Nobody can doubt Branislav Ivanovic’s passion for Chelsea Football Club. He is always willing to shed sweat, blood and never shies away from a crunching tackle.
The Serbian international has had a successful career since moving to England in 2008, but past glory does not make you immune to criticism when it is warranted.
I have been critical of his performances for the past 12 months, which has lead to me having to deal with a lot of stick. This season, however, more and more fans seem to agree.
It’s not a laughing matter. In fact, it was quite sad to see how much Ivanovic struggled against Swansea. Montero made him look like a schoolboy, easily taking the ball past him time and time again. Unfortunately he didn’t look much better against Manchester City.
While no Chelsea player has covered himself in glory so far this season, the 31-year-old has performed well below expectations.
Ivanovic’s place in Mourinho’s team is now under threat from new signing Baba Rahman, who joined the Blues from Augsburg on Sunday.
Reports suggest that Azpilicueta could now switch from left-back to his more favoured right-back position to accommodate Rahman, which would see the Serb drop to the bench.
It remains to be seen whether Mourinho is brave enough to drop his vice-captain, but it is a change that would make sense.
Azpilicueta and Rahman both offer a lot more pace than Ivanovic, as well as a much better delivery, something we desperately need to take advantage of Diego Costa’s strengths in the penalty area.
I would like to think this can be a long-term change to our starting line-up, with Ivanovic taking a more central role and challenging Gary Cahill for a place at centre-back.
One thing is clear, those critical of Ivanovic do not dislike him. We all know what a great player he can be and being dropped might help him rekindle the form which saw him scale such heights for most of his Chelsea career.
