Mutu's latest episode adds to Jose's woes

Just when his club need him most, Adrian Mutu seems to have burned his boats at Chelsea. The allegations the Romanian has tested positive for a banned substance is just the latest and possibly final chapter in his tempestuous time at Stamford Bridge.

Mutu looks to have no future at the club now but how different it was this time last year when the controversial striker had netted four goals and looked a truly world-class player.

After nine matches Claudio Ranieri's side were in third place with 20 points and, as with the present Chelsea side, had just lost their first Premiership match, not to Saturday's victors Manchester City, but to eventual champions Arsenal.

A year on and Jose Mourinho's team are on exactly the same points total.

The big difference between then and now, though, is the number of goals Chelsea have scored in their first nine Premiership matches.

Under Ranieri, Chelsea had rattled in a total of 19 goals, compared with less than half that total so far this season. To balance that however, last season's Chelsea had conceded nine goals in those nine matches, compared with just two by the present miserly team.

The statistics do, however, mirror the different approach by the two men.

Ranieri, for an Italian, could be cavalier at times while Mourinho's Chelsea are more structured, more methodical.

Mourinho does not accept his Chelsea are less attractive but admits he is concerned the ratio of goals to chances is not as high as it should be.

The Chelsea manager's options up front though, are limited, a phrase not often used to describe a club with seemingly limitless funds.

With Didier Drogba out for at least another month following a groin operation and Mutu not in the frame, Mourinho will have to rely on the partnership of Eidur Gudjohnsen and Mateja Kezman in the next few weeks.

The alternative is to change the system and play players such as Joe Cole or Damien Duff in more advanced, central positions.

The good news for Mourinho, though, is that Arjen Robben is close to a comeback.

The Holland winger has not played for Chelsea since his £12million summer move from PSV Eindhoven after he broke a foot on the club's summer tour of America.

But he is expected to play for the reserves in around two weeks time and could be ready for first-team place by early November.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in