Chelsea FC is a team that has achieved a tremendous amount of success for the past decade or so since Roman Abramovich bought the London based club. Much of that success can be attributed to the “Old Guard” which consists of John Terry (age 33), Petr Cech(31), Frank Lampard (35), Didier Drogba (36, even though he is not a part of the team currently), and Ashley Cole (33).
At the end of the 2012 Champions League winning season Didier Drogba left the team; to many this signaled the beginning of the end for the Old Guard. The next season John Terry decided to retire from the England National team.
Now with Ashley Cole also stating that he will retire from the national team, per the FA, this really marks the end of the great era in which these five players took part. Together a variation of at least three of these five players have managed to win 3 premier league titles, 4 FA cups, 2 league cups, 1 Europa league, and the biggest one of them all: the UEFA Champions League in 2012.
But now with Terry, Lampard, and Cole all being over the age of 33, and with their fitness levels gradually decreasing, they are not able to produce the same type of quality football they once were able to.
So now the challenge of moving on arises. The question is who will replace the seemingly irreplaceable spine of this team.
For quite a while now since Drogba left Chelsea have not been able to find a proper replacement with Fernando Torres having failed and Romelu Lukaku being unable to find a way into the team after having spent the last two seasons on loan.
The blues might have found a possible replacement for their Captain, Leader, and Legend, John Terry, in the form Gary Cahill, Tomas Kalas or even Kurt Zouma, a 19-year-old from France.
Lampard has been the easiest to replace after having brought in Nemanja Matic (again). Matic has performed admirably since having been brought in this January and has secured his place in the squad Jose Mourinho is looking to build for next season.
Ryan Bertrand seemed to be the ideal successor for Ashley Cole after being part of the starting XI that helped the team win the Champions League in 2012, but Jose Mourinho loaned him out to Aston Villa and has preferred Cesar Azpilicueta over him and even over Cole himself.
The number one spot has been put into speculation in recent weeks after Peter Cech suffered a shoulder injury. In my opinion, Thibaut Courtois is the ideal replacement for Cech and should be the number one goalkeeper for the upcoming season
Chelsea keep on clinging to the past and managers such as Andre Villas-Boas and even Philippe Scolari were fired because they tried, unsuccessfully, to guide the Chelsea squad away from their reliance on the Old Guard and towards a the new generation. Now that the team has Jose Mourinho back at the helm, Abramovich has seemed more willing to let these changes occur with Drogba not being part of the team anymore Cole and Lampard not appearing for most of the season, and Cech being injured. All of that combined has set the perfect platform to move towards the future.
Here is what I think Chelseas starting XI will look like for next season-
4-3-3
Courtois
Kalas-Ivanovic-Cahill(C)-Azpilicueta
Oscar-Matic-Ramires
Schurrle-Lukaku-Hazard
Subs: Cech; Terry, Ake; Van Ginkel; Salah, Willian; Costa
As you can see I decided to put Courtois as the starting goalkeeper as I feel that his youth will be very much appreciated. Also I rotated Kalas to right-back and Ivanovic to center-back as I believe that Terry will not be able to play every match and that David Luiz will be sold to Barcelona. I also decided to keep Azpilicueta at left-back since his performance this season in that position has been superb and Luke Shaws seems to want to join Manchester United who should I remind you will not play European football next season. Ramires to me, as you will see throughout my articles, is the perfect pivot that can run for miles and combines well with the defensive prowess of super-Serbian Nemanja Matic and with Oscar in the middle three we have the creative spark to help us attack and lead the transition in the counter-attack. Andre Schurrle is a better option than Willian in my opinion since he gives the squad strength and speed on the wing, something neither Willian nor Mohamed Salah can offer. Eden Hazard will stay for next season and will give Chelsea a great outlet to attack with.
Now to the dreaded position, striker. To me Lukaku, with a tad better footwork, is the best forward the squad could possibly get. He is aggressive, big, strong in the air, has a hard and accurate shot, and can hold his ground in the EPL. He has been successful in his two loan spells in the premier league with West Brom and most recently Everton. Diego Costa is a great forward but Lukaku should be given a chance since he has waited over two seasons to be part of the club he loves, or used to love if things don’t change concerning his situation at the club. Nathan Ake and Marco Van Ginkel will rotate throughout the season along with Terry for the periods in which the club play 2-3 games in a week.
Now moving forward with the Old Guard, both Terry and Lampard should be offered player-manager roles just as it has been rumoured that Drogba will as well. Cole will most likely leave the club while Cech can provide a lot of experience and great advice to Courtois just as Carlo Cudicini did with him.
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