Chelsea’s first step to breaking the No. 9 curse: A hero complex

Chelsea’s own Tammy Abraham will wear the number nine this season. He has met the first criteria for breaking the number nine curse: a belief that he can.

The number nine shirt at Chelsea has long been considered “cursed”. Since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink departed the Blues in 2004, no less than nine players have worn the infamous number. None of those nine lived up the expectations the club had of them.

The curse is, in part, a self feeding beast. Every time a striker flops while wearing the nine, it makes it more of a mental hurdle for the next player to wear it. It has gotten to the point where fans almost immediately dismiss a player when they select the number because of the alleged “curse”.

But part of beating the curse is a belief that it can be beaten. That has, of course, been the first step of every striker selecting the number for Chelsea. And though it has always ended the same way, it always starts with that belief of being the one to beat the curse. Tammy Abraham is the latest to try his luck at being the hero.

If a player picks the nine thinking they will fail, they fail. That is the same notion that goes along with a manager saying a club cannot compete. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. It is good that Abraham has made the first, brave decision to take the number. He thinks he can beat it and that belief may be what lets him do so.

Of course, other strikers thought the same too. Alvaro Morata wore the number and started his Chelsea career hot. But then injuries set him back and all of a sudden the curse caught up with him. His reasons for switching to the 29 were valid (the day his children were born), but it was also an indication that he had given up on beating the number nine curse. The mere thought would have prevented him from breaking it anyways.

Abraham is on square one: believing the curse can be broken/does not exist. The next step is to maintain that belief until the curse is forgotten. When things start to go wrong, and they will because no one maintains perfect form forever, he cannot start to think about the curse. Because once he does, it becomes real and the game is lost for him.

It is almost like the pink elephant game. Do not think about a pink elephant. But then it is all that can be thought about.

But more than anything, being a successful striker is about confidence. The number nine curse has always been about confidence. Didier Drogba never wore the nine, but his shadow loomed over many that did. And every time he went on the field, he believed he would score and that Chelsea would win. That often caused belief to turn into reality.

Now Abraham must do the same. He has taken the first step by picking the nine. Now he has to keep believing in himself even when things go bad. He can break the number nine curse by believing he can. That has always been the first step and now it is time for him to continue believing he can be the hero.