Monday, 4 April 2016

Why Borussia Mochengladbach's Andreas Christensen Must Be In Chelsea's First Eleven Next Season.

"Man of the match was Andreas Christensen who played well against Shrewsbury. There are more than John Terry (who was the League Cup Final's Official Man Of The Match winner), because we are a team. I am proud of the guys",was the statement of then Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho on Danish defender Andreas Christensen after winning the 2015 League Cup final against Tottenham.


Christensen only played one league game for the blues and that was on 25 May 2015, after coming on as a substitute for John Obi Mikel on the last day of the season against Sunderland. In total, Christensen played only two games for the West London club and that was the full 90 minutes against Shrewsbury Town in the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup loss to Bradford City the same season. Christensen's father was a goalkeeper for  Brondby IF, which was the same club Chelsea signed him from in 2012. Also Jose Mourinho made sure the defender was given a League winners medal at the end of the 2014/2015 season .

Christensen joined Borussia Mochengladbach in a two-year loan deal on July 10, 2015 and has gone on to impress. He has played a total of 24 Bundesliga games, scoring trice  and creating two chances. He has a pass accuracy of 87 percent and has won an average physical duel of 58 percent. Also Christensen has made 21 tackles of which 54 percent have been successful , making 60 interceptions and a further 88 clearances not exempting his 15 blocks all season. Christensen has only missed four Bundesliga games, making no defensive error all season and was brilliant as Gladbach became the first team to beat Bayern Munich this season in a 3-1 win (only Mainz have achieved the same feat this season). It is to his credit that Gladbach are fourth  in the table conceding 44 goals in 28 games (an average of 1.6 goals per game). He has also played in the Champions League in a tough group with the likes of Juventus, Sevilla and Manchester City.

It is based on these records that Chelsea should make it a priority to recall Christensen to Stamford Bridge to form an integral and successful  defensive partnership with French man Kurt Zouma next season . With the loss of form of Gary Cahill and the departure of Club Legend John Terry, there is no better defender than Christensen that ticks all the boxes needed to succeed in Chelsea. As a UEFA Youth League Champion and also a Danish capped player (four caps), Christensen is far more technical and  tactical for his tender age of 19.

Perfect with the ball , the Danish defender will compliment the less mobile Kurt Zouma as the partnership will be a youthful one with both a physical presence and ball playing duo .

The only problem is that Christensen will not return to Chelsea if he is not sure of playing time . The defender recently said : "I am very happy, I will give it my best in the two years here, and see what the future has for me. It's of no use to return to Chelsea, if I don't get any playing time . A lot can happen ". Having said all these, Chelsea and rumoured coach Antonio Conte must do more than enough to convince the 19 year-old that his future lies in West London .

No comments: