West Ham 2 Chelsea 1: How Jose Mourinho could have avoided yet another defeat

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Despite West Ham and Chelsea's conflicting form, the win for Slaven Bilic's side still felt like a shock, as all of the reigning champions' losses have been this term. So how could Chelsea have avoided a fifth Premier League defeat of the season?

THE RE-RUN

With West Ham's team and formation remaining the same, Sports Interactive simulated the game over again with various Chelsea line-ups and tactics until it produced an alternative result.

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Line-up: Begovic, Zouma, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Fabregas, Matic, Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Costa (one change from original starting line-up; West Ham remain unchanged)

Final score: West Ham 1-2 Chelsea (Scorers: Payet; Oscar, Fabregas)

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea narrowly edge the virtual replay despite producing some desperate defending in the last ten minutes to preserve their slender lead. The introduction of Oscar into the starting line-up proves to be the key to Chelsea’s victory with his passing play, creative output and work rate. Oscar’s appearance forces Fabregas to be moved back to a central midfield role and the Spaniard seems far more settled next to Matic, who avoids an early bath in the alternative reality.

Oscar is at the heart of the majority of Chelsea’s attacking play, registering two shots on target, creating two clear cut chances and ending the match with a pass completion rate of sixty-four per cent. He fully deserves his goal – the game’s opener – and takes it in some style. Some good work by Hazard on the left gets him into the box where he attempts to pull the ball back to Costa. Tomkins is able to nudge the ball away to Costa but Oscar reacts well to the loose ball and curls home from the edge of the area.

For all of Oscar’s good work, Chelsea are haphazard at the back as Terry and Cahill are too often left exposed by the full-backs. Payet and Zarate force good saves from Begovic from close range before Sakho strikes the foot of the post after latching on to a poorly cleared cross. West Ham’s equaliser comes courtesy of another defensive mistake, this time from Zouma. The Frenchman is slow to react to a pass into space from Kouyate and is punished for it as Zarate gets to the ball first and takes it past Zouma. Zarate slides the ball across goal where the grateful Payet nestles the ball in the back of the net at the near post.

Chelsea are sorely lacking an effective attacking outlet for much of the second half as Costa struggles to make any impact on proceedings. He puts three efforts wide of the goal and manages just one shot on target across the ninety minutes. Costa’s struggles mean that Hazard and Oscar are lead down a cul-de-sac and forced to turn over possession. Bilic’s men go in search of the winner but waste a string of chances in the last half an hour which ends up proving costly.

Chelsea’s winner comes courtesy of Fabregas, who performs solidly if not spectacularly. A misplaced pass from Noble falls to Fabregas who plays a neat one-two with Willian to open up the West Ham defence. He feints a pass to Oscar before striking the ball into the back of the net via the inside of the post to relieve some of the pressure on the virtual Mourinho.

Football Manager uses a vast database - compiled by approximately 1,300 researchers across the world (including real-life scouts) - to blend reality and fiction. So impressive is the information that it has become a tool used by real life managers. The painstakingly detailing simulation of club management, which allows players to control every aspect of a manager's role, from scouting new player to tactics and training, has sold millions of copies worldwide.