Spain bordered on criminal neglect of Cesar Azpilicueta in the World Cup, keeping him on the bench for their entire run. Azpilicueta’s place should be secure at Chelsea, where he is the only player the Blues can count on for their right side.
Nacho’s goal against Portugal gave Spain a false sense of validation. Fernando Hierro had been on the job a matter of days, and he looked to someone with as little experience as him to stand in for the still-recovering Dani Carvajal. Nacho started ahead of Cesar Azpilicueta despite much less of a record for club and country. The lack of composure showed a few minutes into the game as Nacho gave up a penalty to Cristiano Ronaldo. An hour later, Nacho gave Spain a temporary lead and the impression that Hierro made a defensible choice, if not the right one.
Call it karma, call it football, but Spain was not long for the tournament. Carvajal played the next three games, which ended with a Round of 16 exit on penalty kicks against Russia. Cesar Azpilicueta left the World Cup with not a single minute, after being the only Chelsea player named to Spain’s squad.
Azpilicueta will come back to a Chelsea in its usual amount of flux and turmoil. But he should be one of the few points of stability. There should be no thoughts of him being on the margins for club as he was for country.
Chelsea have sufficient depth for two-thirds of the pitch, but they have very few options anywhere along the right side. While they have Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri offering contrasting options at left-back, they have only Azpilicueta as a proven, reliable right-back.
Their right wing situation is completely up in the air. Willian is in the rumour mix for Manchester United, and should be out regardless of destination. Victor Moses could compete for his original spot as the right wing, but he would be starting from scratch after two seasons as right wing-back. Ross Barkley may be the best option, but his ability to stay fit and uninjured is always in question. And if Maurizio Sarri somehow decided to use wing-backs, Moses has enough defensive liabilities to give Sarri pause while Davide Zappacosta is no more a factor than he ever was.
Given how specifically Maurizio Sarri uses his wingers to press, he needs as much time as possible to train whoever will be filling the role for the season. Willian and Barkley went to Australia for the friendly in Perth, and Victor Moses just reported to Cobham.
Any of these players or none of them could be starting at right wing a month into the season. Cesar Azpilicueta will be marshaling the XI as it is, but the Blue leading the line on his side of the pitch could require extra direction.
Azpilicueta will likely wear the captain’s armband for much of the season as Gary Cahill will be in his usual battle to make the starting XI. Sarri will need as much on-field leadership as he can get from his players. Replacing either Cahill or Azpilicueta as captain or vice-captain while they remain at the club is the sort of friction Sarri – Chelsea’s new, fun manager – does not need. He will want one of them in the lineup, and on tactics and technique that responsibility will fall on Azpilicueta, at least at first.
Chelsea’s gap at right wing has escaped the focus so far in this transfer window, given everything surrounding their needs at goalkeeper, the pursuit of multiple centre midfielders and the battle to retain Eden Hazard. The right side struggled last season, but had Cesar Azpilicueta as their always-reliable backstop.
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Hopefully Maurizio Sarri will have more sense than Fernando Hierro, and not overlook the somehow still-overlooked Azpilicueta. The entire right side of Chelsea’s play could rely on him. That’s actually quite comforting.