Blogger: #25
There’re no points for guessing the most important thing to happen to Chelsea over the summer. That’s right, you didn’t guess it, Carlos Tevez’s departure. The little Argentine’s first match against Chelsea was a 1-0 loss while he was playing for the Hammers and his second, a 4-1 defeat in which he scored. Ever since that match, he has played the Blues 10 times and his worst result was a 0-0 draw and even then he came on in the 69th, sneaky little (former red) devil might have maintained a spotless record against us if he’d actually started that game. 8 goals, 1 assist and penalty scored in the shootout on that fateful night at Moscow. Ever since Cristiano’s departure, I’ve never been this relieved to see someone leave the league. (Some of you may throw the name ‘Fergie’ around, but more on that later)
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| Hopefully the last Carlos Tevez goal we'll concede |
Getting to the other most important thing to happen to Chelsea over the summer. José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix a.k.a. José Mourinho a.k.a. The Special One a.k.a. The Happy One a.k.a. Two time UEFA Manager of the Year a.k.a. one of the elite managers who’ve won the champions league with two different clubs and the list goes on. He received a hero’s welcome on his return and why not, he deserves no less. Whilst the other clubs went into the market looking to strengthen their squad, we went out and strengthened our technical area . Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel have been the only significant signings. More than the signings he made, I’m interested in the signings he didn’t make. Players returning from their loan spells around Europe aren’t returning on loan for a change (with the exception of Courtois). Michael Essien has always been a favourite of José’s and no doubt he’ll add some bite to that seemingly well rounded midfield. But it’s the Belgians who’ve got me rubbing my hands with anticipation. Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku have performed for their respective clubs last season and I can’t wait to see what they can add to this squad. de Bruyne is a player similar to Hazard and the two of them on song and on the same wavelength can cause some serious defence to any premier league defence. In the few Werder Bremen game highlights that I’ve seen, Kevin de Bruyne has impressed. Making good runs, spotting passes and scoring the odd goal. And he’s done all that and more in the pre season games as well. Lukaku on the other hand has been touted as the next Didier Drogba. Now, I don’t know who actually does all this ‘touting’, but the people responsible have made some of the following comparisons in the past,
Adel Taraabt → The next Zinedine Zidane (Yeah sure)
Gareth Bale → The next David Beckham (Don’t know what they meant but at least he made it big)
Carlos Tevez → The next Diego Maradona (In my experience as a Chelsea fan, more like the next Ronaldo, Henry, Shearer, van Nistelrooy, van Persie and a toothless Suarez)
Lionel Messi → The next Diego Maradona (Good spot)
Sergio Aguero → The prodigal Son (in-law) of Diego Maradona (Well played)
Nani → The next Cristiano Ronaldo (Could see why this comparison was made)
Adnan Januzaj → The next Cristiano Ronaldo (Although he claims that he plays more ‘Cleverly’)
Anderson → The next Ronaldinho (Definitely)
There have been some discrepancies but hey, 5 out of those 8 players have made it big and by that I mean that they’re Champions League quality (and two out of the three odd ones out may very well get there one day and we all know which one won’t make it). Due to the same physical structure and a coach who likes to play that kind of striker, I think it’s alright to feel cautiously optimistic about Romelu Lukaku really becoming the next Drogba. Sure he doesn’t have Drogba’s pace or his uncanny ability to score at Wembley (yet) or his smooth dance moves.
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| Football's for pussies. Let's tango like real men |
But he is a beast and despite being labelled a ‘physical’ league, defenders in our beloved Premier League (and sometimes goalkeepers too) aren’t particularly fond of playing against big forwards and that will help Lukaku shine.
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| Handling crosses is a piece of ca... |
That being said, in Demba Ba, Torres and Lukaku, we have three strikers who have the can be fantastic on their day, just that those days are few and far between (how I’d love to see you three make me eat my own words), but we need consistency. A striker who’d score 25 or 30 goals for you season in, season out, at the risk of being repetitive, someone like Drogba. A Higuain or Cavani was just what the doctor ordered.
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| Chill. I got this. I know what I'm doing |
However, José’s looking elsewhere for that striker. Seems hell bent on getting Wayne Rooney. At first I thought that he wasn’t the right option for us. But once Cavani went to PSG and Higuain to Napoli (another possible reason for us to hate Rafa), he seems to be the only player around that we could get for that role. We’d not only be getting a quality player, but we’d also be robbing one of our title challenging rivals of their attacking depth. Also, if he does move here, I’m pretty sure he’ll get to play as a proper Striker and may have to get used to not playing Left Wing, Attacking Midfield, Centre Midfield or even Goalkeeper (which an ardent united fan may remember the time he wanted to keep for a penalty against Portsmouth when United once lost both their keepers. Rio kept instead). Now that’s a very good thing, for I feel that he will combine well with the three Amigos who’ll play behind him which will comprise of Mata, Hazard and any one other player of the following list of Oscar, de Bruyne, Schurrle, Moses and even the master of the chip, Ramires (if absolutely required). Do your eyes not light up Master Wayne?
Finally, I’d like to touch upon the old foe of José’s whom I mentioned at the top of this post. Some neutrals may feel bad that they may never get to see José and Fergie square off ever again. Sure, Fergie’s retired, but does that really mean that he’s gone? Chelsea’s first game this season is against Hull City. A team led by Steve Bruce. I don’t know much about his career as a player, but as a manager, this guy always seemed to be there for his old boss Fergie. Don’t think it’s that much of a secret. During his Wigan days, handing Antonio Valencia to the Knighted one on a silver platter. A few years down the line at Sunderland, readily taking in some truly ‘top-class footballers’ from Man Utd, such as the Wes Brown and John O’Shea and being an eternal thorn on Chelsea’s side. Steve Bruce has led sides that have potentially ruined Chelsea’s title hopes, such as the 1-1 draw against Wigan at Stamford Bridge in 2008 and an hard to swallow 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge for Sunderland where Nedum Onuoha scored a brilliant solo goal, something that’s unheard of up until and even after that one fateful evening. How many times have you beaten Fergie huh Bruce? Getting real tired of your loyalty Steve.
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| Let's give Chelsea some headaches. Yay!! |
A week later, Chelsea go to the Theatre of Dreams to face the fans, coaches, backroom staff, succeeding manager and players, left behind by the great Scot Sir Alex Ferguson (won’t be doing the a.k.a.'s here). The only thing that will be different is that there won’t be a Scot who is at the ear of the fourth official and referees all through the game (only a significantly younger Scot maybe) and there may will not be any Fergie Time (because it’s Moysies’ Time. Ok I’ll stop). So despite all that’s happened, Fergie’s influence hasn’t really gone out of the league (at least not yet). Well, we’ll know how much his absence or partial absence will influence the dynamic of this title race for sure after a visit from Fergie’s underling and a visit to Fergie’s legacy in the first two weeks of the league. This year, if we go on to win our first 6 or 7 games (just like the past 3 or 4 seasons), I think we’ll stand a genuine chance to win the league because there are some genuine tests for us in the first few fixtures, so our fate seems to lie in the results of those few fixtures. I know that isn't the greatest piece of analysis you'll find on the net, but I refer to myself by a number, what did you expect? So if you agree or disagree or agree to agree or disagree to agree or agree to disagree or disagree to disagree with any of what I’ve written about, then please leave a comment about it.
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