The year is 2015. The Thames is coursing a dark blue and the sun is breaking out above the clouds; it’s May 2nd, and Chelsea are seconds away from clinching their first league title in five barren years. Eden Hazard, winger in waiting for the PFA player of the year award and scorer of the goal separating Chelsea & Crystal Palace, trots off to a rousing ovation and is replaced by Filipe Luis. The 29 year old takes stock of the situation and reverts to type, helping to shield the defence from any last-minute Palace counters.
The relevance of this incident? In the grand scheme of things, very little. However, I look wistfully at our bench this year and the Brazilian is conspicuous in his absence. Sold back to Atletico Madrid a mere year after arriving on the green turf of Stamford Bridge, Luis played an often understated role in our march to domestic success last year.
This forum has seen enough debate on the failings of Ivanovic, whilst £18 million replacement Baba Rahman has yet to demonstrate his ability to fill such lofty shoes.
The defensive fragility of Chelsea is well documented; we’ve conceded over three times as many goals this season as we had at the same stage in 2014. We’re an unbalanced combination of inexperience and degeneration, and it shows.
I cast an eye over our squad and I see potential, but will that drag us out of our current plight? Improbable, at best. Luis was undoubtedly a bit-part player last year – he deputised for our first choice full backs and played a minor role in relatively unimportant cup games. However, his contributions were noted; a sublime free-kick to put us ahead against Derby County, a piece of skill against Sporting Lisbon which would not look out of place in Messi’s scrapbook and a particularly impressive performance against Swansea City to see us take one of our largest victories of the season.
One has to ask then, why did we sell the self-sacrificing Brazilian back to Atletico Madrid? His experience, skill and knowledge would have made him an invaluable asset in times of turmoil, a state of play that has taken up permanent residence on the blue side of West London.
Was selling Luis back to Madrid our biggest transfer mistake? At the time of action, perhaps not. Our transfer hierarchy, or indeed Mourinho, were not to know that Ivanovic would suffer such a pronounced fall from grace, nor that we would fail in our pursuits of John Stones.
How do you replace a proven champion, who has competed in the highest echelons of domestic and international football? Put simply, you don’t.
Up The Blues!
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