If You Don't Get Ivanovic and Mikel You'll Never Get Chelsea
By the end, there was uncomfortable chatter surrounding the names of Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel. Everybody knew the time had come to say goodbye.
Antonio Conte's rediscovery of the wing back left no room for Ivanovic's style of defending or attacking.
Mikel looked at the teamsheet and suddenly saw that he was competing with N'Golo Kante, a man so good he has had Claude Makelele's "role" renamed in his honour.
However, that we can even make these casual assessments, free from worry, is down to the contribution of these two men to Chelsea Football Club's current state. Sometimes in part, sometimes in whole.
Take for example our current stars. The reason why Chelsea were able to sign arguably our current most important player, Eden Hazard, is because of the colossal efforts of Ivanovic and Mikel around Europe in 2012.
No Ivanovic winner against Napoli? No Mikel midfield bossing against Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the final? Then no Hazard tweet that he was signing for a "Champions League winner". If you doubt it, just watch Barcelona 2 Chelsea 2 for starters.
Look at the sacrifice of Mikel.
One of the world's most coveted attacking midfield talents, winning the silver shoe (and behind only to Lionel Messi as player of the tournament) in the 2005 World Youth Championships, he changed his game to allow the fearsome reputation of the modern Chelsea to develop.
I don't think that's an exaggeration either. Chelsea's greatest era was driven significantly by the quality of our defensive records. In 2006/7, 2008/9, 2010/11, 2013/14 and 2014/15, under 4 different managers, Chelsea had the best defensive record in the league.
There can be no doubt that Mikel's screening of the Chelsea defences in these campaigns was a vital factor in this record.
This is particularly given that in 2006-7 Chelsea were playing with a makeshift defence involving at least one non-centre back (Essien, Ferreira or perhaps both) for virtually half of the season.
It's one of the great weaknesses of football that so much of the game goes underappreciated. "Attacking" and "beauty" will always be essential parts of football's whole.
But they are parts only, not the whole. Mikel should have been recognised as a player who was able to reinvent himself in a different way, and successfully so.
He surely would have been if his journey in playing style had been reversed. There is no disgrace in becoming a vital part of the system in some of the best teams this country has seen, whether by reputation or actual success.
Mikel certainly was that and he could put the medals on the table against anyone who doubted it: 2 Premier Leagues, 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 1 Europa League, 1 Champions League.
Branislav Ivanovic's journey passed through the same history as Mikel but his talent met with more respect. As you'd expect, it was Jose Mourinho who captured the most striking summary of what Ivanovic was about.
After yet another winner to put Chelsea through to an important victory (see also: Liverpool- Champions League quarter final 08-09, Napoli- Champions League knockout round 11/12, Benfica- Europa League final 12-13), Mourinho was unabashed in accepting that Ivanovic was one of Chelsea's greatest signings ever.
The Portuguese is not a man give out compliments easily but he was clear about the players a Chelsea team under him should include:.
"Exactly this – a team is an artist like Hazard, it's a defender like Branislav".
Yes, Ivanovic slowed down, yes his crossing was a source of angst towards the end but what are these things compared to litany of great contributions made over so long by the Serb? The absolutely uncompromising defending and, occasionally striker-like finishing that saw him voted him into league (repeatedly) and European (repeatedly) teams of the year.
If you want an idea of what that involved then again ask Mourinho.
After a cup match against Liverpool where he had again scored the winner, Mourinho said that a bloodied boot worn by Ivanovic during the match should be placed in the Chelsea Academy as a reminder of what commitment was.
Such is the contribution of these two departing members of Chelsea's last great era. Even in age of sho.
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