Jose Mourinho's team selection for this emphatic Champions
League win had been telling.
No Diego Costa, as expected. And no Thibaut Courtois, Gary
Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta, either.
A midweek home tie against minnows Maribor had always felt
like the starter before the main course of Sunday's Premier
League showdown against Manchester United.
As satisfying as it was for the Chelsea faithful to watch their
re-jigged team destroy hopelessly outclassed opponents,
thoughts had turned to Old Trafford long before Eden Hazard
administered the final rites with a brilliantly taken sixth.
Mourinho was telling porky pies when he claimed pre-match
that he would not rest anyone against Maribor and that the
United match was not on his mind.
Courtois and Cahill have started all eight of Chelsea's Premier
League matches this season and both will surely begin a ninth
at the weekend. Filipe Luis was given the chance to build his
fitness up ahead of replacing the suspended Azpilicueta at
left-back.
Moreover, Cesc Fabregas delivered 59 minutes of sparkling
midfield play against Maribor before he departed to a
standing ovation. Oscar also left the Stamford Bridge stage
prematurely to be wrapped in cotton wool ahead of the
weekend.
Both men are integral to Chelsea's attacking combinations
and their manager will be delighted to have given them some
extra rest.
In revealing post-match that he did not want his youngsters
to come on too early, Mourinho showed that he would not
take victory for granted by resting all of his big guns.
Yet not everything went to plan for the Portuguese, who has
been given food for thought by the early events of a game that
further upset the applecart of his forward permutations.
Seconds after proving there can be life after Costa by driving
in Chelsea's opener from the edge of the box, Remy was
wincing with pain and being replaced by Didier Drogba.
"Remy has a problem in his groin," explained Mourinho
afterwards. The indication from the Portugese is that the
injury is serious and the Frenchman will be out of action for a
few weeks.
The state of Costa's troublesome hamstring is more of a
mystery. Fit enough to play two full matches for Spain during
the international break and to wreck Premier League defences
before it, the former Atletico Madrid ace has not made the
matchday squad for the last two matches.
Mourinho has offered routinely pessimistic briefings about
Costa's condition all season without actually providing much
insight into the state of his hamstring. On Monday he ignored
questions about whether his star forward has a strain or,
more seriously, a tear.
While the indications from the Bridge are that Costa will not
be involved again on Sunday, regular Mourinho observers will
not be convinced of the player's absence until his name is not
included on the teamsheet.
The answer to Chelsea's forward conundrum could lie with
the veteran figure of Drogba, who unexpectedly led the line for
75 minutes tonight.
The years may have robbed him of a yard or two of pace but
the replacement for the replacement showed he has lost none
of his dressing room presence by ignoring his manager's
orders and demanding of designated penalty taker Eden
Hazard that he take the first spot-kick.
The Ivorian emphatically banged it in to put his team 2-0 up
and smirked afterwards that he had needed to put away his
first Chelsea goal since Munich to lift his own confidence as
he struggles to deal with the realities of being the third-choice
striker.
"We know the player he is and he can still give us a lot," said
Mourinho of the 36-year-old.
The question is whether Drogba can play two almost full
games in four days and be an effective spearhead in a
marquee match with such little game time behind him.
Alternatively, Chelsea could do what they did in the
corresponding fixture last season, when the manager made
clear his distaste for the forwards at his disposal by fielding a
striker-less team at Old Trafford spearheaded by Andre
Schurrle.
For all the zeal and excitement of Mourinho's new Chelsea,
he remains a pragmatist at heart.
There is much for the manager to ponder.