenario of the situation.” backpagefootball

How Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are taking Arsenal back to the days of Henry and Bergkamp

“It’s one of the best performances in recent years,” Arsene Wenger said after his side’s 3-0 demolition of Chelsea. This game was notable not only for being the first time Arsenal had beaten Chelsea since 2009, but for the way in which they won, using a tactical system hugely reminiscent of Wenger’s earlier Arsenal teams. Wenger’s first Arsenal team played a 4-4-2, which he tweaked and adapted until eventually he created the Invincibles – a fluid mix of attacking talent, supported by a solid core.” Telegraph

David Luiz is the devil Chelsea know, equally capable of greatness and gaffes

“By the time the deal was done, after a summer of vaunted arrivals and improbable returns, Chelsea’s deadline-day signing of David Luiz didn’t feel like that big a deal. He was a deadline‑day headline, an intriguing subplot bringing light relief to the fraught soap opera of this season’s Premier League. Yet, really, even in the context of Chelsea’s habit of revisiting former beaux, the second coming of David Luiz is remarkable.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

StatsBomb: Premier League Round Up, Week 4

“We’re four games in and have a little more to chew on. Statistical categories are a fair way off providing strong answers and schedules are masking plenty of truths but the hints are getting stronger and even at this early juncture the new order is starting to look a hell of a lot like the old order, or at least the order we used to know before all the cards got thrown up in the air last season. Let’s have a quick spin around the league and see what we can pick up.” Stats Bomb

Chelsea ‘right to feel robbed by referee’ at Swansea

“Chelsea deserved to beat Swansea on Sunday and they feel they were robbed of victory by the referee. It is extremely difficult to argue with them. Yes, Antonio Conte’s side will rue the chances they missed in their 2-2 Premier League draw at the Liberty Stadium, but the bottom line is that Andre Marriner cost them two points. Marriner’s decision to allow Swansea’s second goal was an absolute shocker. There is no other way of putting it, because Leroy Fer’s foul on Chelsea defender Gary Cahill before he scored was as blatant as can be.” BBC

Over/Under: European club, season predictions for 2016-17

“With the new top-flight seasons set to kick off in Italy and Spain this weekend–and Germany one week later–and the Premier League just underway, there are lots of predictions to be made and questions to be answered. Will the competitive imbalance in France, Germany and Italy continue to be a problem? Will we see a surprise winner in any league? Will there be an outsider who cracks the Champions League elite? And just who will Jose Mourinho fall out with next? With all of those questions–and more!–in mind, we take a look at the European club landscape in the over/under prism to provide as much clarity as possible entering a nine-month quest for trophies and championships…” SI

Around Europe: Barcelona burnout; Ben Arfa makes his Euro case

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“There were decisive moments in the title race in England and Germany, as respective leaders Leicester City and Bayern Munich came closer to the finishing line, though a shock result in Spain has opened the door to the pack chasing defending champion Barcelona. A new coach with a familiar name enjoyed a successful start at Lazio, while in France, a new hat trick hero has given national team boss Didier Deschamps a selection dilemma leading into Euro 2016. Here is what caught our eye this week from Around Europe.” SI (Video)

Can Southampton Become A Force In The Premier League?

“In a more normal Premier League season, the wider media would probably be spending more time rehashing the same clichés they’ve used for Southampton over the past couple of years. They’re hanging around the top eight having survived another summer of key departures (Morgan Schneiderlin and Nathaniel Clyne) and there’s no real signs of danger as they’re once again above average in controlling shot numbers for and against. Perhaps the quality of attacking football hasn’t quite been to the standard of the previous two seasons but it’s still been satisfactory. Their goal difference is fine enough at +11 and in a year of chaos and turbulence, Southampton are being their steady selves.” Stats Bomb (Video)

Analysis: Chelsea’s press under Guus Hiddink

“Chelsea’s season is over. They went out of the League Cup in October, the Premier League title was gone months ago and the top four is pretty much out of reach now as well, and then, in the span of a week, the Blues went out of both the FA Cup and Champions League. Although Chelsea has not lost in the league since Guus Hiddink took over from Jose Mourinho, Chelsea have been lackluster. The form has improved only slightly; the offense still struggles for great portions of games, and the defense is porous.” Outside of the Boot

Is British football ‘winded’?

“Excuse the pun, but it’s a pun worth pursuing so please bear with me… I remember reading an excellent book by Gabrielle Marcotti and Gianluca Vialli a couple of years ago entitled ‘The Italian Job’, it was an insightful and intelligent read, very different to the usual football literature I had accumulated over the years. One thing from that book that has stuck with me all this time was the idea that the weather in the UK was detrimental to the development of great technical players, and playing great football.” Outside of the Boot

Arsenal are finding fresh ways to fail in pursuit of Premier League title

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“Last season it was August, the season before that it was March, the season before that it was January and the season before that it was March and April and bit of May. This season it’s now. Every year Arsenal have a spell in which they undo the good work that has made them look potential title challengers. That was perhaps the most striking aspect of the defeats by Manchester United and Swansea: that this lack of edge, this failure to seize an opportunity, felt so familiar.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson (Video)

Five Bundesliga youngsters that Premier League teams will be looking to sign

“In an era, where the total net worth of squads in the BPL (4.4billion Euros) is double that of the Bundesliga teams (2.38 billion), and the third richest/most valuable clubs in Germany (Leverkusen and Schalke are around 200 million Euros) would barely crack the top 10 in England (West Ham and Newcastle are tied for 9th at 182 mil each) moving to the Premier League after one or two great seasons has increasingly become the norm for Bundesliga talents.” Bundesliga Fanatic

Tactical Analysis: PSG 2-1 Chelsea | Movement of PSG midfield decisive as Lucas and Di Maria prove influential

“After witnessing the drama which unfolded from the last two ties that occurred between these two sides in the knockout rounds, this fixture was highly anticipated by many neutrals as well as both sets of fans. And it did not disappoint. Laurent Blanc’s men came into the game as slight favourites, on the back of their frankly ridiculous form in their domestic league (24 points ahead of second placed Monaco) and the firepower of Zlatan Ibrahimović and Edinson Cavani. Judging also by Chelsea’s dire form in the league, PSG looked the most likely victors at the Parc des Princes. However, Chelsea had been experiencing a mini-revival following the re-introduction of Guus Hiddink in the hot seat.” Outside of the Boot

Super Sunday, Predictions And Palace: Premier League Round Up

“Super Sunday came and went as a thrilling spectacle for the non-partisan bystander. The two games featuring the top four contenders–who by any reasonable estimation have all but sealed their places–were full of contentious decisions, tension, storylines and thrills. Even the most stone-hearted fan could surely not have been slightly warmed by the returning Danny Welbeck and his winning contribution and significantly, Arsenal’s late winner kept the four teams within a six point range. Everything about Arsenal’s title challenge is reliant on squad fitness so from that perspective a deep bench for the first time since around November was a huge bonus.” Stats Bomb

Leicester City – the New Romantics?

“Romance died in the Premier League on Sunday 27th April 2014. That was the afternoon Liverpool rested on top of the division, needing only a point at home to Chelsea to keep the advances of Manchester City at bay. Fuelled by the passion of Steven Gerrard and the brilliance of Luis Suarez, Liverpool had surged ahead of the pack on the back of eleven straight victories. The Gods of Football had decided that Stevie G, Anfield legend, would have the fairytale ending to a career that had so far been missing a Premier League medal. Significantly too, this would come in the year and months of Hillsborough’s 25th anniversary. After two decades, the natural order of British football was to be restored. The pretenders to the throne had been swept aside one by one.” Football Pink

Leicester City keep getting better as Premier League title race heats up

“We should no longer be surprised by Leicester’s continued excellent form, but the manner with which they defeated previous title favourites Manchester City on Saturday was quite staggering. Having taken the lead following the game’s first significant incident, Leicester continued to counter-attack dangerously and only looked under serious pressure in the final 10 minutes, perhaps when they thought the game was already won. Is complacency really going to be the factor that allows other sides back into the title race?” ESPN – Michael Cox

Player Ratings: Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd: Diego Costa snatches a point in injury time

“It was a fixture that neither side could, in reality, afford to lose. Manchester United headed to Chelsea knowing a win was necessary if they were to keep touch with the top four in the Premier League. For the Blues losing this match could go far in undoing all the good work that had see last season’s league champions pull away from the relegation zone.” Squawka

Smaller clubs toppling Premier League elite – we may have to get used to it

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“It may simply be that this season is a freak. Leicester have 47 points after 23 games; not since 2002-03 have the leaders had fewer than 50 points at this stage. If teams keep winning points at the same rate as they have up till now, they will end up with 78, the lowest tally to win the title since Manchester United did it with 75 in 1996-97 when they effectively had the league sown up by the beginning of May and drew three games on the run-in, still finishing seven clear of Newcastle United in second.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Garth Crooks’ team of the week: Alli, Firmino, Payet

“Behind them, heavyweights Manchester City and Arsenal both slipped up in their pursuit, with Tottenham gaining ground on the duo with a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace. Manchester United are now five points shy of fourth spot following their home defeat by Southampton. But who were the outstanding performers? Here are my selections…” BBC

Even after José Mourinho’s exit Chelsea’s numbers are not looking good

“The good news for Chelsea is that they are unbeaten since Guus Hiddink replaced José Mourinho as manager in December. The bad news is that 10 points from six league games is probably not a start that is going to close the gap on the top four – which stands at 14 points. The FA Cup remains a possibility but, unless Chelsea somehow win the Champions League, a change of manager alone will not have been enough to salvage the season.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Chelsea – Accidents Will Happen

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“After such a successful 2014/15 when they won the Premier League and Capital One Cup, very few people would have expected Chelsea to fall off the rails so spectacularly this season. However, a combination of key players losing form and manager José Mourinho struggling to find a solution, not to mention the distasteful Eva Carneiro episode, led to a string of defeats and ultimately the departure of the ‘Special One’.” The Swiss Ramble

Tactical Analysis: Chelsea 3-3 Everton | Poor defensive structure and offside trap

“Chelsea and Everton met on Saturday at Stamford Bridge, both needing a win. Since Guus Hiddink replaced Jose Mourinho in December, Chelsea hadn’t lost a game, but had only picked up 1 win in 4. Everton, meanwhile, had also failed to win in that period, drawing with both Tottenham and City. Both Hiddink and Roberto Martinez wanted a win to placate fans and get their top four challenges back on track.” Outside of the Boot

FA Cup’s declining status to continue in modern Premier League world

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“As the cliché goes, the third round of the FA Cup is the most romantic weekend of the season; but it’s some time since the cliché has been true. Instead, a new tradition has sprung up, that of bemoaning the FA Cup’s declining status. The first week of January is now when English football gets together and makes some half-baked suggestions about how to restore the competition’s relevance. It seems bizarre now that the FA Cup was until the late 1980s the premier competition of English football.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

Book review: Fully Programmed – The lost world of football programmes

“Derek Hammond and Gary Silke have already achieved critical praise and impressive sale figures for their excellent ‘Got Not Got’ and ‘The Lost World of’ series of books on footballing nostalgia. Their regular articles are also featured in BackPass magazine. This book represents another worthy addition to their collection. To some people, programme collecting as a hobby is on a par with train spotting. It is considered to be the preserve of males still living at home with their mothers and is a peculiarly British tradition. Nothing could be further from the truth- programme collecting has always been cool.” Football Pink, amazon, [PDF] Fully Programmed: The Lost World of Football Programmes

A Compilation of EPL Model Predictions after Round 20/38

“The 3rd round FA Cup weekend is already under way which means a break from the arduous Premier League season. With 20 out of the 38 rounds finished and 200 current season matches to draw data from, it seems like a good time to attempt to predict what might happen at the end of the season. Will Leicester City carry on with their spectacular early, but recently waning, form and be crowned champions at the end of the year, having been fighting against relegation just the year before? Will Spurs win their first league title in more than half-a-century, or will it be one of the more usual suspects in Arsenal or Manchester City? What should we expect from traditional powerhouses Manchester United and Chelsea? And is there any salvation for Aston Villa? Too many questions and if you are looking for definitive answers, this is NOT the place to be.” Stats Bomb

The Premier League: A New World Order or a temporary glitch?

“So is this the most extraordinary Premier League season ever? One where all the certainties of elite financial domination have been smashed and football is once more truly competitive and absorbing? Or is where we find ourselves after the first half of the season just a blip before the football universe’s financial masters reassert themselves? The truth is that we won’t know until the end of the season, until the game is played out. But it is also true that the very existence of that state of not knowing means there has been change.” Football Pink

What would the Premier League look like if it were a knockout competition?

“At this early stage of the year, English football is all about knockout competitions: the busy festive period of league football is over, and instead we have midweek Capital One Cup semifinals, followed by the FA Cup third round. In fact, this year as a whole is also heavily based around knockout football, with the supposed offseason featuring three major competitions: Euro 2016, the Olympics and a bonus Copa America, too. Knockout football is interesting, in part, because it’s more likely to produce slightly unusual winners. Few would argue, for example, that Wigan were England’s best team in 2013 because they won the FA Cup. The element of randomness is precisely what people enjoy, and come to expect; the concept of a giant-killing in the cup competitions is arguably what the tournament is all about.” ESPN – Michael Cox

Back Page Football’s five most read articles of 2015

“It’s been another big year for Back Page Football as we published almost 1000 articles that covered news, views and opinion from all across the globe. As we head into 2016, there’s no better time to look back at the 12 months that was, and below are the features that grabbed the attention of our readers the most.” backpagefootball

EPL Notes: Leicester City in a rut; Diego Costa shines for Chelsea

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“English soccer’s long-standing habit of cramming extra games into the public holidays around Christmas and New Year is one of the quirks that add to the Premier League’s appeal. It also rewards the clubs with the deepest pockets and the deepest squads. Elsewhere in Europe, teams catch their breath with a mid-season rest. English soccer celebrates the halfway point in its marathon by sending the players out to play extra games with little rest in the winter wind and the rain. It’s a muddy boot camp for millionaires.” SI

Garth Crooks’ team of the week: Rooney, Alli, Willian, Defoe

“Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League with an unconvincing win over relegation-threatened Newcastle. Leicester City missed a penalty as they failed to scored for a third consecutive match in a draw with Bournemouth, while Manchester United and Manchester City both won. Chelsea beat Crystal Palace for their first win under Guus Hiddink. But who were the outstanding performers? Here are my selections.” BBC

The devil and José Mourinho

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“At the beginning of May 2015, Chelsea wrapped up the Premier League title with a scrappy 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. It was not a great game or a great performance – for a couple of months Chelsea had looked exhausted, dragging their fatigued limbs over the line and grateful no contender was able to mount a serious challenge to them. It was a day of relief as well as exultation, manager José Mourinho’s third title with the club, his first since he returned in 2013 for his second stint as manager, and only the fifth Chelsea had ever won, despite all the recent investment from their billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Unpredictable English Premier League Keeps Us Guessing

“If uncertainty makes for compelling competition, nothing can rival the English Premier League. While every other major league in the world shut down for Christmas, all 20 English clubs played on Boxing Day. Not too many followed form, although Manchester City’s 4-1 crushing of Sunderland, which is haunted by the specter of relegation, was predictable enough. And Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Norwich City might also have been foreseen.” NY Times

Poor Aston Villa, Farewell Mourinho and Leicester On Fire

“So, the end of the road came for Mourinho. Mutually frogmarched out of the club having presided over a dip in performance deeper than the journey taken by Villas Boas and without precedence in his own career. Nobody is denying that the human factors behind this drop in performance have precluded his retention but beyond that it seems wrong to presume that in turning his Champions into Chumpions, he had much leeway to continue. The demands of helming a mega-club require only the finest returns and presumably only his reputation, or financial considerations, kept him alive for this long.” Stats Bomb

Premier League Diary: Manchester finds inspiration in the ghost of Rafa Benitez

“We begin this week’s installment of the Diary by returning to the wisdom and knowledge of an old, old friend. One who may not be managing in the Premier League any more, but who is always managing in our defensive, negative, rigorously well-structured hearts. We speak, of course, of Rafael Benitez.” Fusion

Flawed EPL favorites leading to congested table, fascinating title race

“This is a most unusual Premier League season. Fourteen games in, none of the expected title favorites has settled into any kind of consistent form and the result is a league table that is extremely tightly bunched, with four teams separated by two points at the top of the table, Tottenham two behind that group and Liverpool two behind Spurs. Most tellingly, the leaders, Manchester City and Leicester City, have 29 points: only once in the past 17 years has the leader had a lower total with 14 games of the season gone.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

The false identity of the Premier League

“The Premier League resides at the heart of English football and sport in general. We as a nation cherish and adore it. We see it as one of our greatest sporting beacons which makes us English believe we have the greatest football league in the world. Part of such a belief is the notion that it is the most competitive footballing league, where David repeatedly topples Goliath.” backpagefootball

Should Swansea Sack Garry Monk?

“Losing at Anfield is hardly going to increase the pressure on Garry Monk as much as losing to Norwich did. However the two games had an identical feature; on each occasion Swansea managed eight shots, none of which required the opposition keeper to make a save. With a key function of creating goals being an ability to invite the keeper to stop the ball, these numbers make grim reading and are a low watermark in what increasingly looks like an attacking drought. Swansea flew out of the blocks this year with good results and performances against teams that, with hindsight, had vulnerabilities: Chelsea, Sunderland and Newcastle, then a sneaky traditional win against Man Utd. Since then though, they have only once exceeded a league average shot total (14 against Stoke) and haven’t managed to exceed the same for shots on target (4.4) at all.” Stats Bomb

Terrible title defences: from Manchester City in 1938 to Leeds in 1993

Ipswich goalkeeper Roy Bailey in action against Bolton in September 1962.
“Manchester City 1937-38. The pattern of winning the championship and then having a dozy season is not a new one for Manchester City. What’s happened over the past four years is barely a ripple compared to the wild dip City endured in 1937-38. After losing to Grimsby on Christmas Day, they’d gone unbeaten through the second half of the previous season, taking the title by three points from Charlton with a side that included such greats as the goalkeeper Frank Swift, the rapid winger Ernie Toseland and the goalscoring trio of Eric Brook, Alex Herd and Peter Doherty.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson (Video)

Top 50 Premier League Players of All Time: Part 1 – 50-41

“The BPF Top 50 feature is back for 2015, and this time we are counting down the greatest players to have graced the Premier League since it was established in 1992. The first part of this year’s countdown includes some of Arsene Wenger’s best performers during his time as Arsenal manager, as well as one of the most consistent midfielders of his generation who sadly left us far too soon.” backpagefootball

Kasper Schmeichel on Leicester City’s remarkable rise to the top

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“Leicester’s incredible start to the season continued on Saturday as they beat Newcastle to move top of the Premier League table. The Foxes were bottom of the table in April, but seven months on, led by the goals of prolific striker Jamie Vardy, they have lost only one of their first 13 league matches. Claudio Ranieri’s in-form team host second-placed Manchester United next weekend, with the chance to extend their unlikely lead at the top. Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who has been at the King Power Stadium since June 2011, tells Match of the Day 2 what is behind his team’s remarkable rise.” BBC

The Premier League so far: a majestic muddle that continues to entertain

“A third of the way through the Premier League season and it is still to take shape. There is a pleasingly old-fashioned look to the table, with the top seven separated by six points. To put that into context, 12 games into last season, the leaders Chelsea had six points more than Manchester City do now and the gap to seventh was 14. The usual suspects – or some of the usual suspects – will presumably kick on but this promises to be a closer, less predictable race than for years.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Hump Day Dumpster Dive: European club vows to fight racism with racism

“There is so much bloody soccer happening. Arsenal is ~~awesome terrible awesome~~ terrible. Bayern Munich just served up another reminder that we shouldn’t even bother watching any of its games until the Champions League semi-finals. José Mourinho is living out a terrible nightmare that will probably end in an eight-figure payout deal. Manchester United is…zzzzz. Let’s get to dumpster diving.” Fusion

Tactical Analysis: Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool | Mourinho’s implosion sees disjointed Chelsea’s suffer defeat

“Chelsea’s horrendous start to the season has been matched to a lesser degree by Liverpool’s underwhelming performances. But when the due clashed at the Bridge on Saturday, it clearly felt like a team on the wane was taking on one on the up. Klopp’s energy was rubbing off on the Kop, and Mourinho’s brooding intensity seemed to be grinding Chelsea down. Daniel Wong analyses the result.” Outside of the Boot

Ratings: Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool: Coutinho piles on the pressure for Mourinho

“It was hyped as a match that Jose Mourinho couldn’t lose but even after taking an early lead through a Ramires header, Chelsea sunk to defeat as Coutinho scored twice to hand Jurgen Klopp his first win in the Premier League. Although the hosts took an early lead, they lacked resolve and crumbled as the Reds grew into the game, with an equaliser before the break giving the visitors the platform they needed to push on in the second half, with Christian Benteke later coming on to create a second goal and then score the visitor’s third and final strike to win the game.” Squawka

Jose Mourinho: Is this the end of the road for Chelsea manager?

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“Chelsea’s meeting with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge was billed as the game manager Jose Mourinho must not lose if he wanted to keep his job. Now, after a 3-1 defeat that sent Chelsea towards the bottom of the Premier League after their sixth loss in 11 games and left Liverpool fans singing ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’, the grim statistics and questions are piling up around Mourinho.” BBC

Tactical Analysis | Chelsea 1-3 Southampton: Southampton thrash shambolic Chelsea

“It was a famous day for Southampton. It was a miserable one for Chelsea. Buoyed by their opponent’s early-season troubles, the Saints marched in to Stamford Bridge knowing that there was never a better time to be travelling to Mourinho’s fortress. But just how did Southampton undo the Chelsea game-plan? How did Chelsea come to concede three goals at home in the Premier League for the first time under the ‘Special One’?” Outside of the Boot

Crystal Palace, Leicester, West Ham using counter-attack to great effect

“Manchester City and Manchester United are occupying the top two positions in the Premier League table, but the real story is the over-achievement of some exciting underdogs. West Ham United, Leicester City and Crystal Palace have been among the most impressive teams in the division and are all sitting pretty towards the top. Interestingly, the trio have something very obvious in common: they’ve all been excellent on the counter-attack. The statistics summarise the situation. These three sides are among the worst teams in terms of possession: West Ham with 45 percent, Crystal Palace and Leicester with 44. Only Tony Pulis’ West Brom (42 percent) are beneath them.” ESPN – Michael Cox

Play our Premier League Predictor

“Map out the road to Premier League glory by predicting the scores for all the games this season. See how your guesses fare against other supporters and pundit Mark Lawrenson, plus get feedback from BBC Sport’s team including Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.” BBC

Tactical Analysis: Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal | Pressing, overloads and half-spaces

“Even though there was a gap of six points separating Chelsea and Arsenal, both the teams were in slightly similar circumstances. An unimaginable start to the season for Chelsea, and regular ups and downs in terms of the results for Arsenal forced both the teams into a “must-win” situation in a match that was more than just a derby.” Outside of the Boot

Five-Game Superstars: Just How Good Are Riyad Mahrez and Andre Ayew?

“How to hang around the top of the Premier League while grabbing plenty of neutral support along the way? Five games into the season, the answer appears to be: ‘Get yourself a tricky winger.’ So far, Swansea and Leicester City have combined for five wins, four draws, and one loss — all while playing some of the most fun-to-watch soccer in England. Riyad Mahrez has led Leicester, a team that came into the season looking like possible relegation fodder (oops), to the only undefeated record outside of Manchester City. Eleven points from five games is one heck of a haul, and it’s probably enough to permanently remove them from relegation talk. Meanwhile, Andre Ayew has helped propel Swansea to a draw against Chelsea and a win against Manchester United.” Grantland (Video)

European Ennui: Surveying the Early-Season Worries of Juventus, Chelsea, Sevilla, and Gladbach

“The Champions League is here! And we’re so excited we’ll say it again: The Champions League is here! Starting today, the best of Europe’s best will square off every few weeks until the final on May 28 in Milan. Well, at least, that’s what is supposed to happen: For a quartet of qualifiers from the continent’s top four leagues, the first month and a half of the season has gone just about as poorly as anyone could’ve imagined. And as if to prove the validity of the cliché ‘misery loves company,’ three of them are in the same group. Let’s take a look at how worried each team should be.” Grantland

City on Fire: How Manchester City Became the Best Team in the Premier League … Again

“Just a couple of months ago, Manchester City were a team hovering underneath the cloud of long-term decline. Yaya Touré couldn’t do it all anymore, Vincent Kompany no longer looked like a rock in central defense, and even David Silva, the team’s creative hub, was pushing 30. A year after winning the tile, City finished eight points back of first-place Chelsea — and were it not for a late-season winning streak and bunch of games in which Chelsea had nothing to play for, the gap could’ve been even larger.” Grantland

Goal Analysis: How Crystal Palace punished Chelsea on the counter

“Crystal Palace shocked Chelsea by running out of Stamford Bridge with a 2-1 victory. Just Jose Mourinho’s second home defeat in 100 Premier League matches, Palace pulled out a Mourinho-esque performance. Allowing Chelsea to control the ball (the Blues finished with 64% of possession), Palace defended brilliantly. Alan Pardew set his team up superbly, with two stout lines of defense, ready to break at any moment. Palace poached both their goals with brilliant counters, both coming down the left, and seizing on the mistakes of Chelsea’s backline.” Outside of the Boot

Chelsea’s aggressive loan approach lets club stockpile young talent

“In June, Shakhtar Donetsk forward Fred made his home debut for Brazil in a friendly against Mexico in Sao Paulo, having performed creditably as a substitute in away friendlies against Turkey and Austria. To widespread confusion, he was booed. His crime? Well, there wasn’t one, other than that he shared his name with Fred, a center forward who had been made a scapegoat for Brazil’s poor showing at the World Cup a year earlier. Brazilian fans–sufficient to get a significant spell of booing together–simply didn’t know who he was.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

Champions League draw analysis: Picks to make it out of each group

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, left, and UEFA Competitions Director Giorgio Marchetti, right, remove the balls containing the names of the soccer clubs, during the draw for the Champions League 2015/16 play-offs, at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
“There was a twist to the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco Thursday. UEFA’s new seeding regulations meant that only reigning champions would be picked from Pot 1, leaving some dangerous contenders in the lower pots. And so it proved, as Manchester City was drawn with Juventus and Sevilla while Real Madrid drew Paris Saint-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk. The draw resulted in some intriguing individual storylines, powerhouses going up against one another and the first steps on the road to the San Siro.” SI (Video)

José Mourinho thrives on tension but after two years it becomes a problem

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“José Mourinho is a manager who thrives on conflict, someone who is never happy unless there is something to be unhappy about. Or at least to pretend to be unhappy about. ‘Mourinho,’ as Manchester City’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, said when explaining why Barcelona opted for Pep Guardiola in 2008, ‘is a winner, but in order to win he guarantees a level of tension that becomes a problem.’ Tension is simply how he operates. If it isn’t there, he has to create it and he isn’t too bothered whom he hurts in doing so.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Chelsea doesn’t have the depth to win the Premier League

“Chelsea cake-walked its way to the Premier League title last year. All the usual challengers were either in a state of transition (Manchester United and Liverpool), apparently lacking motivation (Manchester City), or being Arsenal (Arsenal). Having kept all the important pieces of the same squad together, and with questions still hovering over its rivals, Chelsea is (was?) heavily favored to repeat as champions. But judging by the evidence on display in preseason and in the Blues’ first two performances in the league, we should probably pump the brakes on those predictions.” Fusion

A History of Volatility: Jose Mourinho Says He Wants to Stay at Chelsea, But He Says a Lot of Things

“The last two weeks at Chelsea have already pushed the club’s title-winning 2014-15 season way out of view. First, they opened the campaign with a home draw against Swansea City. Then, Jose Mourinho relieved the team doctor, Eva Carneiro, of her sideline duties under dubious circumstances. And in the first game without Carneiro nearby, the defending champs got smoked by Manchester City, 3-0, and now sit five points back of the top of the table. During the loss, for the first time in either of his stints at the club, Mourinho subbed out his captain, John Terry, at halftime.” Grantland

Tactical Analysis | Manchester City 3-0 Chelsea: Alternating attacking methods from the home side

“The build up story was that the champions were visiting the runners up, and the two managers, Mourinho and Pellegrini were resuming an intense rivalry. The post mortems however, were very different, as Chelsea fans lamented the lack of spirit and the utter fragility of their seemingly powerful squad. Manchester City dominated the game from start to finish, making a lasting impression in the minds of many, not least the current champions.” Outside of the Boot