You know what, it’s hard to write articles analysing the performance of individuals, or a group, when every thing is running smoothly; for that reason, I have taken a back seat in the ‘Whirlwind Football Excitement Bus’ and been a spectator, waiting, observing and soaking it all up waiting for the perfect moment to find a reason to dust off the computer keys and tap away.
Well that moment has come, but possiblya bit too late.
Back in December, I wrote an article about the future of Chelsea’s defence. In that article, a couple of people noticed that Gary Cahill was hardly mentioned, asking if I didn’t see him in Chelsea’s plans, this was not the case, well, kind of. The reason being it was around the same time a few cracks started to appear in Cahill’s solid foundations, a substantial reason for a separate article.
But at the time they only just started to appear, a couple of lapses of concentration in one or two games every player goes through, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt, trouble is, when your playing under intense heat from the media spotlight these cracks become more and more obvious as each game plays out. And maybe this article has come 3 or 4 games too late.
Among Chelsea fans across social media I have seen a lot of talk about Cahill – most tend to agree he shouldn’t be in the team, that he’s not good enough for Chelsea’s level. These were the same fans funnily enough saying that he was the keystone in our defense last season, a good solid season all round. And yes he was, he was very solid last year and has helped towards a fantastic defensive record for Jose Mourinho’s second term at the helm.
For the last 2 months though, Cahill has somewhat become a bit of loose cannon; a bewildered and confused deer caught in the headlight. This was certainly the case against Raheem Sterling in the Carling Cup Semi-Final at Anfield. His performance last night prompted this article’s formality, this performance says to me that Gary Cahill is struggling to cope with the pressure of playing under the intense heat of the media spotlight.
It’s understandable, playing for Chelsea brings it’s own responsibility without the pressure of the title race, the desire to win the Champions League, the FA Cup and of course the Carling Cup semi-final against one of your biggest rivals!
So when did the cracks appear for Cahill? Well, as I said before, a few lapses of concentration can be forgiven, especially if you put in a heroic performance with the match winning insatiable header in the 90th minute in the next game. But that didn’t quite happen for our first choice center back, and this was when the cracks really did appear for me, Hull City at home. The game before this was our first defeat of the season against Newcastle, the game that Cahill left his Cerebral Hemisphere in either the Hotel, or worse, in London.
All can be forgiven, it wasn’t an extremely important game to lose, although it was the first of the season and therefore shattered any fans Invincible dreams. Realistically, in the age of the ever evolving game, my expectations of an unbeaten season were very low. Hull City the next league game after Newcastle, was a 2-0 home victory for the Blues. Despite the victory it was a game that Cahill lost his head and composure and hasn’t really got it back.
He was booked for a challenge on a City player that in my opinion on a different day with a different official, would have well been a sending off. With this booking hanging over his head, later on in the game he makes a stupid decision to take a dive and try to con the referee for a penalty.
The referee more than likely, slightly fearful of the implications of sending a Chelsea player off by Mourinho’s ability to speak his mind about match officials, kept his cards in his pocket. Cahill was a very lucky man in that game and has been in many other games thanks to his team mates bailing him out and covering his back.
Then, with that all said, Cahill had a train crash game across London at White Hart Lane on New Years Day. A game that Chelsea fans will not want reminding of anytime soon. This brought a rest for Cahill. Kurt Zouma earned himself a starting place over Cahill away to Swansea in a 5-0 masterclass from the Blue boys.
Zouma, who was strong, solid and looked very comfortable against the Swans then lost his place at Anfield to Cahill. Well if it wasn’t for our new young number one, Cahill and Chelsea would have been embarrassed against Liverpool and we undeservedly, came away with a draw giving us the advantage in the return leg at home.
Cahill quite simply could not handle Raheem Sterling, then eventually couldn’t handle the game. It was a poor outing for the central defender only to be saved by the experienced and brilliant John Terry. That Chelsea back line was pinned back for most of the game and Terry handled himself and his team in a typical John Terry manner. Gary Cahill however wasn’t calm and far from it.
This season started very brightly for the Blues, harpooning themselves to the top of the league for the majority, making themselves the target that every team now wants to hit, and hit hard. With that target on our backs, can Cahill really handle the pressure? Chelsea are favorites for the League, Fa Cup and League Cup and I believe 3rd or 4th favorites for Champions League.
All of this pressure is a lot for all of the players and it’s starting to show. Liverpool came out all guns blazing and only a handful of Chelsea stars could counter the Red overhaul. Despite the goal he did score, if Raheem Sterling could finish his chances more often, it would have been a different story at Anfield.
Gary Cahill was meant to be John Terry’s permanent replacement, but has been proving the opposite, forcing Mourinho to use our captain more often than wanted. Cahill simply doesn’t have the right decision making or composure to lead.
He loses his head during games, makes reckless challenges, gets caught out of position plus other unnatural defender traits. When Cahill is relaxed and head switched on, he is one of the best defenders around. Strong and die hard, body on the line just like JT. But at the top there is no room for “when”, there is only time for “now”.
Unless Cahill gets back to “now”, we could be seeing Jose dipping his toes in the transfer pool, probably heading for Madrid’s Raphael Varane, as he wont put all of his faith in the in form Kurt Zouma to see out the rest of a hopefully successful season.
Chelsea’s current up and down form may just spark a few more articles. Let’s hope that it becomes quiet on my keyboard….
