Chelsea recently smashed the British transfer record with their 50 million deal to sign Fernando Torres from Liverpool. There is no doubt that Torres is a world cla s striker, arguably the best in the world, but I just feel as if it is going to highlight Chelseas desperate need to spend elsewhere.I believe Chelsea have gone from winning back to back championships in 2005 and 2006 to winning only one in the past four years because they have never really replaced one man, no not Jose Mourinho, no not Claude Makelele but Arjen Robben. Until they find a suitable replacement for the explosive winger I fear they may never win the Champions League.Chelsea mi s that spark that
Derek Sanderson Men Jersey all great teams have. That one player who is a magician on the ball, who can dribble it around one, two even three players and produce that killer pa s at the end. The player that sells tickets on his own and gets them ticket holders off their feet. Arjen Robben was that player at Chelsea and to their own detriment I dont believe they have found an acceptable replacement.Robbens time at Chelsea was an injury plagued one, but for the few months he was fully fit he lit up premier league grounds acro s the country with his delightful dribbling and lightning quick pace. He scored 15 goals in 67 appearances for The Blues which does not seem like a lot, but many of them were critical such as the opener in a 2-0 win at Highbury in 2005. However, it is not the goals that were Robbens most e sential attribute to the Chelsea team; it was his ability to open up defences with his quick, direct dribbling or his inch perfect cro sing from the byline. He would scare the life out of full backs and centre halfs alike. This not only puts them on the back foot but also keeps them so preoccupied with trying to tie down Robben that it allows space and time for other players to work their magic. Robben was imperative to the way Chelsea played. He gave them that cutting edge and attacking
Danton Heinen Men Jersey flair that the great Gianfranco Zola used to bring. When defenders looked at the team sheet prior to the game and saw that Robben was starting they knew they had a tough afternoon ahead of them, I dont believe many of the Chelsea players since then, excluding a certain Didier Drogba, have given defenders such nightmares before a game. It is this cutting edge, this pace, this flair, this ability to open a defence which Chelsea have been lacking in recent years. The year since Arjen Robben was sold to Real Madrid.
Now I hear some of you shouting about Joe Cole and Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda. But as good as each of these guys are, none of them can bring what Arjen Robben did. Joe Cole did have the ability to open up defences with a sublime flick or incisive through ball, but he never delivered week in week out. Joe was never ble sed with pace so if his tricks
Steven Kampfer Women Jersey and turns didnt work he never had a plan B. Robben on the other hand could beat players with bare pace if all else failed. Of course Joe Cole brought other qualities, especially under Jose Mourinho where he became a more rounded player, learning the importance of tracking back. But this is the exact opposite to what Chelsea currently need. The club has numerous ball winners in the side such as Michael E sien and John Obi Mikel. Mourinho should have allowed these players to do just that and this would have released Cole to provide the bit of flair needed. Instead Mourinho made Joe into a more conservative, team player which was the opposite of
Torey Krug Jersey his natural game. As a defender I would much prefer to play against Joe Cole the conservative team player than Joe Cole the tricky, skilful man beater he once was. On top of this Mourinho fell out with Robben and sold him to Madrid. In the space of 6 months Mourinho had managed to rid Chelsea of all its attacking flair and replace it with yet another industrious winger in Florent Malouda. Something which I believe cost them the next three Championships.The obvious caveat to this argument is that Chelsea brought in Deco who is that special playmaker I have been crying out for. However, Deco never really looked like he had the hunger to play for the club, I mean he had already won 2 La Liga titles and 2 Champions Leagues; he had come for the payday. Someone young and exciting is what was needed.There are numerous example of how such a creative player is needed to win trophies. If we look at some of the great teams of recent times we can see that they won major trophies with a world beating creative player in their side, whether playing in the hole behind the strikers or on the wing. The obvious examples are Lionel Me si for Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo for Manchester United/Real Madrid. Both of these have played the starring roles as their clubs won their respective leagues and the Champions League. So much so that when Ronaldo left United they lost the league title for the first time in three years. Its safe to say that without Me sis amazing goal record Barcelona too would struggle to retain their championship. Looking at other examples we can see that Inter Milan won the treble last season with Wesley Sneijder at the heart of that team. Sneijder also won the Champions Leagues MVP for that season. Their opponents in that final were Bayern Munich who
John Moore Women Jersey also won the Bundesliga last year. Is it a coincidence that Arjen Robben scored important goals in the quarter and semi finals of the Champions League for Bayern as well as winning the German Player of the Year in his first season at the club? Kaka was fundamental when Milan won the Champions League in 2007. Tottenhams Champions League qualification push last season was down to the form of their pacey, creative winger Gareth Bale. They have now found an even more creative player in Rafael Van Der Vaart who has propelled them into the Champions League knockout stage for the first time. Athletico Madrid won the Europa League last season with Sergio Aguero in stunning form and even le s noticeable teams such as Blackpool have that one creative player that can run past players or pull the strings from midfield in Charlie Adam.Now I dont believe it is a coincidence that each of the players I have mentioned above
David Backes Women Jersey are arguably the best players at their club. I think it takes a special type of player to be succe sful in the role I am talking about and those players that are world cla s in that position are a rare breed and cost an awful lot of money to obtain. These players are the best players at their club because they are so important as to whether that club is succe sful or not. When each of the above clubs won their respective trophies it was largely down to the players mentioned. Without them, they probably would never have won them trophies. On the back of this it is fair to say that any of the above would walk into the current Chelsea team. Thats because Chelsea do not have any player of that type. If Arjen Robben was still in the squad would it be so ea
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