“Why I Played Robert Kenedy At Left Back” Mourinho Opens Up

Chelsea returned to winning ways after the international break on Saturday noon when they defeated Norwich City 1 goal to 0. The win was their 4th of the League in 13 games and it saw them move a place up on the table to 15th position with 14 points.

The Blues were close to finding the net on several occasions and did well to foil the plans of the visitors. Mourinho’s tactics successfully played out well and the Portuguese looked to get it right for once after several attempts. He chose to deploy Robert Kenedy at left-back to the surprise of many, and he has revealed why he did so.

The way Norwich decided to lineup their back line was the reason Mourinho chose to stick with an attacking-minded player at the left back. The Brazilian justified the tactic as he was one of the most impressive Chelsea players against the visiting side. Robert Kenedy, who arrived during Summer is normally a midfielder cum forward, and that attacking orientation gave him the needed boost to make runs down the left flanks, and that constantly troubled the Norwich City side.

The Canaries played against Manchester City with 5 defenders, but normally stick with 4, and the Chelsea coach said his formation was ready for both. He was full of praises for his wingers and attacking midfielder, as the trio of Hazard, Pedro and Willian put up great performances. Mourinho especially singled out Hazard, who had his greatest game of the season thus far for praises.

The Belgium international was a thorn in the flesh of the Norwich City defenders, and he constantly created chances and frequently made his trademark run past defenders. As regards the makeshift left back role for Kenedy, Mourinho said he would have deployed the young Brazilian as a left winger in a defense of 3 if Norwich came with 5.