After a dip in form earlier in the season, Chelsea FC centerback Gary Cahill wants to build on the momentum of his good performance in the League Cup Final and prove his doubters wrong. The England centerback has been replaced at times this season by youngster Kurt Zouma, who has played very well, but is still in the conversation for a starting place as Jose Mourinho rotates the two players.
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Last season was one of Gary Cahill’s best in a Chelsea FC shirt in terms of individual achievements. The Blues did not win any trophies but Cahill was chosen in the Premier League’s Team of the Year ahead of John Terry for his excellent performances in the league. Much of the talk surrounding Cahill by the fans was about the possibility of him succeeding Terry as the captain of the club.
This season he has regressed a bit back to the player many believe he is, an above average but not great player. The evidence has been there for all to see. Cahill is too eager to back off defenders and give them space to shoot rather than step up and force them in to making a decision. This has cost the Blues on a few occasions already and the last straw was his shambolic effort against Tottenham on New Years Day.
Cahill was used and abused by Harry Kane and was made to look like an amateur by the youngster. To add to his terrible display, Cahill also gave up a penalty to really sum up what was his worst performance in a Chelsea FC shirt.
Gary Cahill, as quoted by the Express, on wanting to prove his critics wrong:
"“I have proved people wrong before, and I will do it again.”“After Christmas I had a couple of incidents, with performances which weren’t at the standard I would want them to be – and I don’t need anybody to tell me that. I reflect on everything that I do, I don’t think go around thinking everything is rosy. I am my own worst critic. I’ve learned as I’ve got older to be a bit less hard on myself than when I was younger. Then, I thought it was the end of the world. Now I move on a bit better.”“But I’ve had it before in my career. When you have a little dip in form, you just play and come through the other end. I have proved it time and time again. I proved it when I was at Bolton and I got the England call-up. I was told, ‘You can’t play for England, you’re at Bolton’. I proved them wrong. I came to Chelsea and it was, ‘Oh you can’t play Champions League, you can’t do this, you can’t do that’ – and I proved them wrong.”“It’s that fire in your belly. Although you’d wish not to have it, the criticism is probably what has got me to where I am today. This is no different. I will come out the other end without a shadow of a doubt – like you saw on Sunday.”"
After that performance, the calls rang out from Chelsea FC fans for Cahill to be replaced by Kurt Zouma. Jose Mourinho would not be where he is if all he did was listen to the fans but he did see the signs that Cahill did not play very well against pacey attackers and may have needed a rest. Later in January he gave Zouma a chance against Liverpool and Swansea City to impress and that is exactly what he did. This weekend Mourinho shuffled his deck and started the both of them although the Frenchman was deployed in midfield.
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To Cahill’s credit, he has not gone in to a shell after his run of bad performances. He has taken that setback and used it to fuel his competitive fire and added another chip to the many that he has on his shoulder. The team is in a better place with a confident and in form Gary Cahill and his mentality is just as important as his physical condition. The comments he made show that he is ready and focused on improving his play which will only help Chelsea FC in the long run.