Gus Poyet is likely to be as surprised as anyone should his Sunderland side beat Chelsea for the third time in a row on Saturday evening but José Mourinho has reason to be wary of the Uruguayan. Quite apart from ending Mourinho’s record of 77 Premier League home games without defeat during his two stints in charge at Stamford Bridge courtesy of a 2-1 victory in west London in April, Sunderland also knocked Chelsea out of last season’s Capital One Cup at the quarter-final stage.
Considering that a couple of weeks earlier Poyet’s struggling side narrowly lost their home league game against Mourinho’s side 4-3 the stage seems set for an upset on Wearside. But Sunderland’s manager urges caution.
“This is a different Chelsea – a better and stronger one than last season,” said the former Stamford Bridge midfielder. “They are unbeaten in the Premier League and the best team in the country by far. They were strong title favourites before the season started and now they’re even bigger favourites.”
Poyet asked his old friend and one-time Chelsea team-mate Roberto Di Matteo for advice in the aftermath of Mourinho’s side thrashing Di Matteo’s Schalke in the Champions League this week but little was forthcoming. “It was a perfect Chelsea performance,” Poyet said. “Let’s hope they’re not perfect against us. It’s going to be difficult but it’s a great chance and we’re the ones with the opportunity to end their unbeaten League run this season. Let’s try.
“I can’t believe I’m going for three wins against José. We’re usually on the wrong end of stats and haven’t beaten someone for about 50 years but now we’re on the right side so let’s enjoy it a bit. It’s a game I’d love to play in.”
Not that Di Matteo exactly identified too many flaws in Mourinho’s side. “I told my friend ’come on show me the way’,” he said. “But Roberto didn’t. He said Chelsea defend better than any team in Europe. They defend better than Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
“It’s difficult to say if they can go unbeaten all season because there’s such a long way to go but if there’s one team who can do it, then it’s probably Chelsea. They are special and unique and really strong and if they keep everyone fit they’re going to be close to staying unbeaten. They’re going to win the title without losing, or maybe losing only once.”
At least Poyet remains one manager with first hand experience of Mourinho the loser. “He’s always one of the best,” he said. “He congratulated us after we won there last season. I’ve always had a great relationship with José – we’ve never had a bad word. In the past he’s welcomed me to their training ground.”
After witnessing only two League wins this season, Sunderland fans would embrace a rare victory which might help assuage fears of another relegation skirmish. “People are talking about a relegation battle between 13 teams,” acknowledged Poyet. “So we need to take our opportunities.”
His critics wonder whether a manager who has not named the same team twice in succession this season is proving his own worst enemy. “Someone’s just told me I’m the new Tinkerman,” he said. “I didn’t know that and I hate being called it. “I hated it at Chelsea when the manager always tinkered. It’s called squad rotation but I hate that.”
So why employ it at Sunderland? “From Saturday to Saturday if the team does well the team should stay the same,” said Poyet who has been disappointed by the failure of certain players including Jack Rodwell and Adam Johnson to hit top form this term. “But you need to perform well to make sure that happens.”
With Chelsea’s visit followed by Wednesday’s home game against Manchester City and next Saturday’s trip to Liverpool, his players could not pick a better week to start impressing.
