Alex shows true worth under Guus Hiddink

[SystemBlueBob 0]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/5183478/A...us-Hiddink.html

Guus Hiddink didn’t really want to talk about Didier Drogba after Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final victory over Arsenal. He said he didn’t want to single out individuals. And then did just that. But it was the defender, Alex, whom he chose to praise. “When you see the work of Alex who was, I think, a little bit underestimated in the recent period here, but he is of tremendous value to the team. It is not so obvious or clear but he’s doing a great job,” Hiddink said.

Such is Alex’s importance to Hiddink that he kept Ricardo Carvalho out of the team and held it together, just as he had done against Liverpool in that amazing Champions League quarter-final when he also scored one of his trademark thunderbolt free-kicks to help swing the tie.

Then he played instead of the suspended John Terry. At Wembley he would have been expected to miss out but didn’t. The notion of a fit Carvalho not featuring for Chelsea would have been impossible to imagine not so long ago. But such is Alex’s form.

Hiddink is the first Chelsea manager to appreciate Alex which is not so surprising given he knew the player well from his days at PSV Eindhoven.

But Alex was an unwitting pawn in the turf war that eventually forced Jose Mourinho out of Stamford Bridge – the Portuguese even labelled Alex fat and slow when he was offered him as a solution to Chelsea’s defensive crisis.

Mourinho preferred bidding for Standard Liege’s Oguchi Onyewu, available for £1m or Deportivo La Coruna’s rather more expensive Jorge Andrade.

He didn’t want Alex, who was championed by Mourinho’s nemesis, Chelsea’s chief scout Frank Arnesen. And maybe that was why. Even the ownership of the player was muddled – with Alex ‘parked’ at PSV by Roman Abramovich before finally arriving at Chelsea.

But then neither Avram Grant nor, equally surprisingly, given he is a fellow Brazilian, Luiz Felipe Scolari, appeared to rate him either.

It meant that Alex looked to leave and always looked out of place. Whatever the rights and wrongs of his arrival at Chelsea, and there remains something not quite right about how that came about, he has certainly been under-appreciated. Quicker – and leaner – than Mourinho gave him credit for his reading of the game has also been impressive.

As Hiddink terms it he “smells” danger and deals with it. And he can chip in with the odd remarkable goal. An imposing figure he seems built for the Premier League. And has become increasingly influential for Chelsea. Maybe, right now, their most important defender.

[Manson17 0]

I agree with that article, completely and totally. Alex has done a fantastic job this season, and deserves to keep his place despite of who is coming back. I didn't like seeing the comment from Mourinho though.

[diskoviolente 425]

Hurting comment by José there....

True article. Alex is doing a great job. Never expected him being THAT good.

[the wes 7,212]

Keep up the good work Alex

[EskWeston 696]

Alex has been nothing but solid since he has been here with us. I like Alex a lot. But for me our best pairing at the moment is still JT and Carvalho. Purely because i think Alex and JT are too similar and need a Carvalho or Ivanovic to work alongside and compliment their skills.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I can see your reasoning there, Esk, but on current form, Alex deserves his place purely on merit, in my view.

[EskWeston 696]

I can see your reasoning there, Esk, but on current form, Alex deserves his place purely on merit, in my view.

Would you partner JT and Alex for the Barca game? I would be a little worried that neither of them have enough pace when up against Eto'o, Henry and Messi...

[Badboy 1,526]

Would you partner JT and Alex for the Barca game? I would be a little worried that neither of them have enough pace when up against Eto'o, Henry and Messi...

I agree alex is too slow for eto'o henry and messi but then agian carvalho was poor agianst bolton.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

That's my point; over recent performances, he has shown better form than Carvalho, but Riccy of course has been injured. Maybe we could play either AdC or Riccy alongside Terry and the other at LB?

[EddyHolland 0]

Alex should be always in the team. In my opinion he is one of the best defenders in the world.

I saw him with psv against Arsenal he was really the best player. He is not at his best yet in Chelsea so do not underestimate him.