Going forward, Chelsea’s current strikeforce are facing a bleak future

DOMINIC FIFIELD
at Selhurst Park

The future of Chelsea's current strikeforce looks bleak after Jose Mourinho confirmed he intends to revamp his side's front-line, as well as instil fight and focus into his other attacking talents, for an assault on the title next season.

Mourinho conceded his team's hopes of winning the Premier League were effectively over after Saturday's defeat at Crystal Palace, his first by a newly promoted club and a result that handed the initiative to Liverpool and Manchester City in the title race.

The Portuguese praised the effort and commitment of his defence in the 1-0 defeat but was critical of others for “disappearing” in a game they might have anticipated winning. He had confirmed straight after the match that his side had lacked “balls” at Selhurst Park.

The main ramifications will be felt by the forward line, with Chelsea expected to try to prise the Brazil-born Spain forward Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid. While Samuel Eto'o will be out of contract, the futures of Demba Ba, Fernando Torres and even Romelu Lukaku will then come under scrutiny.

'Next season'
"I don't think it's the moment to speak about next season and the market but it's clear to everybody that Chelsea next year wants to bring a striker," said Mourinho. "What's the future for the other strikers? The ones who are staying are competing with the striker we are bringing in."

Ba, Torres and Eto'o, who is recovering from a hamstring injury and is likely to miss Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final at Paris St Germain, have contributed 15 league goals between them this term, with the Cameroonian veteran's eight having all been scored at Stamford Bridge.

Indeed, the goals by Torres at Southampton and Hull City in January are the only ones by forwards away from Stamford Bridge all season. Lukaku, on loan at Everton, has 12 league goals, though he may be considered saleable.

Mourinho acknowledged he must also get consistency from Eden Hazard, Andre Schurrle and Oscar in run-of-the-mill matches, after suggesting the defeat at Palace was an indication of a poor "mentality". "I will try to improve the players," he said. "I can't and I don't need to improve Ivanovic, Cahill, John Terry (scorer of the og in the 52nd minute). I can't improve them and I don't need to improve them but there are other guys I need to improve.

'Be Realistic'
"Always, in the back of your mind, you think you might win but you have to be realistic . . . "

The previous week Mourinho’s side had defeated Arsenal 6-0, though that was in a derby that had their juices flowing: a tete-a-tete with a title rival, and an occasion with all the glitz and glamour to galvanise their approach.

They travel to France tomorrow for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain and, where a loss courtesy of an own goal to a team without reward of their own from open play since February might normally have damaged confidence, Mourinho is unconcerned.

“I don’t need to do a lot now, because Paris is the kind of match they feel comfortable to play,” he said. “A big match, a great stadium, opponents with top quality, the profile of referee – even if I prefer the English ones - who stops a lot and doesn’t allow aggression. They will be fine. They will be in their natural habitat in that match. They can do a good match there. Playing against Arsenal or City, United or Liverpool is one thing and another thing is to play Palace or West Bromwich or Stoke away. Clearly, during the season, we have players up and down in relation to the profile of the match. It’s personality qualities. They should be able, but they are not.”

Mourinho had walked straight into the home dressing room to congratulate a team whose 14 previous games against the top nine had yielded a solitary point.

"He'd come into our changing room after the Stamford Bridge game just after Tony Pulis came here, too, and told us: 'if you guys keep that spirit and work-rate, you're not going to go down,'" said the Republic of Ireland's Damien Delaney, a centre-half who had considered quitting 18 months ago but is now a top-flight defender. "If we haven't got spirit, we haven't got much. But that's what we're built on, it's what we do."
Guardian Service