By now it is a stat everyone knows. Basket Nike Pas Cher . Jose Mourinho wins the league in his second season at a club. He did it at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. When his team led Man City by eight points after 11 matches, following the second weekend in November, many were willing to hand him the championship again. Two months on and the momentum has shifted. Chelsea outsprinted Man City by eight points through the first 11 games but have handed them all back to their title rivals through the last nine matches. They are now at a deadlock just past the halfway mark of the marathon. Chelsea remain favourites but not as many people are willing to hand Joses Chelsea the title. Fewer still are questioning him despite his side giving up a sizeable lead to a team who had David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero all out injured for the bulk of the time they spent catching up. A look at the opponents during that run shows a slight edge for City but not a monumental one. Manuel Pellegrinis men played just two of the top ten sides, Swansea and Southampton, while Chelsea also played Southampton as well as Tottenham twice and Newcastle. The most notable thing to take away from the eight-game stretch was squad versatility. Mourinho said he would sleep fine after the loss to Newcastle because he felt his team played at a high standard. He couldnt say the same after their second loss, a 5-3 hammering at Tottenham on New Years Day where they looked tired and a long way from the level they had been at for most of the season. During the busiest time in the Premier League season, where Chelsea played four games in eleven days, Mourinho started eight players in all four of those games. Only Man Utd (9) and Burnley (11) started more players during the four-game stretch. Man City started just five in all four of their games. Mourinho clearly knows his best XI. Thibaut Courtois is the leagues best goalkeeper and picks himself, his back four have started 16 of the 20 league games together so far, Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic, playing as a formidable pair in central midfield, have started 18 of the 20 together games this season and in front of them is the tried and tested trio of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian. Striker Diego Costa has started a remarkable 17 games of 20 despite regularly, early this season, being linked with injuries. It is not unusual to see a goalkeeper like Courtois start as often he does but it is in front of him that Mourinho has some bigger decisions to make during the second half of the season. Through 20 games there have been 200 outfield spots available on Chelseas starting XI in league matches. The aforementioned 10 players have filled 181 of them – over 90 per cent. This is a number we hardly ever see anymore and shows, up to now, that Chelsea have been lucky with injuries but also, again, that their manager relies heavily on 10 outfield players. Those ten are on pace to fill 344 starting slots of the 380 available throughout a season, an incredible number. Past Champions To show how high this amount is I ran the numbers of the last 10 Premier League winners. The following is the amount of starts the most used 10 players combined for during the season: Man City 13/14 – 273 Man Utd 12/13 - 259 Man City 11/12 – 283 Man Utd 10/11 – 252 Chelsea 09/10 – 280 Man Utd 08/09 – 260 Man Utd 07/08 – 293 Man Utd 06/07 – 269 Chelsea 05/06 – 274 Chelsea 04/05 – 287 No team is close to 344. For such a large sample size the numbers are quite similar. Four of the champions are within ten combined starts and each of the last six winners have fallen between 252 and 283. Manchester United of 2007/08 is the leader of the pack and had six starters all pass the 30-start threshold. This seasons Chelsea have nine of their outfield players all on pace to eclipse this and the only one who is missing is Willian who has started 13 of the last 16 after Andre Schurrle was preferred in three of the first four games. The numbers show their current rate is unsustainable and it is not even close. Squad Depth As well as the Premier League, Chelsea are also still in contention for the Champions League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup. During the festive period, Mourinho elected against squad rotation but he will be forced to rely on it in February and March. That will reduce the projected number of 344 but by how much? Mourinho has been praised for keeping his squad happy during a period when they havent been playing but will the players be good enough for his standard when required? Its not difficult for me to leave players out. Everybody has to be ready to sacrifice for the team, to give everything for the team, not to be selfish, Mourinho said recently. This will be put to the test sooner rather than later. Chelseas favoured 10 are all close to the pace of 30+ starts because no other player is on pace to start double-digit league games this season. Schurrle has started five of 20, John Obi Mikel and Felipe Luis four and Ramires just three. Here is a look at how many outfield players started 10 league games or more for the champions in the last 10 years: Man City 13/14 – 16 Man Utd 12/13 - 16 Man City 11/12 – 15 Man Utd 10/11 – 17 Chelsea 09/10 – 16 Man Utd 08/09 – 17 Man Utd 07/08 – 14 Man Utd 06/07 – 14 Chelsea 05/06 – 15 Chelsea 04/05 – 15 No team even close to 10 and no one with less than 14. Chelsea currently has only 10 outfield players who have started more than five games and we are past the halfway stage. Admittedly, it wont take a lot of changes to get the likes of Schurrle, Mikel, Felipe Luis and Ramires to double-digits but how much does Mourinho want to rely on them? He has lost patience with Schurrle, removing him at half-time recently at Southampton, which was his only start in the past three months. Mikel and Ramires give him different options when he wants to be more defensive in midfield and he usually removes Oscar for one of them. After his performance at Spurs the Brazilian number ten may be on the bench more in the second half. Another Brazilian, Felipe Luis, cost 16 million pounds but the back four have been magnificent in most games this season and have been very difficult to dislodge as bright young star Kurt Zouma (zero starts) knows only too well. Mohamed Saleh and Loic Remy have also struggled to get starts and have just one between them so far. These are barriers Mourinho must find a way past in the second half to reduce the 344 number and increase the double digit starters past 10. Locked in a fierce battle with Man City, Chelsea still have the advantage in terms of fixtures remaining but it is this advantage that Mourinho must use wisely with his squad. History shows us how often he wins in year number two but it also shows us how much he needs to start relying on his squad if he wants to lift the trophy in May. Join us on Saturday from 7:30am et/4:30am pt for a full day of Premier League action including Chelsea vs Newcastle on TSN4 at 10am et/7am pt. Air Max 270 Fausse . Rajon Rondo had 18 of Bostons season-high 38 assists and the Celtics committed just seven turnovers in a 118-111 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Yeezy 700 France .com) - Nino Williams posted 18 points and seven rebounds, as Kansas State edged No. http://www.pascherbasketnike.fr/france-air-max-90-solde.html . Joining him in this years class were Switzerlands Patrick Huerlimann and Norways Eigil Ramsfjell. The announcement was made at the world mens curling championship at Capital Indoor Stadium in China.PHILADELPHIA -- Strong defence makes St. Johns a tough opponent, even if the Red Storm dont get a win to show for it. Darrun Hilliard scored 18 points, Ryan Arcidiacono had 12 and No. 9 Villanova beat St. Johns 57-54 on Saturday. It was the second straight win for Villanova (24-3, 12-2 Big East) since its second loss of the season to No. 11 Creighton. "That was old-school, Big East basketball," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Ugly. Great defence. Physical. You had to be physically and mentally tough to play that game. It was the Big East. Im glad to see our conference at that level. It was just the kind of game in the 80s when I was an assistant here." DAngelo Harrison had 15 points for St. Johns (18-10, 8-7), Rysheed Jordan scored 13 and JaKarr Sampson had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Red Storms six-game winning streak ended. "It was a Big East battle right to the end," Red Storm coach Steve Lavin said. "We punched and counter-punched right until the end in a hostile environment." Though moral victories dont show up in the standings, games like this increase St. Johns NCAA tournament chances. "If you know basketball, our team is coming together," Lavin said. "Now its up to us how we play the last two weeks." Wright thinks the Red Storm should get an invitation to the field of 68. "I think we can get five teams in on a year when our conference is down," Wright said. "Rivalries are getting interesting. Im getting excited about this league." Arcidiacono banked a three-pointer from the top of the circle to give Villanova a 53-50 lead with 3:43 left. After the Red Storm missed a shot, JayVaughn Pinkston grabbed two key offensive rebounds for the Wildcats and Hilliard made a free throw. St. Johns went 3:36 without a point before Sampsons free throw with 1:14 remainingg. Vapormax Pas Cher Femme. Arcidiacono then threw away the inbound pass following a timeout, and Harrison made a driving layup to cut it to 54-53. Daniel Ochefu made one of two free throws to give Villanova a two-point lead with 34 seconds left. With a chance to tie or give the Red Storm a lead, Phil Greene IV was called for travelling with 14 seconds to go. Arcidiaconos free throw made it 56-53. But the Red Storm couldnt get a three-point shot off and Harrison was fouled going for a layup with 1.5 seconds left. He made the first free throw and purposely missed the second, but a lane violation gave the ball to Villanova. "We were trying to get a three, but just couldnt do it," Harrison said. Josh Hart made one free throw and the Red Storm missed a desperation three-point shot at the buzzer. "Its frustrating," Sampson said. "We knew it was a big game. We just have to look forward to the next one." St. Johns came in allowing
the second-fewest points in the nation (68.0). They also had the top field goal percentage defence and three-point percentage defence. It showed as the Red Storm forced 15 turnovers and held the Wildcats 23 points below their average (80.7). The Wildcats tied for the fewest points they have scored in a win this season. James Bell hit a three-pointer to give Villanova its biggest lead, 44-38, in the second half. But the Red Storm answered with a 9-3 run capped by SirDominic Pointers driving layup that tied it at 47. After both teams traded misses and turnovers for two minutes, Bell drained another three for a 50-47 with 5:52 left. Villanova, which beat St. Johns 74-67 at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 11, jumped to an 8-0 lead behind two threes by Hilliard. The Red Storm scored the next nine points and the teams played a tight, defensive first half that ended with Villanova leading 28-27. ' ' '