Samir Nasri responded to Chelsea’s seven point lead over Manchester City defiantly on Thursday. The Frenchman called Chelsea out as a team that are not impressive and are not special.
“I’m a big fan of Mourinho, but I am not impressed with his team, not at all. We have played them twice, one time with 10 men, and we were better than them.
“Then we played them at the Bridge, we were better than them. When I have seen some of their games, I don’t think they are that fantastic – they are just strong and have a good striker up front.
“For me they are not special at all, and I think they are going to make some mistakes. We just have to perform, to win our games, and see what’s going to happen.”
These comments are slightly strange and are likely partly to do with frustration. Chelsea left it late to maintain their seven point lead with a last minute goal against Everton after a poor performance. City were moments away from clawing the lead back to just five points, which is far more manageable. The club also squandered a chance to reduce the lead away at Chelsea when the club were without Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa.
It smacks of bitterness. But, Chelsea have been pretty ordinary of late. They grinded out a draw versus City, they then grinded out wins against Everton and Villa. But, this is what teams who win the title do. They just keep it going when they’re playing badly. The side have also missed two of their best attacking players, which is one factor in it. City haven’t exactly been firing on all cylinders and only have themselves to blame for dropping points so carelessly on a consistent basis.
Chelsea are not a perfect well oiled machine yet. They’re definitely improving under Jose Mourinho and to slam them as unimpressive and not special is harsh. They’ve played some great football this season including a rampant 5-0 win at Swansea. It’s also worth noting that City have never consistently looked like a top class team. Chelsea are just doing what needs to be done to win the title, getting results regardless of performance.
