Chris Coleman has revealed the game-plan that saw them beat champions Chelsea.
Chris Coleman has revealed the game-plan that saw them beat champions Chelsea.Jose Mourinho has only lost four league games during his tenure at Stamford Bridge, but his Chelsea side failed to cope with The Cottagers on Sunday as they claimed a 1-0 win.
Welsh tactician Coleman believes it was his decision to man-mark Chelsea's midfield anchor Claude Makelele that put them on course for victory.
"Every time we play against Chelsea or every time we watch them play, everything goes through Makelele and he starts the attacks," he said.
"Steed Malbranque loves playing in that position, he likes attacking from that position but he's not very good at defending.
"We told him to go where he liked when he had the ball but, as soon as he didn't have it, Makelele was his man.
"We wanted Petr Cech to kick it rather than pass it out and it worked very well."
Mourinho's decision to make a double substitution after just 26 minutes was taken as a sign of respect by Coleman.
"He changed very early. He got Duff and Drogba on and tried to match us up through midfield which I thought was a compliment for our boys," he added.
Coleman feels that Chelsea will increasingly have the problem of teams upping their game against them.
"They're the champions and no matter who they play, whether it's a team at the bottom or one of the top teams, everyone wants to beat Chelsea now," he said.
"Everyone wanted to beat Manchester United when they were bossing things and there was a lot of controversy in their games, I played in one or two myself.
"I understand that. They're at the top, there's a lot of pressure on them and everybody wants to beat them."
