Eden Hazard takes the ball under control. He flicks it to Willian, who holds onto it well under pressure from the full-back. Willian with very few options here, lays it back to Hazard who is surrounded by Leicester defenders – but what a lovely chip that is through to Azpilicueta! Azpilicueta takes it forward, an excellent run, looks up, pulls it back with Drogba waiting in the centre – GOAL CHELSEA!! An excellent finish from Drogba and what a run by Cesar Azpilicueta, who grabs his 6th assist of the Premier League season. It’s business as usual for the champions-elect, who are level against Leicester here at the King Power Stadium.
What a moment that was for Chelsea – Azpilicueta and Drogba combining to provide a crucial shift in momentum in a game which took them a giant step closer to their first league title for 5 years. Hardly a surprise – Azpilicueta had been on fire at right-back ever since the purchase of Filipe Luis allowed him to switch flanks.
Wait a second. That can’t be right? Yes, the eagle-eyed amongst you will probably have spotted something wrong by now. And no, I don’t mean my awful attempt at channelling my inner Martin Tyler. No, what you should have spotted is this – that wonderful moment didn’t happen. Not as it was described, anyway.
For it was not Cesar Azpilicueta running up that wing. It wasn’t Filipe Luis either. Nope – it was Chelsea’s Serbian bulldozer of a full-back, Branislav Ivanovic. It was Ivanovic who powered into the Leicester City box. It was Ivanovic who put on a plate for Drogba to score the equaliser. It was Ivanovic who registered his 6th assist of the league season to add to the 4 goals he had already scored from right-back.
And yet, there seems to be a rather infectious case of amnesia spreading around the Chelsea faithful after Saturday’s lacklustre campaign-opener against Swansea City. Admittedly, Ivanovic had one of his poorest games in recent memory. The Serb was given a torrid time all afternoon by Swansea winger Jefferson Montero and must take some blame for his role in both goals. But listening to some fans complain, it’s as if it’s Khalid Boulahrouz being discussed rather than a man who has played a key role in helping Chelsea secure every trophy worth winning in club football (although he’s still waiting on that historic first Emirates Cup victory).
Say what you like about Ivanovic, but there are very few players who have met every challenge put in front of them quite so impressively over their careers. In his first couple seasons at Chelsea, Ivanovic was a valued member of the first-team squad but was far from a guaranteed starter. Indeed the Serb was often a victim of his own versatility, expected to provide cover at centre-back or right-back but never really allowed to make either position his own.
All that has changed in recent years. After Gary Cahill’s arrival and gradual development into one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League, Ivanovic found his opportunities in his favoured central position limited. When Jose Mourinho returned for the 2013/4 season, Cahill’s reputation solidified and it quickly became clear that Terry and Cahill would be the Special One’s main men.
Some players would have kicked up a fuss. Others would certainly have started looking for a new club. But not Ivanovic. No, Ivanovic took the challenge head on and decided that if he was not going to start through the middle, he would sure as hell be starting at right-back. And keep in mind, he wasn’t battling for a starting spot against any two-bit defenders. Azpilicueta was beginning to show fans and pundits just how good he is, while Ashley Cole could not have expected to find himself permanently out of the team even after being dropped thanks to a sub-par performance in a defeat at Newcastle.
In fact, very few in the media or in the stands expected Ashley Cole to stay out the team, even with Azpilicueta improving with each game at left-back. Most assumed that Ivanovic would be eased out of the side, with Cole and ‘Dave’ helping to make up two crucial parts of the best defence in the league. Instead, Ivanovic raised his game, began to show some impressive consistency and held onto his place. Come May 2014, it was Cole and not the Serb who was preparing to move abroad for one last spell at a top European club.
Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 2014/5 season, despite showing time and time again that he would not back down from a fight for his place, there were doubts once again over whether Ivanovic would remain in the starting XI. Filipe Luis, an integral part of the Atletico Madrid side that the previous season had won the league and finished runners-up in the Champions League, had arrived at Chelsea for £15.8million and looked set to occupy the left-back spot. Azpilicueta was expected to finally to secure his favoured right back position, while Ivanovic was going to be first-choice cover for anyone who was injured or suspended.
What followed was comfortably one of Serb’s best seasons for Chelsea, in which he played almost every minute of the league campaign and had a direct role in an astonishing 10 league goals. As a right-back. What’s more, the fact that Luis has now moved on after just a single season is a stark reminder of the sheer determination and mental strength that Ivanovic possesses in comparison to other top players throughout Europe.
There is no way to describe Ivanovic’s performance on Saturday as anything other than unacceptable but in truth, no one will be more impatient to put it right than the man himself. Yes, Ivanovic’s eagerness to get forward mean that he is occasionally caught out of position, but can you name more than a couple full-backs in world football who are equally adept at defending as they are at creating chances at the other end of the pitch? Equally, there are times when he lacks the concentration required of a top-level full-back, but at the key moments he rises to the challenge – the inordinate amount of goals he has registered in big games over the years are a testament to that.
Ivanovic is a man who stands tall in the face of criticism and he will be hurting more than anyone over Saturday’s result. Those that are writing him off, saying he’s past it or calling for him to be dropped, be warned – Ivanovic is ready to prove you all wrong yet again.
Gianfrancophile