The 2014/2015 season is over for Chelsea FC (for those gloating and drooling over the club’s hilarious 3-0 defeat to West Brom, you are just being delusional if you think we care… Chelsea FC are CHAMPIONS!) and has been so since May 3rd with the 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace. Expectedly, key players are already in a holiday mood, like Hazard whose form has dropped since his winner against Crystal Palace.
So it would be very appropriate for the club (and fans) to take stock of the season and look to next season. And one of the most important areas to consider is the performances of certain players. Hazard, Terry, Azpilicueta and Courtois displayed consistently impressive performances all season while the performances of players like Fabregas, Matic and Costa tailed off as the season progressed due to issues with fatigue, injuries, accumulated bookings and the like. Willian was consistently average all season, showing his usual work rate with little end product, as his goals and assists tally clearly indicates, while Ivanovic and Cahill were really erratic… excellent today, abysmal tomorrow!
But the focus of this article is on the players who have displayed moments of real quality, but had more than enough downers for their futures at the club to be questioned…
Next: Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Júnior
Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Júnior
That Oscar on his day is a brilliant player cannot be questioned. When a 19-year old becomes a regular in the Brazilian national team, keeping out the likes of Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ganso etc and going on to get 45 caps at just 23 years, it makes you realise how special he is. But it has come with a huge price… Oscar has not had any extended period of rest since 2012! Prior to joining Chelsea FC, he featured for Brazil in the 2012 London Olympics, which they lost in the final to Mexico.
After going through the rigours of club football with Chelsea in the 2012/2013 season (in which the club won the Europa League) along with his national team commitments, he again had to take part in the FIFA Confederations Cup during the summer, which they went on to win thanks to a 3-0 victory against Spain in the final, with Oscar taking part in every game. And again after the 2013/2014 season came to an end, he had to take part in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, with him again playing the maximum number of games after Brazil lost their 3rd place match to the Netherlands.
With Brazil competing in the 2015 Copa America in Chile, he was expected to be named in the squad, which would have meant a 4th consecutive summer without a break for the youngster. But a fortunate injury in training prior to Chelsea’s title decider against Crystal Palace ensured that he was not named in Dunga’s 23-man shortlist to prosecute the tournament.
What really makes Oscar special is that he is one of those rare breed of players the combines technical nous with an uncanny work rate and it is this attribute that makes him valuable to both club and country. He, along with Willian, is Chelsea’s first line of defense, closing down opposing players and helping the team regain possession as quickly as possible, which is evidenced by the number of tackles he attempts and completes.
But he also combines this with the ability to thread fantastic passes and score incredible goals, as evidenced by his goals against Juventus in the 2012/2013 UCL group stage, and his free-kick against Stoke City in the 2013/2014 F.A. Cup fifth round clash. These are just 3 of the 30 goals he has scored for the club in his 151 appearances till date.
But it is also in his versatility that his problems lie. Oscar’s combative style of play belies his relatively small frame, both in height and physique, meaning that he expends more energy than most doing what he does. While many have claimed that he doesn’t have the capability to put up consistently impressive performances, like Eden Hazard, I for one feel that his lack of an extended summer break, constant football (due to Mourinho’s limited squad rotation) and his combative style have been largely responsible for his drop of form in the second half of every season since he joined the club in 2012.
Several unconfirmed reports have claimed that Chelsea FC intend to cash in on Oscar to fund the transfer of Paul Pogba from Juventus, and more recently Raheem Sterling from Liverpool (which is totally ridiculous, to say the least). But Mourinho’s insistence that he expects Oscar to take a Hazard-esque leap next season indicates that he still features in club’s plans for next season at least. His enforced summer break (due to his omission from Brazil’s Copa America squad) could be a blessing in disguise as he will get the extended rest he has lacked since joining the club in 2012.
But it could also lead to his demise as he would not be able to use the lack of a summer break as an excuse in case of a disappointing second half of the 2015/2016 season. Next season may just be the one that decides if he has a long-term future at the club, as Schurrle’s transfer shows that Mourinho has no time for stragglers, no matter how talented or popular!
Next: Ramires Santos do Nascimento
Ramires Santos do Nascimento
Nicknamed “Rambo” by Chelsea fans (due to his brutal tackling style) and “the Blue Kenyan” by Cruzeiro’s fan (a comparison to Kenya’s long distance runners due to his speed and stamina), he is one player that has divided public opinion as to his qualities as a player.
His combative style, aggressive tackling, stamina, work rate and versatility (as he can play in central midfield, defensive midfield or down the right flank) and his willingness to put the good of the team over personal glory may be the main reason why he is a favourite of Jose Mourinho, but these traits have overshadowed his understated technically abilities only seen when the shackles are taken off, which is not unusual for a player groomed in Brazil.
When a player scores contenders for goal of the season almost every season, it tells you that he offers much more than brute strength and work rate as evidenced by his goal against Barcelona in the 2nd leg semi-final of the 2011/2012 UCL (a delicate lob over the head of Victor Valdes), his brilliant solo goal against Manchester City in the 2010/2011 EPL season (dribbling past 3 City players to score) and more recently his brilliant goal from long range against Leicester City in the EPL.
But he has had to consistently fight to prove his quality as a player since joining the club in 2010 under Carlo Ancelotti till date (a period which has witnessed Chelsea hire 5 different coaches), with many (especially the members of the footballing media) questioning his abilities.
While his brutally aggressive style of tackling, (which has seen him booked on numerous occasions, most notably his red card for a horror tackle on El Ahmadi against Aston Villa in the 2013/2014 EPL season) may not have helped his cause, the recent craze for more technically sound ball-playing midfielders in the mould of Xavi, Pirlo and Toni Kroos means that his work ethic is not well appreciated. His exclusion from Brazil’s squad to the 2015 Copa America in Chile clearly indicates that Dunga is in agreement with the general view.
And even at Chelsea FC, his versatility has been made less relevant by the signings of Fabregas and Matic, players who possess parts of his qualities, but to much greater extents. This has seen his number of appearances drop to just 28 for the season (many of which have been from the bench), which is slightly over half his previous worst return in appearances (41 in 2010/2011 season), indicating that he has basically become more of a back-up option at the club.
With the emergence of youngsters like Kurt Zouma (a centre-back who has excelled in defensive midfield) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, coupled with the media speculations surrounding Chelsea FC’s interest in players like Sami Khedira, Koke and Paul Pogba, his position in the team is in serious threat. With him clocking 28 recently, it means that he would most likely need a really monumental 2015/2016 season to be guaranteed a future at the club long-term.
Next: Juan Guillermo Cuadrado Bello
Juan Guillermo Cuadrado Bello
The 3rd South American on my list, he also has the unenviable position of being the club’s most recent signing in a title winning season in which he offered next to nothing. Lauded for his work rate, dribbling ability, versatility (right wing-back, right midfield, right, central and left attacking midfield) before he joined the club in the January transfer window, he had a stellar 2014 at Fiorentina, making himself extremely valuable to the club, thus prompting Jose Mourinho to endorse his 23 million pound transfer to Chelsea, with Mohamed Salah going the other way on loan.
More from Chelsea FC News
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
- Chelsea sporting directors finally reveal why they sign so many young players
- These 3 new signings may never get a game at Chelsea
His impressive performances for Colombia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he registered the joint highest number of assists, also helped to boost his profile in world football, prompting clubs like Manchester City, United and Bayern Munich to show interest in signing him.
While replacing a player who endeared himself to the Chelsea fans with his humility and knack for scoring crucial goals against the top sides (hey there, Schurrle… still miss you!) was always going to be a daunting task, the fact that he was signed to better an already impressive squad made it even more difficult. And he has so far been unable to deal with the pressure of expectations, especially considering the fact that his signing coincided with a period that witnessed a drop in performances by the team.
He has struggled with the pace of the Premier League and his much lauded dribbling skills have totally deserted him. Seeing him get easily shrugged of the ball brings to mind the image of an errant child being scolded by his parents, and on several occasions his attempts to dribble past players have seen him stumble over the ball in hilarious fashion. The fact that he has accumulated more bookings than goals or assists hasn’t helped matters in his favour.
When you also put in the fact that the player who replaced him at Fiorentina, Mohamed Salah, has impressed so much that the fans have created a special chant for him, you can’t help but feel sorry for the 26-year old Colombian. His performances have been so abysmal that Jose Mourinho has been forced to defend him in a bid to lessen the pressure on him, claiming that he never expected him to integrate fully with the team and the Premier League this season and that he expects Cuadrado to be at his best next season after having a full pre-season with the team. But with his inclusion in Colombia’s squad for the 2015 Copa America confirmed, he may not even have the pre-season needed to integrate with the team.
With media speculation surrounding Chelsea’s interest in Antoine Griezmann, Mourinho would be hard-pressed to defend Cuadrado if he fails to step up his performances before the January transfer window comes in 2016.
Next: John George Terry
John George Terry
The 2nd oldest member of Chelsea’s current squad at 35 years, his stellar performances this season have culminated in him breaking the defender’s Premier League goal-scoring record initially held by David Unsworth, equalling his highest scoring tally for a season of 8 goals (which he may eventually break if he scores in his final game of the season against Sunderland) and finally earning another year with his contract initially set to expire at the end of the season.
Not blessed with a lot of pace (a pre-requisite for defenders currently playing for many of the current top attacking sides in Europe like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG and Real Madrid), he is mainly a throw-back to the defenders of old, with his uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right time to block shots, intercept passes and win headers making his lack of pace irrelevant. Add that to his leadership abilities, coupled with the fact that he is currently the last player to come up from the club’s academy to become a key player, and you get an idea of how important he is to the club. When you put all these together, it may seem silly of me to have included him in this list… right?
But when you take into consideration the fact that even Mourinho claimed to have had reservations about Terry’s ability to do the job required on his return to Chelsea in the 2013/2014 season, it gives you an idea of how close the latter probably was to leaving the club. With Chelsea trying to evolve to a new attacking style of play under Andre Villas-Boas in the 2011/2012 EPL season, his lack of pace caused the team to be exposed, forcing Villas-Boas to keep him on the bench in place of the erratic David Luiz. While he enjoyed a resurgence with the appointment of interim manager, Roberto Di Matteo, with a return to the defensive tactics that helped the team secure the 2011/2012 F.A. Cup and Champion’s League, he again faced another career fight when Matteo was sacked in place of Rafael Benitez, a few months into the 2012/2013 season.
Jose Mourinho has basically built his team around John Terry’s strengths, prioritizing defensive stability over attacking strength, which has been largely responsible for his impressive season. But while Mourinho may be loath to forgo Terry’s leadership ability in the future, the latter’s advancing age and Roman Abramovich’s much publicized preference for a sleek, eye-catching attacking brand of football may force Mourinho to re-evaluate his position on the ex-England international.
The emergence of Kurt Zouma, who has the advantage of being quite fast despite his huge size, and the speculation surrounding Chelsea’s interest in Raphael Varane also indicates that Mourinho may be looking to change the style of the team. John Terry will have a huge fight on his hands to prove that he has the required qualities to adapt to the changes that may come in the nearest future. With the club’s policy of offering 1-year contracts to players over 30, his time at the club may come to an end much sooner than he would like.
Next: Frank Lampard's Best Moments At Chelsea FC