Most Disappointing Player of the Season

Once upon a time we used to have a category in the end of season awards named “Worst Player of the Year”. But on reflection we have decided that it is unbecoming of Chelsea supporters to dig out the ‘worst’ players in a season. We love them all and our job is to support them!

However, we also feel that it is ok to be disappointed by players during the season. Every season starts with high hopes for the manager, team and the individual players. There will always be one or two who don’t manage to hit the heights in terms of performance or attitude or live up to our sometimes high expectations.

Here are the nominations for our three ‘most disappointing players of the season’:

Ramires

What has happened to Ramires this year? In fact what has happened to the Ramires who in his first two seasons bagged consecutive ‘Goal of the Season’ awards? Both of these goals showcased a player with superb skill, technique and vision. That goal in Barcelona, arguably one of the most important goals in the Club’s history, was also special in that very few players could have scored it. It was the kind of goal you expect from a Brazilian.

But Ramires seems to be a shadow of that player. He still possesses bags of energy, and runs around a lot. Something which Mourinho prizes highly by all accounts and possibly explains why Ramires tends to be one of the first names on the team sheet. However, this season his touch has been woeful. He seems incapable of passing to a blue shirt which is infuriating at best, and for a key midfielder unforgivable.  Whilst I love a player who gets stuck in and who is not averse to the dark arts of football, Ramires’ tackling seems to have been learnt from the Paul Scholes School. He is getting his late tackles in early, and some, like the tackle which led to his sending off against Villa have been downright nasty. The problem with this is he is a player who is a yellow or red card waiting to happen.  If he is supposed to be such a key player for Mourinho then getting a four game ban at the most crucial part of the season is irresponsible and ill-disciplined.

Hopefully, this is just a blip and he will return to the running, dribbling, tackling and finishing version we saw in his first couple of seasons. If not, I suspect that Jose may well be looking for a more reliable candidate to operate in midfield.

Oscar

After Oscar’s first season I predicted that this kid would become one of the best players in the world, and that come the 2014 World Cup in his home country, he would be ready to take that mantle. Up to January Oscar’s career at Chelsea was still very much on an upward trajectory. He has the lot. He can run, pass, tackle (with a ferocity that belies his slight frame), shoot, take free-kicks, and he can dictate play and score goals. The perfect midfielder in waiting and one who could take up the baton from Frank Lampard. In fact Jose decided that Oscar was so good that he could sacrifice Juan Mata by selling him to Man Utd.

Funnily enough since then Oscar seems to have gone downhill. Was it laziness knowing that there was no one to challenge his position in the team? Is it because he is absolutely knackered having played consistently for 3-4 seasons on the trot? Or could it be that he is saving himself for what is arguably the highlight in any player’s career – a World Cup in their own nation.

Whatever the reason for the dip in form, and I mean a dip in form by his own high standards, it has been disappointing for me that he has not continued to blossom in the number 10 role. I hope he can get the World Cup out of the way, and shine at it, so that he comes back after the summer break refreshed and focussed on Chelsea and become one of the best players in the World. He has the potential to do it.

Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres. What more can we say about this poor lost soul. Of course the fact that he has yet again failed to live up to the Liverpool version of Fernando Torres is no surprise to most Chelsea supporters. In fact Pablo argued against his nomination on Chelsea FanCast #288 on the basis that an underperforming Torres was no longer a surprise or disappointment.

But, after scoring a decent and important goal in the Europa Cup final at the end of last season, and scoring a superb goal in the Super Cup against Bayern Munich at the beginning of this season, many of us hoped that Jose Mourinho would get a tune out of him.

Alas this was not to be the case. This season replicated the last two seasons as we saw Torres huff and puff, score the odd goal here and there, but in all honesty never looked like imposing himself on either the Chelsea team or more important the opposition. At times he seemed to be the consummate team player by playing others in rather than electing to the take the shot himself, but it could be argued that as a top striker this was indicative of him hiding in games, and that he should have the swagger and arrogance to take the chance himself.

It seems that his mojo has been lost forever, and the only thing to revive him will be the kiss of an ugly frog – perhaps Laurent Blanc from PSG will be that frog. I somehow doubt it. We will never see the Torres that terrorised Premier League defences when playing for Liverpool. His psyche seems to be so damaged and brittle that he doesn’t even celebrate scoring a goal – unless he has some long lost allegiance to Cardiff City that we hitherto were unaware of! He does appear moody and indifferent on the pitch, and seldom acknowledges the Chelsea supporters incredulous and praiseworthy support of him. For many the final nail in the coffin was his performance against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final where he did not celebrate the goal he scored and couldn’t bear to look at Atletico Madrid’s equalising penalty – presumably in case they failed to score.

It really is time to say adios to Fernando Torres this summer and get in a striker who can do what they are paid to do – score goals – rather than one to appeal to the fan boys and girls and a marketing vehicle to sell shirts. Let’s hope that Inter Milan or some other sucker will splash the cash and relieve us and him of his obvious pain. As long as we sell him with the obvious ‘caveat emptor’.

If you want to vote for the Most Disappointing Player of the Season then all you have to do is vote below. We will be revealing the results and discussing what we voted for on the Chelsea FanCast on Monday 19^th May. Watch the show live at 19.00-21.00 GMT (Voting closes at 19.30 GMT) by going to sportstonightlive.com or on this website here or of course you can listen and post in the chat room at Mixlr. 

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