Norwich vs Chelsea: Carrow Road provides three points and Delia-cious pie

Mourinho not loving what he smells in Norwich

Three games. Three managers. Three wins. Hello nurs… Norwich.

It doesn’t seem to matter the manager, Chelsea have managed a win over Norwich just about every time they face the Canaries. And with the ‘crisis’ ever lurking in the papers, they couldn’t have faced them at a better time.

With the international break sitting on Chelsea’s doorstep, there was no need to rest anyone up and Mourinho opted for a strong lineup. And by strong I clearly mean the Special Juan retained his spot to work his little creative socks off. Although he disappointingly didn’t attempt to tackle anyone with yellow socks on and reverted back to his boring old key passes making everyone around him look good – not that they needed the help.

Oscar continued to prove Mourinho’s case putting in another Man-child of the Match performance. Not only with his opening goal, but he snuck in the odd tackle or two to keep the big man happy. Just think of the player he’ll be when he grows up.

David Luiz continues to keep Gary Cahill out of the starting lineup. Sandwiched between Ivanovic and Terry has kept Luiz’s performances in check. His speed, prowess in the air, a shot from 50 yards out and joie de vivre adds a nice balance to the solidity of Terry and Ivanovic’s defensive masterclass. Although no one really covered themselves in glory for Pilkington’s goal, but this is all a bit of a work in progress that’s starting to take some shape.

But of course it wasn’t all about the starting lineup. With Mata and Oscar starting together and no Torres to choose all seemed sound. Until the start of the second half when some players may have had too many biscuits with their tea, coming out a little sluggish and letting Norwich be the first team to score against them in the second half all season!

With the Rafastrophe in tactics last season, substitutions were not ever a thing to look forward to. More often than not, the best player on the pitch had been hastily removed for, well, not the best player on the pitch. So to see substitutes come on and transform a game almost immediately was a pleasant reminder of Chelsea’s turn of manager fortune.

Despite his previous lackluster performances, which may or may not have been thoroughly noted here *cough Swindon, Willian came good on Sunday. Some of us may have prematurely lamented about what purpose Willian served other than to up the cool hair quotient at the club. And obviously on the basis of a couple of performances, probably would have been jumping the gun. Who knew it would take the mighty Norwich to remind Willian that he’s more than just hair and a burn on Spurs, but a footballer too!

The quality time on the bench has started to impact the performances of a few players that needed to step up their game – and a bearded one that didn’t. But however he’s done it, Mata has found a new level to make sure he remains at the creative hub of the team.

Go on and enjoy your international breaks with some FIFA14 family time.

jb