Chelsea’s most under-appreciated: 4 players, 2 managers and the good doctor

If you think Chelsea fans don’t know how to treat their flops, you should see how they act around some of their best! These Blues rarely receive a fraction of the credit they deserve.

Antonio Conte has Inter Milan challenging for a Serie A title, which is leading some Chelsea fans to wonder if just maybe he knew what he was doing when he led Chelsea to a record-setting win streak en route to the Premier League title while driving tactical changes across the league. Who are some other Blues who were only appreciated after they left?

1. Misunderstood target men: Daniel Sturridge, Demba Ba, Olivier Giroud (Varun Dani)

Chelsea has seemed to be in a state of perpetual change at striker ever since the Didier Drogba era ended in 2012. From Fernando Torres to Tammy Abraham, Stamford Bridge has seen 13 strikers over seven years try their hand at becoming the club’s new undisputed No. 9 (or, erm… No. 11).

Other than Diego Costa’s brief carnage and Abraham’s new young flame, general opinion would be that Chelsea have picked their strikers miserably, and while that might be true for most of them, Demba Ba, Daniel Sturridge and Olivier Giroud bucked the trend but never seem to get the appreciation they deserved.

Sturridge joined Chelsea in the peak Drogba era, but he should have been the striker to replace the Ivorian. Quick and skillful with a devastating left foot, Sturridge was capable of leading the line or playing as an inside forward; and could make an impact off the bench.

You would think all these traits could not have gone unnoticed, but due to frequent changes of managers and some untimely injuries, Sturridge went somewhat under the radar.

Sturridge went on to show that he had all the talent in the world at Liverpool and, had it been for better luck, would be still leading the line for them. If only Chelsea had nurtured him and given him the game time he deserved, Sturridge could have led the line at Stamford Bridge to this day. Perhaps, it was just bad luck (which pretty much summarizes the Englishman’s career).

Demba Ba’s and Olivier Giroud’s Blue careers were uncannily similar: bargain winter arrivals, proven goal-scoring records at their previous clubs in England, brought in to provide valuable back up to the main strikers. Both started off well and brought similar qualities to the team. They were strong target men who could score themselves and still enhance the level of attackers feeding off them.

Both were sidelined by the club bringing in once-elite strikers who were past their days (Samuel Eto’o and Gonzalo Higuain) and still maintained utmost professionalism despite the circumstances.

Had the club treated them better and maximized their abilities, Ba and Giroud would have helped the club’s main strikers significantly and saved the Blues from the banter signings of Radamel Falcao, Alexandre Pato and Gonzalo Higuain. They deserved better.