Watching Chelsea this season, having no affiliation with the club, has been frustrating for me. As much as I admire Jose Mourinho’s tactical approach and the way he has crammed his side full of creative-yet-hard-working midfielders, I am not a fan of negative, or at least defensive, football.
I can admire their defensive contribution though, and there has been one man who has stood out in recent months in the Blues backline. That man is Gary Cahill, although John Terry has also impressed me with his resolute defending.
It was last night’s tie with Manchester City that really impressed me though, as the west London side travelled to the Etihad and shut City out on their own patch in a tactical masterclass.
In the 90 minutes Cahill played, the combative centre-half made 16 clearances and did so with purpose and effieciency, clearing the ball to the flanks and allowing Chelsea’s inventive players a chance to whip something up.
Cahill went up for 17 headers during the game and won 11 of those, and the few passes that he did manage generally met their targets – 82% of them to be more precise.
There’s no question that Mourinho did a job on Pellegrini’s men last night, but if it wasn’t for Cahill then that wouldn’t have worked.
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