Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Roma earlier today.
Mauricio Pochettino's job is reportedly safe but there is no such word as 'safe' at Chelsea — things may change in the blink of an eye. So a third coming of The Special One remains possible until he gets a new job.
We've decided to imagine how Chelsea would look like under the Portuguese with their current squad.
We've included Nkunku in the XIs as the severity of his injury remains unknown but omitted long-term absences such as James and Fofana.
Option 1: 4-2-3-1
Almost everyone uses this formation these days, including Poch. But guess who made it popular in England? You’re right — Jose Mourinho in his first Chelsea spell!
This will likely see Caicedo dropped to the bench. Enzo adds much-needed creativity while Gallagher is ‘the only player who would have survived in Jose’s first Chelsea team’ — he could be Mourinho’s modern-day John Obi Mikel.
Jose would also put an end to Poch's experiment of playing Colwill at left-back; Levi would compete with Badiashile for the starting spot at left centre-back.
Up front, Mourinho needs a classic target man and the closest to this profile is Broja (sidenote: prepare for a Lukaku return next season). The question is who'll play on the wings but we'll go with the conservative option of Sterling and Nkunku, although if Mudryk is as hard-working as he likes to show off on Instagram he might get a nod.
Option 2: 3-5-2
Mourinho is not the biggest fan of this formation but at Roma, he's shown that he can adapt his ideas to the players available and it meant using the three-at-the-back shape.
Chelsea have a lot of centre-backs and excellent wing-backs, so returning to the Tuchel-era 3-5-2 could be possible if Jose is back at the Bridge.
We see Mourinho picking Caicedo over Enzo for this one to add solidity to the midfield, with Nkunku and Broja up front — and Jackson and Sterling getting benched.
Note that Chalobah will return to the squad. Mourinho reportedly wanted him at Roma and he's an excellent player for a back-three.
