In this article, I want to discuss my points and opinions of the future of our Left back berth in the wake of Ashley Cole’s bad run of form in the previous games. We lost to consecutive matches against Everton last weekend and against FC Basel. He seemly has lost the pace and stamina to drive all the way up the field and help out Eden Hazard. And his rare defensive weaknesses has been exploited against FC Basel this past midweek as he failed to shut out Man of the Match Mohammed Salah.
Despite performing well in top games like against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup loss, he has lost the edge and moral to do that week in and week out. There is no denying that he is sill one of the best, if not the BEST left back in the world at the tender age of 32. Full backs in general won’t have the same speed and agility as they used to have in their pick of their careers. So, it’s time for Jose Mourinho and Chelsea to analyze a guarantee star left back to command the position for the next decade. Will it be Ryan Bertrand who is currently the understudy of Cole or Southampton’s promising star Luke Shaw who is an avid Chelsea fan himself as we came to learn from himself?
Ryan Bertrand – A Chelsea Academy graduate and mentored by Cole for the last couple of seasons here
The first and obvious choice we have for our future in this position is Ryan Bertrand. What makes him the appealing candidate is that he graduated from the Chelsea academy and him and JT are the two English players in our squad that are home-grown. And even though most people wouldn’t put much attention into it, having home grown English players would directly help the national side and as being one of the top teams in ENGLAND for much of the last decade since Roman arrived at West London, it’s much expected from us to have many representations wearing the THREE LIONS SHIRT in major tournaments and matches.
When it comes to quality and talent, we all know Bertrand has similar style and qualities as Cole as he has great stamina and pace to move up and down the pitch through out the game. Also he seems to have good defensive talents. The pace and stamina he possesses might really help us if we change our style to a 3-5-2 as illustrated in this article. Bertrand can provide the energy and impetus of Asamoah for Juventus and Zuniga for Napoli if we play in that system.
But, if we continue in Mourinho’s favored counter-attacking 4-2-3-1, Bertrand wouldn’t be asked to do a lot of that work as he has Hazard or any other LW to help him out cover the other half of the pitch. And also, let’s not forget he is currently learning from one of the best LBs of the world in Ashley Cole at Cobham week in, week out. Let’s hope he will stay at Chelsea long and realize his potential to make his name synonymous with Chelsea’s LB position as Ashley Cole did.
Luke Shaw – A huge admirer of Cole and a Chelsea fan since young age. Promising star at Southampton
Another great option will be England youngster and fellow U-21 with Bertrand, Luke Shaw. Even though he definitely won’t come cheap, he would be a great buy if we manage to sign him up next summer by beating a host of interested clubs in England like Man Utd and Liverpool who this summer looked to bid for Bertrand. Rumors earlier this week claim Man Utd are preparing an audacious bid of 25m pounds or closer to that for the England Left back. But, this move looks unlikely, as United didn’t even pay that amount for Leighton Baines this past summer window.
On top of that, Luke Shaw is a well known Chelsea supporter and he admitted it lots of time on twitter by showing support when the Blues play matches against other teams. He also has a great background from The Saints academy which is famous for bringing through great talents with unbelievable pace and energy like Walcott, Shaw himself and recent world record transfer to Real Madrid, Gareth Bale. That brings a great expectation for the LB to succeed like the other two did in their clubs after leaving saints but, by winning trophies unlike the other two in North London even though Bale is in a good place to get some silver wares in his closet at Bernabeu.
When we look at him individually, his immense talents are there for all to see and there is no denying how good he can be for the upcoming years once Ashley Cole and Baines won’t be regulars for England. He has got a great potential and let’s hope he will fulfill his dreams by joining his favorite club and win many trophies.
Conclusion:
I can’t decide on who to pick as our first choice in the future from Shaw or Bertrand but, I would passionately want to see both happily battle it out for the spot at the Bridge once Cole is retired or gone. Both are English and they have great passion for our club with Bertrand being here since like 15 and Shaw being an avid fan of CFC since childhood. LET’S LEAVE IT TO YOU GUYS ON WHO WOULD BE YOUR NO. 1 PICK OUT OF THE TWO…. [polldaddy poll=7420839]
Hope you enjoyed my article and please let me know what you think on twitter(@FahmiCFC). Like, share and comment. KTBFFH!
4 thoughts on “Analyzing the future of Chelsea’s Left back berth”
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Not a criticism or anything just saying that a Homegrown player is a player who has trained in England for 3 years before they turn 21, For example Piazon would of got Homegrown status if he didn’t go to Malaga on Loan, Current HG players we have in first team (at least 8 needed) : Lampard, Terry, Cole, Bertrand. We have many more in our youth set up that’s why a few of those players don’t go out on loan as we need them to stay.
piazon will be a home grown player. it doesnt matter where he goes for loan. all it matters is that he shud’ve registered with the club before turning 21 for 3 yrs
On till we bye him i reserved my comment dont let us talk about others player let focus on our own thank you
Why not get shaw, platoon him with Bertrand and see who ends up being better?