Branislav Ivanovic joined Chelsea in January 2008 – and then did a bit of a disappearing act. He might have cost us £8million at the time but he didn’t get a game under Avram Grant and instead had to wait until September to get a game.
Ivanovic is another one of ‘those’ players, rumoured to have been brought to Chelsea at the request of Roman Abramovich – so, like Andriy Shevchenko before him, has he been given a back seat because he isn’t regarded good enough? Surely the fact that Manchester United were rumoured to be after him when we brought him to Stamford Bridge and AC Milan’s offer of £8million in the summer would suggest this couldn’t be the case?
And as if that isn’t proof enough of his worth, what about his last two games for us in the absence of Jose Bosingwa? He’s certainly asking the questions now he’s getting the games – something Frank Lampard suggested after last week’s Champions League game. Lampard says “He is fantastic in the air when he is attacking the ball. He’s probably the strongest player in our team. If you touch him he’s like a rock and the way he attacked the ball for the goals, especially the second one which he powered back into the net, was amazing. When you’ve got players who can do that in big games they are so important.” Would he be able to say the same about Jose Bosingwa – who Ivanovic is covering at the minute? I don’t think so somehow.
Let’s face it, Ivanovic – who let’s not forget saved our arses with a goal-line clearance at the death against Bolton this weekend – is making a name for himself at Chelsea right now, and with Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry both spending longer periods out injured, Branislav Ivanovic – at just 25 – might just be establishing himself as a first-team regular.
Blue is the colour
