The speaker was Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon.

By convention, training and games are the purview of the head coach, and Peter Kenyon, as CEO, should not interfere.

But this game against Crystal Palace is related to the ownership of the Premier League championship this season, so Peter Kenyon couldn't help but come to pay attention to Mourinho's preparations for the game.

There is no way, after investing hundreds of millions of euros for three consecutive seasons, if we still can't win a decent championship back.

Not only is the position of head coach Mourinho not guaranteed, there is also a big question mark as to whether he can continue to be CEO.

After all, although the Russian boss is rich, he is not a philanthropist, and his investment must be rewarded.

"Peter, don't worry, we will definitely win the Crystal Palace this time."

Mourinho looked at Peter Kenyon with sharp eyes and said decisively.

But the dark circles on his face showed that the quality of his sleep recently was not very good.

Mourinho has been studying ways to deal with Crystal Palace during this period. He has watched the videos of all the past games between Chelsea and Crystal Palace several times.

To sum up, Chelsea's central axis strength is not much different from Crystal Palace.

Whether it is the midfield combination of Lampard, Makelele and Essien, or the central defender combination of Terry and Carvalho, compared with the players in the corresponding positions of Crystal Palace, they are not inferior at all.

That is to say, center Drogba is still a bit rough right now. Compared with Toni of Crystal Palace, his scoring ability is still lacking, but he is still qualified as a fulcrum.

Although goalkeeper Cudicini is not as stable as Cech, he often performs bravely and is generally good.

The key problem lies on the wings, especially the two full-backs.

Neither Del Horno on the left nor Paulo Ferreira on the right could stop Crystal Palace's Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribery's attacks.

And because Chelsea adopts a 433 formation, the two wingers Robben and Duff are positioned in the front, and their defensive abilities are also average, which does not help the defense of the two full-backs.

Therefore, Crystal Palace can almost open a gap from the wing every time, thereby threatening Chelsea's goal.

After learning from the experience, Mourinho decided to abandon his usual 4-3-3 formation against Crystal Palace.

Change the formation to 532, strengthen the defense, and plug the loopholes in the defense first.

For this reason, Mourinho put Robben and Duff, who had always been the team's main players, on the bench.

Then he put Crespo, who he had never liked and was on loan all year round, into the starting lineup.

In addition, Mourinho also removed Del Horno, who was not used to the Premier League, and replaced him with William Gallas as the left back.

At the same time, Mourinho added a Huter beside Terry and Carvalho, specifically to deal with Crystal Palace's twin tower tactics.

Therefore, after Mourinho made some major adjustments, Chelsea's starting lineup for this game completely changed.

Forward Drogba, Forward Crespo

Central midfielder Makelele, central midfielder Lampard, central midfielder Essien

Left back William Gallas, center back John Terry, center back Huth, center back Carvalho, right back Paulo Ferreira

Cudicini

It can be said that Mourinho racked his brains in order to strengthen his defense.

As for the offense, he has now put it on the back burner and just gave one sentence to his players.

"After you get the ball, just make a long pass to Drogba and Crespo in front. As for whether they can score, that is a matter for the two of them. You all stay in the backcourt to defend. There is no order from me.

, are not allowed to participate in the offense. Do you understand?"

Chen Ran didn't know that Mourinho had already undergone major surgery on Chelsea's tactics in order to defeat Crystal Palace.

Because the team had received sufficient rest time before, and this game was Crystal Palace's home court, Chen Ran habitually adopted Guardiola's tactics.

center toney

Left midfielder Ronaldo, attacking midfielder Modric, right midfielder Franck Ribery

Midfielder Vieira, Midfielder Simeone

Left back Chiellini, center back Southgate, center back Vidic, right back Maicon

Cech

Chen Ran was also surprised when he saw Chelsea's starting lineup.

"Josep, is this Chelsea's starting XI for today?"

Chen Ran turned to look at Guardiola, wanting to confirm again.

"That's right, boss. I was a little surprised when I first saw it. I also confirmed repeatedly that this is indeed Chelsea's starting lineup today."

Guardiola nodded, his expression a little serious.

When something goes wrong, there must be a monster, and he understands this truth.

"It seems that our old rival Mourinho has made a big move this time!"

"Boss, Mourinho has put the two main wingers he has been using, Robben and Duff, on the bench. What is he trying to do?"

"Let me see, there is an extra center back Huth, and the left back has been changed from Del Horno to William Gallas. Mourinho is trying to make a big move."

Seeing the names of two more defenders in Chelsea's starting lineup, Chen Ran immediately realized what Mourinho wanted to do.

Because in his previous life, the tactic of setting up a bus even became Mourinho's signature style of play, and he was criticized by many people for this.

It stands to reason that now is the time for Mourinho to emerge and be high-spirited. At this time in his previous life, Mourinho did not do this.

Could it be said that it was because of his own appearance that Mourinho stimulated his talent for running the bus in advance?

Thinking of this, Chen Ran touched his nose. It was probably because his butterfly wings were flapping a little too hard, which accelerated Mourinho's genetic mutation.

In today's game, it seems that Crystal Palace is in trouble.

As expected by Chen Ran, from the moment the referee blew the whistle to start the game, Chelsea, except for the two forwards Drogba and Crespo, were all in their own half, no more than the halfway line.

Even when Chelsea got the ball, they directly looked for the two forwards in front of them, and the others had no intention of participating in the attack.

"This Mourinho, he's very thorough in setting up the bus."

Seeing this situation on the field, Chen Ran also scratched his head a little.

Because Crystal Palace has always been the sharpest wing attack, it is now greatly restricted by Chelsea.

Take Ronaldo's side as an example. Once the ball reaches Ronaldo's feet, Chelsea's right back Paulo Ferreira immediately steps forward to press for it.

At the same time, behind him is Chelsea's right center back Carvalho who is responsible for protection.

Among Chelsea's three midfielders, Essien, who was positioned on the right, immediately moved to the right to help defend.

At this moment, what Cristiano Ronaldo had to face was no longer just Paulo Ferreira, but three Chelsea defensive players.

Even if he gets past Paulo Ferreira, he will immediately be double-teamed by Carvalho and Essien. This causes Ronaldo's breakthrough success rate to drop significantly immediately.

On the other side, Ribery also encountered the same problem.

Even the situation Ribery encountered was worse than Ronaldo's.

Because in terms of individual defensive ability, William Gallas is obviously better than Paulo Ferreira.

Coupled with Terry who is protecting behind William Gallas, the defensive intensity faced by Ribery is much higher than that of Ronaldo.

Even if Ribery wants to use his flexibility and speed to attack Chelsea's defense, Mourinho has prepared for him Makelele, who is positioned on the left side of the midfielder, to help defend at any time.

Once the two wings of Crystal Palace were restricted, the entire offensive seemed to have stepped into a swamp. It was very difficult to take a step forward.

"Boss, Ronaldo and Ribery are both restricted by each other. If that doesn't work, let's try attacking from the center instead?"

Guardiola also discovered the problem on the field at this time, and got close to Chen Ran and came up with an idea.

Middle road?

Chen Ran looked up and looked at Modric, who was sandwiched between the three midfielders of Lampard, Makelele and Essien. He couldn't stand alone.

Since Mourinho is hiding behind the bus, it seems like it would be a waste to put two more defensive midfielders.

Thinking of this, Chen Ran immediately walked to the sidelines and took advantage of the dead ball to call Vieira to his side.

"Patrick, your position will move forward in a while and you will play as an attacking midfielder with Modric. If Ronaldo and Ribery don't have a chance, you two will play more long-range shots."

"Okay, boss."

After explaining Vieira, Chen Ran turned to look at Guardiola.

"Josep, keep an eye on Chelsea's bench for me. Once there is any movement from Mourinho, you must notify me immediately, do you understand?"

"I understand, boss. However, if Patrick is also asked to play as an attacking midfielder, then Diego is the only defensive midfielder left in front of the defense. If Chelsea attacks at this time, isn't it a bit too dangerous?"

Guardiola was a little worried when he saw Chen Ran making such radical adjustments.

"So I asked you to keep an eye on Chelsea's bench. As long as there is any movement from Mourinho's side, you must notify me immediately."

"Okay, boss."

Although Mourinho is now hiding behind the bus, it does not mean that he will keep the bus throughout the game, unless Mourinho does not want to win this game at all.

However, judging from Chen Ran's understanding of Mourinho's character, this is obviously impossible.

This guy probably dreams of beating himself and Crystal Palace.
To be continued...