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Jose Mourinho likes to talk to the media, especially after big wins. Somewhat surprisingly (at least according to his critics), today's quotes didn't have a whole lot to do with the obvious failures of our opponents as much as they had to do with the excellent quality of some Chelsea players. Nemanja Matic in particular was excellent, and Mourinho had nothing but praise for him on Sunday:
"He has added stability, not losing the ball but, at the same time, he is not the type of player who plays only square passes. He can see the movement forward and the space. He recovers the ball but in a very clean way, not with fouls in dangerous positions, and he is still a young guy. We'd given the club two or three options on players [in January] and the most expensive was Matic but we thought his relationship between quality and price, and his potential for the future, would be better for us."
Frankly, I think every Chelsea fan is on board with that decision now, even if they weren't 100% sold on Matic before the transfer happened. The big Serbian has blended into the team seamlessly, and it wouldn't be a huge stretch to say he's been the best midfielder in England since he's arrived.
We know Chelsea were also interested in Fredy Guarin, who also would have made a fine addition to the squad. I'm not entirely sure who the other option would have been, and frankly, I don't really care at this point. The club made the right choice, Matic's play has made that impossible to argue.
It's a real shame that Matic is not available to play in the Champions League this season, as he's been making an area of real weakness into a major strength since the moment he arrived. It's easy to get excited for next season already because of him, as the club should be a legitimate favorite for the Champions League again for the first time since Ancelotti was in charge.
