Chelsea’s Player Of The Season?

Every time I big up one of our players in an article they either have a dip in form or succumb to injury, so I’m taking a bit of a risk here, particularly given this player’s contribution to us this season. The trouble is though, this being a Chelsea blog and all that, it’s impossible for me not to give him a mention when his form definitely has him in the running for our player of the season.

Seriously, how bloody good is Florent Malouda?

He’s been with us since the summer of 2007, so it’s fair to say he’s taken a bit of time to settle into the Premier League and Chelsea but the way he’s playing lately, you’d have to say it was worth the wait. Ok, so he’s 29 already but the pace he’s injected down our left-hand side suggests there’s plenty of life in him yet.

With someone like Michael Essien missing for the best part of the season, I guess we’d have been looking at players like Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba (and personally I’d have hoped maybe Joe Cole) to step their game up and counteract such a huge loss and yet Malouda’s been the player to consistently up his game. Even in our poor showing against Inter whilst every other player looked off their game, Malouda was notably the one man putting in any effort.

He’s upped his goal tally as well, with his 11 so far the best return we’ve had from him in a season. In fact, if you look at his goals, he’s level with Nicolas Anelka now and despite TheChelseaBlog’s insistence that Anelka’s game is about a lot more than goals, Malouda is ahead of him on assists as well. Not too shabby for a player actually picked by Mourinho.

So, is it just that he’s finally getting a consistent run in the side with a manager he’s known slightly longer than the other’s he’s played under at Chelsea? Is Ancelotti maybe getting the best out of him simply because his arrival at Chelsea coincided with Malouda finding his Premier League feet or is a run unimpeded by injuries the reason we’re seeing a return for the £13.5 million Mourinho spent?

I suppose the answer is a combination of the above and in truth, it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that – before me writing this at least – Malouda’s on fire!