During a lengthy lay off after my shoulder operation I took a back seat in the footballing world. I have listened and read what football pundits, the newspapers, rival supporters and indeed fellow supporters had to say about my team, Chelsea. Without a shadow of doubt I have never seen so much rubbish spoken and written about our Club. We’re in a Crisis! What Crisis?

Chelsea, this season, have been firstly unfortunate with some injuries to key players, obviously every Club deals with it some way or another, whether it be new signings or utilising their full squad and of course some teams crumble in the wake of this, some teams consolidate, but Chelsea have just defied the odds!

Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini, our two first choice goalkeepers were both out for quite lengthy spells there, third choice Henrique Hilario stepped into the team and done his job in goal, yes of course he let a few goals in here and there but he saved us quite a number of occasions too and he done good in my book. Now we have Petr Cech back in goals, three clean sheets on the bounce and he’s taken back to football again like a duck to water.

We also lost our most influential player and the heartbeat of the team, our Captain John Terry. He is now back training and should be back in the team within a matter of weeks. Although we did not sign any new players in the January transfer window to boost our squad further JT will be like a brand new signing once back in the Chelsea side.

If losing John Terry was bad, we then lost our replacement Centre Back Khalid Boulahrouz too. Admittedly Chelsea left themselves somewhat exposed in terms of defensive cover and we have no one to blame but ourselves on this one but it’s just been unreal where the injuries have hit us!

Added to that we can now add Ashley Cole to the treatment table after a painful looking incident last night. I watched the game against Blackburn and it didn’t look good for Ashley but lets hope to see him back as soon as possible. He has been in great form this season for Chelsea and I have been surprised by how well he has adapted to the team. Obviously I never doubted Ashley’s ability but I thought maybe the lucrative deal he got may have went to his head a little but not with Ashley. I am thankful though we do have the prefect replacement in Wayne Bridge, a player who I admire very much and I think he will step in and do just a good a job if not better than Ashley Cole.

Another major injury that we have had to deal with but one that many people have completely forgotten about has been Joe Cole’s. An injury to his knee in pre-season followed with a foot injury when he came back and he has been sorely missed in my opinion. I was reading just the other day in an interview that he sees a few games in himself this season. I just hope it is sooner rather than later. Joe has been a revelation under Jose Mourinho and has been a key factor in Chelsea’s success over the past couple of years. It’ll be a massive boost should he make it back for a few games at the end of the season.

Chelsea admittedly have not been at their best attacking this season, I think Joe Cole’s injury plays a part in that but also our attacking players this season include the likes of Michael Ballack, John Mikel Obi, Soloman Kalou and Andriy Shevkchenko who are only in their first season with Chelsea and are obviously still trying to fully adapt to life in this country. I believe in time that will happen for all of them.

I have heard people talk all season about Michael Ballack and his supposed laziness and money grabbing antics. I heard Alan Hansen sum him up perfectly last night though by saying he looks as if he going round the pitch with a cigar in his mouth the whole time but that’s just the type of player he looks on the pitch. Controlled and relaxed on the ball with two great feet, quick and powerful and a threat in the air. He of course hasn’t fired on all cylinders to the level we all know he’s capable of but he’s dug in deep and his performances recently have started showing his critics he’s here to fight and wants to do well for Chelsea.

As for John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou, well they were somewhat of unknowns to all of us when they first arrived but they have both found their way in and out of the team this season chipping in with some useful performances and goals. Both these players are of course still very young and both still have a lot to learn before we can really judge them in my opinion but so far so good.

The hype though this season has been about Andriy Shevchenko and I believe a lot of it has been unfair criticism aimed at the Chelsea striker. Of course he hasn’t scored as many goals as he, Mourinho, us Chelsea fans and a few who had him in their Dream Teams would have liked but coming to a different country after seven seasons in Italy, not knowing a word of the English language, playing a different style of football, it’s going to take time to fully adapt. There is no doubting Sheva’s ability, he just needs a little rub of the green but thus far that hasn’t happened for him but he’ll come good. It wasn’t long ago people were talking about the money Chelsea supposedly ‘wasted’ on Didier Drogba, well I am sure if any of you have Dream Teams this season he’s more than likely now your main Striker in it. He’s in mine anyway! He has quite simply proved everyone wrong and turned a few heads in the process! I’ll just add on top of that, Michael Essien who was also dubbed as a ‘waste’ too last season but after a terrific World Cup for Ghana just look at him go this season. It’s been unfortunate that lately he has been playing at Centre Back due to JT’s injury. The man is just full of energy. I think the role at Centre Back has saved his legs a good bit and he’ll also prove to be just like a new signing in that Midfield when JT is back to full fitness. But my point is sometimes it can take players time to adjust to life in a different country and indeed adjust to a new teams style of play.

I think the biggest joke of it all though is the press taking constant swipes at Sheva when he’s noticeably down on confidence by saying he’s the scapegoat and cause of Chelsea’s mounting ‘internal problems’. Just because he’s from Russian origin doesn’t mean he’s best buddies’ with Roman Abramovich nor can he go crying to him to get a place in the team. Ok so he can speak a word or two in Russian but to go and imply what they have is ridiculous. Running out of a story to tell is what I say! Let’s all just give Sheva his time so he can prove to all his critics his worth!

And as for Jose Mourinho leaving Chelsea because of a fall-out with the Chelsea hierarchy you must be joking! I believe the only way Jose Mourinho will leave Stamford Bridge is by being offered the Portuguese national job. That’s my biggest fear! He has said it himself on so many occasions that it’s the only thing that he would find too hard to turn down. Until that happens I suggest to the football storytellers to wind their necks in and talk about something more positive within the game!

Even after all that commotion Chelsea are currently placed second in the Premiership, six points behind Manchester United, into the 5th Round of the FA Cup, in the knockout stages of the Champions League and also in the Final of the Carling Cup. Fair play in my opinion to the manager, the coaching staff and of course the Chelsea players who have stuck together through thick and thin this season. I believe the way the team has battled over the season just further enhances how strong the mentality is through the whole squad. Of course Chelsea have won nothing yet this season and there is still a lot of football left to play but we are in a pretty decent position. I would say there are a number of rival supporters who would give their right arm to be in the position we are in at this stage. I think if we can keep free of injuries, suspensions, keep battling and enjoy our bit of luck if and when it comes (always needed to win anything by the way) then we’ll enjoy some success come the end of the season.

Keep the blue flag flying high!

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 11:01 am and is filed under Chelsea. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.