It is amazing what a home victory over a slipshod Aston Villa side can do. A team who had edged nervily into the resumption of the Premier League with confidence shredded emerged from Saturday’s success more than merely relieved. “We can win all four trophies,” said José Mourinho. “It is possible, even if it’s also possible to lose all four. We are in October. Everything is open.” That was more a statement of the obvious than a proclamation that everything has suddenly clicked but a little of the doom and gloom has been lifted.
This season has not unravelled quite yet. Instead of fretting over how their next win is to be achieved after two months of largely dismal form Chelsea touched down in Ukraine on Monday a side if not rejuvenated, then certainly encouraged. The manager had picked his most reliable personnel against Villa, sacrificing the flair of Eden Hazard for the greater industry and defensive discipline offered by Willian. When Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s wide-eyed enthusiasm had started to seem a liability, Nemanja Matic was flung on with instructions to cut out anything lavish. Hazard and the side’s other creative talents may not have liked it, but this was Mourinho going back to basics as he rebuilds his team’s confidence.
The victory was the first restorative step. Now it must be followed up with another improved performance in the Olympic stadium where, as he effectively admitted, Mourinho would be happy to emerge with a point. “We are not at the limit in the Champions League,” said the Portuguese. “Far from it. Even if we lose this match, we still have nine points to play for to make a possible 12. In these next two matches against Dynamo, if we can have four points, the situation is much more comfortable. We need to keep the tactical awareness, the discipline, the spirit. The effort. The concentration. And, step by step, bring the confidence levels up with good results.
“Confidence is fundamental. Matic lost an easy pass when he came on, on Saturday, and the first reaction he had was to show a disappointment. When you are full of confidence you don’t show disappointment. You make a mistake, you know that you’re not going to make another mistake after. So [stay] calm, let’s go step by step.” The threat posed by Andriy Yarmolenko and Júnior Moraes, Miguel Veloso or the increasingly influential Serhiy Rybalka, must be nullified. These are better players than Villa can offer at present.
The tactics are likely to be similar, even if Pedro Rodríguez sustained a kick against Villa which may offer Hazard or Oscar a swift route back into the side. Loftus-Cheek may have to revert to bench duties, his promised “run of games” checked after 45 minutes. “He has to look to the intensity and the defensive tactical work people like Ramires and Cesc Fàbregas did and he didn’t,” said Mourinho. “He has to compare himself with others and just understand why I didn’t keep him in the game for 90 minutes.”
Every opportunity is an education for the teenager, though even more experienced performers are having to be rebuilt. The Chelsea coaching staff made a point of attending every one of their players’ games in the recent internationals – as much an act of solidarity in troubled times as a fact-finding mission –with Mourinho concealed in his hoodie in Kiev to cast an eye over Fàbregas and César Azpilicueta and Silvino Louro dispatched to Belgrade to watch Matic against Portugal. The Serb, the substitute who had been substituted against Southampton, cut an uncharacteristically angry figure against Portugal, clearly frustrated by his own lack of form, and was sent off.
He has been unrecognisable from last season’s reassuring presence but, by choking ambition, Mourinho hopes to coax him back to his best.
“I try to make him choose the decisions where it’s more difficult to make a mistake,” he said. “If you want to dribble, if you want to put the ball through the legs of the opponent, if you want to make a beautiful pass like you sometimes do, looking to one side and putting [the ball the other] … these are the things that you do only when the confidence levels are high. When you are a little bit fragile, keep it simple. Think quick, make the right decision, take the ball out of the pressure zone. Don’t be worried about making a beautiful pass. Just make sure you don’t lose the ball because, if you lose the ball, you lose confidence.”
Dynamo, under Serhiy Rebrov, will test what progress has been made over recent days but they were scarred by a first defeat of the season on Friday when Shakhtar Donetsk won 3-0 in Kiev. Rebrov and his players will have needed the extra 24 hours of preparation time as they digested that unexpected thrashing.