Chelsea: The Big Evil

Five huge reasons to dislike Chelsea this season.

1. Mourinho

The most arrogant man in football. The London-based, pro-Chelsea media love him to bits, but don't let that fool you. He is widely hated in most other parts of the football world. None more so than Italy where he is a figure of hate from his time at Internazionale. He's a bully (see the Anders Fisk incident, Wenger or Ferguson never ever went that far), and he sets up his teams to play negatively.  

2. The Gamesmanship

Chelsea 2014/15 are masters of  game management and gamesmanship. The former in common sense, the latter is cynical and spoils the game. For example, against Arsenal, Ivanovic pretended to misunderstand the linesman's call of a throw-in to Arsenal and took the throw-in himself, this had the effect of disrupting Arsenal's rhythm at a time when they were on top in the game. He really should have been booked for that and referees really need to start being a lot tougher on them. Chelsea players are the biggest cheats of the lot, how they got away with some of what they did in the Liverpool game on Saturday beggars belief.

3. They've bought the title

However you dress it up, it's still Abramovitch's millions which are making the difference. Chelsea aren't playing well because Mourinho is some sort of alchemist, it's because they have the money to buy whoever they want. Mourinho is an excellent manager, but the tipping point is the money. 

At the start of the season I was concerned that Man City might run away with it and destroy the long-term competitiveness of the league. I was wrong. But if Chelsea do win the league this season then City will surely spend £200 million over the summer to be competitive again. The danger is that both these clubs will end up dominating (like Celic and Rangers or Barcelona and Real Madrid) and it won't be the best league in the world anymore.

4. The pro-Chelsea media

In the recent Chelsea - Arsenal game, Danny Mills on commentary didn't criticize Chelsea or praise Arsenal once in the game. Now, I'm not complaining, but I do think it's indicative of a pro-Chelsea bias in the media. You won't find one journalist or pundit with a bad word to say about Chelsea at the moment. Some are even saying that Chelsea have won the league already. You don't need me to tell you how ridiculous that is.

5. They've been lucky this season......so far.

Chelsea have had no major injuries so far this season. The other top four teams are all missing big players, (Manchester City - Silva, Arsenal - Giroud, Liverpool -  Sturridge). I notice though that Cesc Fabregas has 'done a Steven Gerrard' and pulled out of the Spain squad this week because of an 'injury', don't worry folks, he'll be back in time for the next Chelsea game. 

But Chelsea's primary weakness is their lack of options up front. Should Diego Costa get injured,  they only have Loic Remy and an aging Didier Drogba.  

Nothing personal against the charming Mr. Costa, but we can only hope.