Last season was a dream season for
Chelsea
F.C. Of course, their ‘revolutionary’ manager Andre Villas Boas was sacked. Of
course they finished the Premier League in sixth place, below Newcastle. But
come the morning of 20th May 2012, it was all forgotten.
Chelsea had completed one of the
most historic campaigns in Champions league history. They had defeated Napoli, Barcelona
and Bayern Munich against the odds and the man who delivered Roman Abramovich
his first UCL was made permanent manager. A new ‘blue revolution’ started.
Players like Azpilicueta, Hazard and Oscar were brought in. But Di Matteo was
sacked in November, following a pathetic run in the Champions League group
stages. They thrashed lowly FC Nordsjelland twice but could garner only 4
points from their remaining four fixtures. They finished third in their group
and parachuted into the lowly Europa League.
Rafael Benitez was appointed
‘Interim’ manager by Chelsea. And in hindsight, it seems a good move. But at
the time, there was disbelief and anger amongst the Stamford Bridge faithful.
The man who had insulted Chelsea again and again as Liverpool
manager was going to be their manager. Protests continued until the last day of
the season. The protests were loud if the team lost and minimal if it won, but
present nevertheless.
Chelsea, until the last couple of
weeks, was stuck in a battle for fourth place with London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal.
It was certainly an improvement on last season when it was only their UCL win
in Munich which let them participate in the Champions League – at Tottenham’s
expense. Under Di Matteo, Chelsea played a rather imbalanced style of football.
They seemed too top heavy at times and while Mata, Hazard and Oscar were
building a formidable unit amongst themselves, the lack of goals for Fernando
Torres was still a major concern. Benitez’s arrival looked like it could be a
catalyst for Torres to improve and sure enough there were signs of improvement
in Torres. But in the EPL,
he started another dry run after scoring a goal in the 8-0 mauling of Aston
Villa. He broke it on the last day of the season with a delightful near-post
volley. Undoubtedly the lowest points of Chelsea’s campaign was the 1-0 loss
they suffered to QPR.
But there were plenty of highs in
various English competitions. In the League Cup, a weakened Chelsea defeated
United 5-4 and thrashed old rivals Leeds United 5-1, after going a goal down,
in the FA cup. They faced Manchester United in the FA cup, and at Old
Trafford, performed a rousing comeback to draw the match at 2-2 after going 2-0
down in the first half. At Stamford Bridge, a solitary Demba Ba goal was enough
to defeat United. And even though they lost to the other Manchester team (Manchester
City) in the semi finals, it did not matter. Another low point was
their 2-0 loss to Swansea in the Capital One Cup, but this too did not matter.
It did not matter because they were having a great run in Europe, or rather the
Europa League. After reaching the round of 32, they defeated Sparta Prague,
Steaua Bucuresti, Rubin Kazan and FC Basel. This led them to the finals in
Amsterdam. If there were two players who shined throughout the Europa League
campaign, they were David Luiz and Fernando Torres. In Europe, Benitez often
opted to use Luiz in midfield.
It was where he shone brilliantly.
The zenith of his success came against FC Basel when he controlled the whole
game and to cap it off, he curled in a beautiful goal with his wrong (left)
foot which had the perfect amount of bend, speed, dip and swerve on it. But it
was the much maligned Torres who seemed to be taking Chelsea through almost
single handedly. He scored 6 goals in the 9 matches Chelsea played, and though
people tend to forget it, Victor Moses, too, was brilliant in the Europa League
with 4 goals. The final in Ajax was always Chelsea’s game to win. And they won
it. A brilliant Fernando Torres opener was cancelled out by a Cardozo penalty
and just when it seemed that the match may be going into extra-time, Ivanovic
rose highest to launch a header in the back of the net, and Chelsea became the
only club to hold both the Europa League and the Champions League
simultaneously. Albeit for only 10 days. After the Europa League win, even
better news came for Chelsea fans all over the world. After a protracted drama,
Lampard’s contract had finally received an extension and those who love the man
would have a chance to see him at the highest level for another season. All new
main squad arrivals, except for Marin, had a good season. Hazard, Moses and
Oscar showed a lot of their quality and with age and experience they could only
get better. Lukaku, De Bruyne, Piazon and Courtois are some players that should
be a part of Chelsea in the seasons to come. Demba Ba was brought in during the
winter transfer window to provide a back-up for the Spanish number ‘9’ and in
fairness, Demba Ba has had a good time at Stamford Bridge. His real
contribution though was his cohesion with the three playmakers (Oscar, Hazard
and Mata). The ‘three amigos’ of the Chelsea squad have combined for 56 assists
and 46 goals this season. Even Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas together have
fewer assists than them.
A separate word for Fernando
Torres though, for most of the season the world was baying for his blood.
Credit must go to Chelsea fans, management and staff for keeping faith in him.
After all, a haul of 23 goals and 7 assists is nothing to scoff at. And the
unquantifiable quality was ever present in his displays, he harassed his
opponents with his perseverance and hard work. Frank Lampard, like every year,
was again the talisman. During a purple patch which extended from December to February,
he scored in almost every game and became the only midfielder to
score 10 or more league goals for 10 consecutive seasons.
Player of the Year
Juan Mata: The Spanish midfielder,
for me, is the best midfielder in England at the moment. His creativity and
vision are unparalleled. He has quick feet and a quicker brain. With 20 goals
and 28 assists, he is undoubtedly Chelsea’s best player. And this year, he has
even added to his stamina and tried to complete his defensive duties; all in
all the perfect team man.
Match of the
year
There are no doubts when it
comes to this one. The 8-0 annihilation of Aston Villa was historic and the
finest hour of the season for the Blues. Everything they did was perfect, every
pass was accurate and every effort reaped a goal. No less than 7 players found
themselves on the score-sheet and all this after the Villa keeper, Brad Guzan,
made half a dozen world class saves.
Most Valuable
Player
Eden Hazard: Now this is a man who
lives up to his name. He came and took the Premier League by storm. The first
few weeks, defenders found it impossible to stop him as he weaved his magic
around them. The former French Player of the Year is blessed with a wonderful
sense of balance, blistering pace, excellent reading of the game and two feet
which can shoot equally well. His 14 goals and 20 assists played a crucial part
in Chelsea’s good season.
Goal of the
year
This was a tough one, but I would
go for Ba’s goal against Manchester United in the FA Cup quarterfinal replay.
Ba was picked out with a 35-yard pinpoint chipped pass by Mata; the former then
adjusted his body position brilliantly and applied an unbelievable touch to
send it on to goal. In terms of quality and sense of occasion, that goal stands
out for me.
Moment of the
year
One would think that a Europa
League win would in fact qualify as anyone’s moment of the year, but not for
me. For me, the best moment of the year came when Frank Lampard scored his
record breaking 203rd goal for the Blues and overtook Bobby
Tambling. It might be churlish to designate a personal achievement as the most
important moment for a club, but the service he has given to the club, the
success he has got for them, the love he has for the club and its fans gives
him the right.
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