Gary Cahill’s red card against Burnley was his first since December 2011. Chelsea will continue to pay the price for his poor tackle, but it should not affect his place in the XI or as captain.
Gary Cahill saw red against Burnley for the first time since he was with Bolton Wanderers, early in a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham. His absence was apparent more in Chelsea’s lack of defensive structure than his actual defending. Chelsea’s disorganized response to Cahill’s sending off allowed Burnley to take a 3-0 lead before the Blues regained coherence.
The cost will only go up in the three games of his suspension. The Blues have only a week to instill Cahill’s on-field organization and discipline in Cesar Azpilicueta and David Luiz, while also bringing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen up to speed on tactics. After Tottenham, Chelsea face an Everton reignited by Wayne Rooney’s return. Then they take on Leicester City, who showed signs of their 2015/16 rampage in scoring three goals against Arsenal.
The suspension will also add to whatever Chelsea pays for whoever they finally buy. The club has solid reserves at centre-back, but few that are ready to step in and play. Virgil van Dijk looks much more attractive at £60 million now than he did Saturday morning.
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All that notwithstanding, Cahill’s red card should not adversely impact his season at Chelsea, let alone his tenure as captain. Cahill has been of Chelsea’s most disciplined defenders. Since coming to Chelsea in 2012, Cahill has 17 Premier League yellow cards. He had five in each of two seasons, and no more than two in the others. He had not previously received a red card at Chelsea.
Cahill has no record or reputation for dangerous play, unsportsmanlike conduct or provocation. His teammates, manager and other players in the league know this. The match official arguably should have known that, too.
As match captain last season, Cahill demonstrated his ability to defuse situations and keep players on both teams under control while the referee sorted out affairs. He was the strong, level-headed presence that managers and referees expect from a captain. This likely factored into the consensus among most ex-officials in the pundit-sphere is that the red card was an excessive punishment.
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On every front, Cahill’s tackle on Defour was a true outlier. The tackle was poorly executed and rash, but was neither reckless nor malicious. Antonio Conte will likely be disappointed, rather than angry, at his captain executing such poor technique. This was not a tactical yellow gone wrong – it was a pointless yellow gone wrong.
Chelsea had enough to deal with in terms of squad and tactics before the 13′ minute against Burnley. Losing Gary Cahill for the next three games sets the prospect of “winless in the opening four” in the realm of the possible. That will be punishment enough for the captain.
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Cahill has developed through adversity over his five years at Chelsea to bring him to this point. This incident will spur him to be better and overcome it, starting with Arsenal on September 17.