The Forgotten Ones – What’s Happened To Chelsea FC’s Strikers?
Chelsea FC’s striking depth, while significant on paper, is rather non-existent in practice. What has happened to the club’s contracted forwards?
Besides the suddenly in-form Diego Costa, Chelsea’s strikers behind the Spanish front man have all but disappeared. Since the turn of the new year, Costa has found the form that was lost during the first half of the season, scoring at a rate of more than half a goal per game.
However, the newly purchased Alexandre Pato remains in a constant struggle for match fitness, Loic Remy is constantly fighting whatever nagging injury is affecting him at any given time, and Radamel Falcao continues to be a waste of space on Chelsea’s wage bill.
"Pato has now to get his sharpness to be competitive with the youngsters we have, because we have three strikers available, plus Falcao who is injured – Guus Hiddink via The Sun."
More from The Pride of London
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea player ratings: Abysmal, reckless, wasteful
- Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: 3 Blues talking points
- 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
Luckily for the Blues, youngster Bertrand Traore has been a bright spot off the bench. He has scored goals against Manchester City and MK Dons in the FA Cup, as well as against Newcastle in the league.
“Diego is doing his job very well and I’m rather satisfied with Traore’s performances in the games when he’s come in, especially being a youngster with no big international name,” said Hiddink.
While everyone knows what Pato is capable of when fit and in full flow, scoring a respectable 19 goals in 59 appearances for Sao Paulo while on loan from Corinthians, you wonder why Chelsea would make the purchase during the January transfer window knowing that Pato was hurt and/or not up to match speed.
According to Hiddink, Pato still remains weeks away from achieving match fitness, and even after he does, who knows whether or not he’ll be able to make an impact. It’s the Juan Cuadrado debacle all over again; a key attacker making little-to-no impact during the second half of the season after being purchased, only to leave during the summer.
Due to a lack of playing time, it’s a well-known secret that Remy is expected to push for a transfer away from the club in the summer. Despite being named on the bench in recent matches, it’s Traore that has been the preferred striker substitution over Remy. Remy hasn’t scored a goal in league play at all this season, with the exception of a relatively meaningless goal in a loss to table-toppers Leceister City in the middle of December.
Where to start with Falcao? The Colombian hasn’t even been seen on the Chelsea bench since October. The only goal that he has in a blue kit was a diving header in a loss to Crystal Palace at the beginning of the season in August. In addition, Chelsea actively tried to end his loan deal with the club during the winter transfer window by finding another club that would accept his loan contract, but his wage bill proved to be the insurmountable obstacle.
Next: Southampton v Chelsea FC: Chelsea Player Ratings
Chelsea have five strikers on the first-team payroll, and only two have made any remote contributions. With a lack of stability and consistency behind Costa, there’s no doubt that once again, a striker will be on Chelsea’s wishlist during the summer transfer window.