Chelsea's Changing Face

When Jose Mourinho was signed several weeks ago, Chelsea's odds for winning the Premier League shot up in Vegas. However, several major issues still loomed over the team; the fact that Fernando Torres and Demba Ba are not adequate, top level strikers; or that this current Chelsea is a completely different team from when Mourinho coached them. The Special One has immediately begun to address the latter issue in signing Bayer Leverkusen forward Andre Schurrle and Vitesse Arnhem attacking midfielder Marco Van Ginkel. He is trying to reconstruct the Stamford Bridge side in an image of his own liking.

He started be convincing Romelu Lukaku, coming off a great year with West Bromwich Albion, to return to the club for the upcoming season. It's easy to see why he would want Lukakau; the Belgian is an almost carbon copy image of Didier Drogba, Mourinho's beloved striker. Mourinho then secured Andre Schurrle. Rumors have been circulating for several months that clubs are interested in Juan Mata; however silly and saddening it would be for Mourinho to sell the beloved midfielder, it would make sense; Mata doesn't exactly fit into the physical, counter-attacking style that Mourinho uses. On the other hand, the Spaniard has been Chelsea's Player of the Season for two years running. The signing of Van Ginkel confirms Mourinho's path for the season; he will try to recreate the Chelsea of his glory years. This could mean that he won't sign a striker, instead trusting in Lukaku; or perhaps he will go after Edison Cavani or Robert Lewandowski. Aside from the need for a striker, Chelsea are a championship team; they have a solid back line, buckets of good midfielders and a great amount of attacking potential. What the Blues need the most is a solid coach, someone who will lead them through the low and high points of the season. That's what Mourinho will provide the most of, and what will make them a sure title contender this season.

The Keys to Mourinho and Chelsea securing more silverware next season

Jose Mourinho is back in town! The Special One is back to the place he has always known he belongs, Stamford Bridge. However, let us not get overexcited; Mourinho has to complete a couple things if he wants to win anything at the Bridge.

1.) Learn this team's style
Jose Mourinho is not used to the fluent, passing based style that Roberto Di Matteo and the Three Amigos brought in; he always played a physical, pragmatic play based around Drogba, Robben, Lampard and Terry. He must learn how this team plays and how to coach them if he is to even begin to think about silverware.

2.) Sign a world class striker
Fernando Torres and Demba Ba will just not cut it; maybe in the Europa League and League Cup, but if Chelsea and Mourinho want to challenge for the Champions League and Premier League, they need a real, consistent, world class striker; someone like Robert Lewandowski, coming off a 36 goal year, and rumored to be for sale; or maybe Wayne Rooney, who has also rumored to want to be out; or Edison Cavani, who scored 38 goals in 43 appearances for Napoli in the Serie A, winning the golden boot. Maybe even go after one of Mourinho's Madrid strikers, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain. But the Blues must sign a top striker this summer.

3.) Move David Luiz to center defensive mid
The Brazilian solted into that spot during much of Chelsea's Europa League campaign, and indeed helped them win that competition. He would give Mourinho great long balls up to the striker, speed and power shots, and an extra defender in front of the back line. His free kicks are prolific; all in all, he is best suited for the center-defensive-mid spot. So play him there!

Champions League Final Preview

Tomorrow marks a important day in European day; Bayern Munich, German giants and superclub, squares off against Borussia Dortmund, underdogs and cross-country rivals. It almost certainly marks the rise of German soccer as the best league in the world, replacing La Liga and the Barclays Premier League. It also marks the return of Munich, finalists for the 3rd time in 4 seasons. Dortmund is in just its 2nd final ever, hoping to defeat their hated rivals. To make the game even bigger, Dortmund's starlet and Germany's "Lionel Messi," Mario Gotze, announced several weeks ago that he would be leaving Dortmund for none other than Munich; Gotze will not be playing in the final, due to a convenient "hamstring tear," but the game will still be a tense one.

With Gotze out, the focus of Bayern Munich's defense and Dortmund's offense will turn to the Polish Wonder, Robert Lewandowski. With his 4 goal display against Real Madrid several weeks ago, Lewandowski catapulted himself into the focus of every major European club, with Man U rumored to want him. The Polish striker will be the center of the game, most likely, with Munich doing what ever they can to stop him, and Dortmund hoping that he can pull off another game like the Madrid one. Dortmund will also hope midfielder Marco Reus can replace Gotze. Just a year ago, Reus made major news by choosing to move to Dortmund instead of Munich, bucking the trend of most great, young German players. Reus will now look to boss the game in midfield. In the back, star Mats Hummels will anchor Dortmund's back line. He will certainly have a task on his hands, given the potency of Munich's attack. With Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery coming down the wings, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez and Thomas Muller down the middle and Mario Gomez or Mario Mandzukic in front, the Bavarian's are the most dangerous attack in Europe this year. They hog possession, press hard and fast, and score lots of goals; sounds a little like Barcelona huh? Bayern's coach, Jepp Heynecks, will leave after this game, to be replaced by Barca's old coach, Pep Guardiola. Heyneckes will surely want to win a final after having missed out twice; but I don't think it will happen for that very reason. Munich has been in the UCL Final twice and have lost out both times, once to Jose Mourhino's treble winning Inter side, and last year, at home, to Chelsea, on penalties. Though that may be even more motivation to win, I am unconvinced this Munich side is a big time team. I put my faith in Dortmund; they win 2-1 in a tight, tense and testy game.