Its been another tumultuous season for Chelsea one to remember mainly because Jose is back and we can all see signs of improvement in the squad. We were never gonna be a finished side till we get a striker so 4pts off the top with mediocre strikers is very encouraging. Here is my report cards for Chelsea Football club, I've decided to assign a letter grade for overall play and +/- for the improvement made either in the player or the situation from last year. (Out of 10) Jose Mourinho - The Special One had a lot of work to do to get back to the summit of the Premier league and it wasn't made any easier by letting Lukaku go on loan. It was clear right from the get go Chelsea would struggle to score goals and our best chance at getting them was a relative unknown quantity. I'm a firm believer that had Lukaku been entrusted with the same minutes Torres was given we'd be champions right now. Jose got the squad to buy into his philosophy and as a result we had the stingiest defence in the Prem and were able to get within one game of the Champions League final. That cannot be considered a failure, we had some serious injuries at the wrong time of year and yet still were highly competitive. Season highlights include 6-0, Doubles over City and Liverpool, PSG touchline scamper. It is clear that if we're gonna see beautiful attacking football we need a striker so the jury is still out on whether or not Jose can deliver. GRADE - B IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +8 Petr Cech - Petr Cech had another good season. I wouldn't say he was fabulous because he was aided by a terrific back 4 and also a bus or two in a few games. Still, when you can claim 16 clean sheets and win a golden glove award you have to say its been an successful year. I'm struggling to remember a game where he stood on his head and stole points for us; by standing on his head I mean making 4 or 5 huge saves where had he not made them we'd surely have lost. He is always solid if not spectacular... I really think we need to recall Courtois and have a proper goalie battle not too dissimilar from Cudicini and Cech. GRADE - B- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +5 Mark Schwarzer - Mark is probably one of the better back up keepers we've had in the Roman era. He is a vet and was a calming presence when in the net. Its not easy to sit on the bench for so many matches then produce Chelsea standard performances when called upon. I thought Mark was incredible in his role as a back up and made some important contributions to the squad along the way. Season highlight has to be Atletico away and Liverpool away, he had excellent command of the area in both of those games and never had we felt like we needed Cech in those matches. GRADE - A IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +7 Ashley Cole - Ash has been in steady decline the past two seasons, that doesn't mean he isn't a serviceable LB just that he's no longer the first name on the team sheet anymore. The beginning of the year Ashley looked all out of sorts, struggling to get back to defend, not making much of a contribution going forward. He ceased being the reliable, best LB in the World, big game performer. Was dropped and never really found his way back into the squad. I'm almost certain this will be his last year at the club with the only reason for keeping him being he's homegrown. Season highlight Liverpool away and probably City at home both games I thought he looked closer to defensive Ash. GRADE - C- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : -4 Cesar Azpilicueta - What a player he's turned out to be, definitely my winner of most improved player and a decent shout for player of the year. Cesar played virtually the entire season out of position and in the process kept the best left back the club has ever seen glued to the bench. He's been one of the few beacons of light all season and consistently performed well in most big games. He gets tight to his man and wins a lot of tackles, you never catch him out of position, he just needs to work on contributing more in the final third. Season highlights include scoring against Arsenal, City Away and I remember him having a MotM performance against West Ham. GRADE - A IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +9 John Terry - Probably the player that has benefitted the most from Jose's return, John looked every bit like the stalwart defender we have come to know and love. The low defensive block is tailor made to a player of John's ilk, he read the game fantastically well all season long and perhaps should've been given more consideration to FA team of the year. Terry and his regular partner, Cahill were by far the best CB pairing in the Prem and perhaps Europe. Needed some more goals from set pieces and also more clearances from set pieces too. Season highlight for me was the goal against Tottenham away... GRADE - A IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +7 Gary Cahill - Perhaps this is the season he's stepped in and become the heir apparent to Terry? They formed an impenetrable partnership and were at the centre of anything good Chelsea have done this year. He's definitely less mistake prone and has become better at reading the game. It was amazing watching that partnership gobble up virtually every ball played in to the box, Gary was rightfully named to the FA team of the year and most likely will be cemented there for years to come. Needs to score more goals, he is threat from set pieces and needs to take advantage of his aerial ability more. I thought his best games of the season were PSG home, Everton home and City away, big games to have a blinder in. GRADE - A IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +8 Branislav Ivanovic - A beast, versatile and a hard worker. With Chelsea lacking a target man we often found Brana on the right flank knocking down balls into the path of our AM's. He had a solid if not spectacular year, he's not a RB he's a CB who can play out wide. He's definitely lost a step and benefitted from not having to advance too far up the pitch as he did last year. He's a valuable asset from set pieces but canNOT cross the ball with any success. Today's FB need to be able to overlap and play a lot like a winger, he is ineffectual in this role. Season highlights City away, Schalke GRADE - B- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : Even John Obi Mikel - All I gotta say is he scored! At long last he's put the ball in the net! Outside of the goal he didn't really have a great season, he was used more as a late game plug to protect a lead and in that role he was effective; the arrival of Matic made him even less of an option. He isn't exactly what Chelsea need for a prem player and I think Jose understands that, as a player in Europe he's never really had a bad game since its played at a slower tempo. Proved to be a good squad guy and he scored so... GRADE - C- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +1 Ramires - There was a time I thought Ramires was indispensable in the Chelsea XI for whatever reason this has been his worst season in a Chelsea shirt. Consistently gave the ball away, almost always was guilty of a bad foul, never really looked like scoring and didn't really provide the legs in the engine room. To put it short, Ramires had a terrible year and I don't know what to attribute it to... Steaua and Palace standout for me but everything else was pretty mediocre if I'm being kind. GRADE - D IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : -7 David Luiz - I think its safe to say Luiz is a footballer, not a defender or a midfielder but a footballer. He didn't really excel in any role but was serviceable enough in many. He needs to be taken off freekick duty seeing as he rarely tested the keeper all year. I do think he has a role to play at the club as a guy who will put in a shift for you whenever called upon but also a guy you need to reign in before he makes a bad mistake that will cost you. For the talent he possesses you would think he would've scored at least once! He is a guy I like on the squad but maturity needs to be shown he hasn't improved much in his 3 yrs at Chelsea. best games Hull, City away and PSG home. GRADE - C+ IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : -2 Frank Lampard - Frank can't be expected to score 20 a season anymore, you can hardly even consider him the spiritual leader anymore. He's 36 in June and probably better suited to be re-signed if only because we'll need homegrown players. He didn't have a great year, missed some pens and was ineffectual in the holding position. It was important to have him back because he knows Jose and is a veteran leader but his contributions on the pitch haven't been up to snuff this year. GRADE - C- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : -4 Nemanja Matic - Would we be in the Champions league final had this guy been eligible? probably not but that doesn't stop me from feeling like he was BY FAR our most influential deep lying midfielder. He came in January and immediately shored up a problem area for the squad. Power and composure were sorely missing before he arrived and was never a problem in games he played. Yaya Toure is considered the best deep lying midfielder in the world and he looked extremely agitated when he faced Matic. He bossed the guy who usually owned us and did it in the away building. Matic is close to being the first name on the team sheet and next year, if paired with a decent ball mover could be the Chelsea player of the year. He needs to offer more in the final third particularly off set pieces, he's 6'4 and should be able to get on the end of a header or two. GRADE - A- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +7 Andre Schürrle - A lot was made of the amount of attacking talent Chelsea have purchased in recent years, where would they all fit? who would be left out? Of all of the newish players I have to say Andre has found his niche the best. Usually used as an impact sub or spot starter, Schürrle always worked hard and often found the odd big goal in that role. We all know how difficult it is for younger players to acclimatize themselves with the pace and power of the Prem, having said that Andre has done well! He played direct and was clinical inside the 18. Really feel like the best is yet to come from him, he plays for the shirt and next year may be the year he makes more of a meaningful contribution to the squad, Jose demands a lot but he seems like the type that is willing to take on the challenge. Highlights Fulham, PSG home, Steaua, Arsenal home, GRADE - B- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +4 Willian - HeHatesTottenham is one of those players who took time to find his feet. He seems to always work hard for the team but lacks end product for a guy with his technical ability. Needs to use his pace more and stop being ponderous on the ball. If he's gonna be a regular player he needs to make more of a consistent contribution going forward, I'm certain the reason he played so much is because of his ability to track back and work for the team but you don't pay 31m for a defensive winger. 4 goals and 4 assists for a player of his ability is not acceptable, he will have to be better. GRADE - C IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +2 Oscar - Started the season on fire and surprisingly fizzled out during the business end. He works hard and for that reason made Mata expendable however his work in the final 3rd needs to improve immensely. The main problem I have with Oscar is he needs to get his head up and pick passes, often he aimlessly puts the ball into the box without looking to see if anyone is there. He is young and will get better, needs to get stronger and work on being more consistent which is true with everyone his age. The World Cup will help him mature... We need him to perform in big games. Fulham home, Norwich Away and Arsenal home were the big ones. The fact he didn't play in a lot of our big games speaks volumes to me, needs to get better. GRADE - C- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : -1 Eden Hazard - We all knew this kid was talented it was just a matter of when he will begin to show his immense quality. I thought Eden got off to a slow start this year and had it not been for Oscar we wouldn't have hung around. December into February, Eden enjoyed his riches vein of form in Chelsea colours. He was always a handful for opposing teams and at times looked unplayable. I don't think I've ever seen a guy successfully dribble as many guys as he has this season, he often had two or three defenders marking him and managed double digits dribbles often. The knock would be playing consistently at that level, some would say Hazard doesn't always play his best games against the best competition, his next step as a player has to be showing his quality on the biggest stage. I don't care if he doesn't defend, when you're an offensive dynamo you shouldn't have to. He just needs to continue to make things happen in the final 3rd... Next year if we get a quality striker to take pressure off of him, Eden could be a PFA player of the year season. Best games for me were Sunderland away, Newcastle home, City away, Fulham away. GRADE - A IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +8 Mohamed Salah - Perfect example of how difficult it is to adjust to the prem particularly in midseason. Salah has talent though we never really saw much of it in his limited games for Chelsea this year. He is fast and can get in behind people but really needs to work on his end product. There have been about 3-4 matches where I questioned his ability and wondered if he is even any better than Moses? The jury is still out in my estimation, small sample size to work with too. His best asset is speed against teams that play high lines but I don't really see a lot of teams doing that against us. Looked very clumsy in the box with many golden opportunities at his feet, he needs to look pass a lot more too. Stoke was his only real standout game. GRADE - C- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : N/A Fernando Torres - I'm so sick of writing about this bloke, he is by FAR the worst signing the club has made when you look at the wage and the return. Where do I start? I've become numb to all of the quality opportunities he continues to miss. Every time you think he may have turned a corner and his confidence is returning he either got injured just returned to his turdy ways soon after. Having said that he had two big goals this year City at home and Atletico away. He just doesn't work here and needs to go... His best games were probably City, Schalke and perhaps Southampton. I don't even want to look at the amount of points we dropped because he missed a sitter to win it. GRADE - D- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : -3 Demba Ba - Lets be honest he wasn't really given a chance to play here, rightly or wrongly he sat for the majority of his time. Its hard to evaluate his season when he's only really been a last minute sub. 8 goals in 27 apps with 19 of those off the bench can't be considered bad at all. He's actually scored a fair few big ones too, winner against Steaua, winner v PSG, winner v Liverpool, winner v Swansea. He isn't exactly the striker we need but few can call his acquisition last season as a failure. GRADE - C+ IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : +3 Samuel Eto'o - I said it right at the moment of his signing, he doesn't have to score 20 to 30 goals just 12 to 15 of the right goals! I think he's done that and provided us with big goals in big games. He is 33 but class is permanent Eto'o couldn't be relied on to score us the boatload we need but did provide a fair few big goals in big games. Wouldn't mind having him back as a 3rd striker. Best games Schalke, Utd, Liverpool, Galatasaray. GRADE - B- IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR : N/A
