I don’t consider myself a soccer fan. Every four years I’ll watch the World Cup and don a U.S. jersey, but so will a majority of the human population. So, I’m no serious soccer fan. I’m certainly not enough of a soccer fan to have taken notice of Chelsea’s struggles this season in the Barclays Premier League. However, when I was cruising through my twitter feed the other day, an article on Jose Mourinho and his club caught my attention.
When I clicked on the hashtag #MourinhoOut, a cascade of articles appeared in which writers were proclaiming with glee that Jose Mourinho, Chelsea’s manager since 2013, was going to be sacked by the club. The vitriol that has come to the surface in the wake of Chelsea’s dismal start to their season is hardly surprising. One Youtube search with Mourinho’s name turns up troves of clips of Mourinho haughtily dismissing reporters and generally being a pompous ass. It’s not hard to see why people don’t like the guy. But, the real lesson to be learned in all the Chelsea-hating the world is seeing these days is that people love to see the top dogs spiral into mediocrity.
One year ago, Chelsea stormed to a Premier League victory and once again sat at the top of the most competitive international league in the world. Mourinho also took home Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006 with Chelsea. He is clearly a sharp football mind and adept manager, but he has the same distinctive qualities of so many of our hated sports figures. Similar to Mourinho, Chelsea as a football club exudes a certain pretentiousness and holier-than-thou attitude. In one of Mourinho’s first interviews when he came to Chelsea in 2004, he dubbed himself “The Special One.” In order to bring the world of British football into the sensibility of an American sports fan, I had a friend once tell me that Chelsea is essentially the Yankees of the Premier League. There are loads of Chelsea fans out there, but you can be sure that you probably don’t like any of them too much.
The widespread glee around Chelsea’s misery is interesting, of course, but what is happening to the team on the pitch is almost inexplicable. There have been very few roster changes for the Blues since last season. The fact of the matter is that Chelsea’s stars are not producing at the same clip as they were one year ago. Eden Hazard, the 24-year-old Belgian wunderkind, has not played up to the level that won him Player of the Year honors last year. Through 11 Premier League games this season, Hazard is still without a goal. The leading scorer for Chelsea is a tie between Diego Costa and Willian with a mere two goals a piece.
Chelsea’s implosion was on full display this past Saturday against Liverpool. Liverpool has been lackluster this season as well. The Reds are sitting at 8th in the league table, 7 spots above Chelsea. The game marked Jurgen Klopp’s first at the helm of the Reds, and over the course of 90 minutes they exposed some of the reasons why Chelsea has been struggling in 2015. Chelsea opted for a zonal 4-4-1-1 look against Liverpool. The two final groups of four in front of goal lacked structure and huge holes opened up for the likes of Coutinho and Firmino to exploit.
Tactical analysis aside, the story of Chelsea’s struggles this season demonstrate a larger theme within the world of sports. In every league across the world, there is a team or organization that is the subject of a seemingly unexplainable amount of hatred. Franchises that come to mind in the discussion include the New England Patriots, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers, and Boston Bruins. For some teams, there is a more legitimate reason for hatred than for others (looking at you, deflated balls and Spygate). For most, however, sports fans can’t really explain why they love to watch these behemoths lose. At some level, sports fans are reveling in the display of mortality. Teams such as the Patriots and Chelsea are always winning and when they lose we are reminded that even the historically great franchises are subject to the same ills that so often befall the bottom-feeders of the league.
Prior to this season, Jose Mourinho had lost five games in his previous 59 as manager of Chelsea. After 11 Premier League games, Mourinho has lost six of his last 11. It is clear to see that a little bit of glee is necessary at a moment like this. The achievements of last year and every year before that are irrelevant for the Chelsea. This is the beauty of professional sports. The only game that matters is the next one. This is a great time to acknowledge the Washington Redskins, who will be heading into Foxborough on Sunday to face an undefeated Patriots team. If the decline of Chelsea across the pond can teach us anything, it’s that the foregone conclusions of sports are never as sure as they seem. So, it’s possible that Mourinho will turn around the Blues’ season in the coming weeks, but we may witness the downturn of another seemingly impeccable franchise this Sunday at 11 a.m.