When the opposition talk about our dangermen ahead of games, it would usually be all about Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Nicolas Anelka maybe. Whoever it is they think will do the most damage though, it’s fair to say none of them would put Florent Malouda down as much of a worry – and yet, he seems to be emerging as a pretty consistent threat down our left hand side. It’s taken a while, seeing as he signed for us in 2007 and has been a bit hit-and-miss a lot of the time but something just seems to have clicked for the Frenchman lately – and whatever it is, long may it last.
I remember the hype when he first signed for us and to be fair he looked promising enough for even me to get excited about him – but that didn’t last and his performances seemed to blow hot and cold. Managers seem to have pretty much stuck with him though and slowly but surely he’s settled into his game. More so this season, where he’s played more consistently because that’s been reflected with more consistency in his game. But it seems to have crept up on some us more quietly than others. Whilst in previous seasons I might have convinced myself ‘For f*** sake’ was his middle name, I can’t recall the same sort of frustration from his game this season – in fact, yesterday, I went as far as renaming him Florent *f*** me, what a cross* Malouda – such was the accuracy every time he touched the ball.
Of course, as with any of our players we’ve had the obligatory stories in the press of him wanting to leave because of the manager’s lack of faith in him. However, Malouda completely refuted those stories and Ancelotti definitely didn’t sound like a manager lacking belief after yesterday’s performance, stating “He was the best player on the pitch today. He scored a fantastic goal, did a fantastic assist for the first goal and the second goal for Didier.”
And he was right, because Malouda was the best player on the pitch by a mile. After taking the same sort of stick and being written off just like any other player who takes time to settle into the Premier League, Florent Malouda is starting to repay the faith managers clearly have had in him.
And it’s paying dividends.
Blue is the colour
