The Robben story is on BBC now. This says that Robben has agreed his personal terms with Real Madrid. But based on what Jose had said after the Bluewings match yesterday, it doesn’t appear that Chelsea has allowed the player to speak to Real Madrid, in which case, it is either illegal or false.
Some rumours even say Robben deal would a swap of Cicinho or Cannavaro plus cash. I dont see any intelligence in getting Cannavaro for Chelsea. If it’s Cicinho, then we don’t have to pursue 30m Dani Alves any longer.
Talking about reports and rumours, if you want to piss off any Arsenal buddy of yours, just ask him if Palacio is joining Arsenal. If you don’t know the background, here it is. A Brazilian kid wrote in his Boca Juniors blog that Palacio is joining Arsenal and also spread this news in various Arsenal blogs and forums himself. It spread to such an extent that ‘The Sun’ ran an exclusive on ‘Palacio to Arsenal’ story alongwith few other papers and believe me, the Boca Juniors president had to come out and issue a statement that this is false. Above all, that kid came out and called the prank so proudly. So, not everything that is published is true and you don’t need a better example that this.
The BBC report also says that we are claiming 15 million pounds and Real are ready to pay only 12. Even at 15 million poounds, I feel Chelsea is underselling a great prospect. He is just 23-year old, has not yet peaked in his career and is a great talent. His constant injury niggles must have had an influence to the price being discussed. For Chelsea, apart from the 04-05 season, we couldn’t see much of him at a longer periods of time.
Jose’s response on Robben story after the Bluewings match, is not all that reassuring:
The latest with Robben is that he played the game. I cannot tell you more than that. At the moment he is a Chelsea player with two more years of contract and he is working well. For me, he is a player like Terry or Lampard with two more years of contract. I look at him as a Chelsea player and he has to compete against very good wingers like we have. I am happy with the situation.
Reminds me of what Henry was saying in May about his future at Arsenal.
See, I’m a great fan of Robben and would be sad to see him go. But if I have to see objectively, the output Chelsea got from Robben and SWP (you know, I’m not a great fan of him!) , there wasn’t too much difference, if you adjust the goals, assists & shots to the playing minutes. The Robben effect on our game and results has been diminishing over the last three seasons, I’ve to admit. If you think, I’m seeing Robben this way because, he seems to be on his way out, well, in a way you’re right.
Some statistics to explain things. Here GS is Games Started, SB is Sub appearance, G is Goals, A is Assists, SH is Shots and SG is Shots on Goal.
The above is the statistics of the 2004-05 season when he was one of the architects of the historic title win.
Here is the statistics of the second season. Started and appeared in more matches than in 2004-05, but ended up not bettering his earlier season.
This is the last season. You can see the returns diminish. I don’t simply value a player based on numbers. There are also intangibles like his influence on the game and other colleagues, his creativity that causes chaos in the opponent defence etc which are equally important, but all considered, we have been getting less and less from Robben over the last three seasons.
On the other hands, the fact that his effectiveness has diminished over the last two seasons may not have any bearing on what he has to offer in the coming years because, he is just 23 years and there is so much more in his career. Now that he has come out of his injury, if he plays for a long stretch of period without any further injury, he can be a great asset once again, but given his injury profile, that’s quite a big ‘if’.
If we’re going to buy Drenthe as a replacement for Robben, I’d feel somewhat happy. I’ve seen Drenthe on youtube. He is fantastic. Well, Baptista in Arsenal colours would also be brilliant, in a youtube compilation. So, you always leave a discount factor to what you see on youtube. Even after that Drenthe is still good. He can give a good run for anyone’s money from Ashley Cole to Malouda.
Also, you need to consider a fully-fit Joe Cole, hungry-to-prove Malouda, highly-improved SWP, red-hot Scott Sinclair and possible-right-winger Sheva, to see how Robben’s probable exit would impact us. Now you can add the Drenthe possibility here to see the full picture. In fact, given the problem of plenty that Jose faces, if Robben leaves, it might do good for Jose. Given a choice, Jose could offload SWP and retain Robben.
All said, I’d still hope Robben to stay. But if he doesn’t, I’d feel sad that I’d be missing a quality player like Robben in Chelsea colours, but Chelsea as a team should be able to cope quite well.
[tags]Chelsea, Robben, Arjen Robben, Real Madrid, Cicinho, Cannavaro, Malouda, Transfers [/tags]
38 Responses - Add your comment!
i really feel that Robben shld leave , even if this is a hoax it will lure Real into cumin out and try for him , the player is a disgrace , he is injured for more than half of the matches , has no respect for the team , his father is a bloody hypocrite who earlier stated that Robben wld sign on but now says Real hav contacted him , he is a bloody diver and a cheat who wants more money , and is not worth keeping , throw this garbage out , we hav Malouda whos fitter , more experienced and dependable!!!!
Nobody can keep the team at ransom , atleast with that money JM can go and buy Dani Alves or somebody who has some allegiance and respect for the club when JM has stated that he wabts him to stay and if Robben was faithful he shld hav agreed , atleast shushed the coments , but no , either he wants a wage increase , or he wants media attention or a transfer to Madrid , and i give him the boot for all three!!!!!!!
Dont agree with you joeblue. The players holding the club to ransom are JT and Lamps who are replaceable if you ask me but truth is no club wants them-may be Terry but definitely not Lamps. Robben, if he goes, would be a loss to the team but we would cope. Meanwhile, there is this gist about terry’s deal being completed. He is to earn 131,000 lbs a wk. How true is that?
what is Robben useful for???? he dosent score , i mean 3 in 24 last season , which winger plays like that???? he dribbles around , wastes chances , dives , gets CFC a bad name , cant score , is unfit , wants more money , no faith for the club , is inconsistent , undependable!!!!
ROBBEN U CAN LEAVE FOR ALL I CARE , U R USELESS , AND MAYBE BETTER SUITED TO THE LA LIGA WHERE A TOUCH BY THE DEFENDER IS CALLED A FOUL , AND U CAN HAV ALL UR PUBLICITY AS WELL AS GET INJURED AND JOIN UR NEW MATES IN THE HOSPITAL , LIKE IT IS UR SPECALITY!!!!
Hey guys, about the robben saga!!! It will be sad to see him go but i think we could definitely cope in his adsence! The thing I wont be missing about robben is his lack of consistency in performing for the team and his consistency in getting injured!!
As mentioned above I think he is a great talent and he is still very young which is reason enough to keep the winger!! My gut tells me he will go and if I am right it will be because of his immaturity to be lured by a big name like real madrid, and I have this feeling he wont be a success there!! But who knows, maybe i am wrong!!!
I definitley think we need to invest in a Right back this season, I am still not convinced by GJ and PF!! maybe if robs does take off it will bring in a surplus of funds to splash out a bit!!
Great blog, absolutely loving it!!!
Well Frankly… i am a bit torn….in my opinions!!!!!
I really cant make my mind up as to whether i wud be sad/glad to see him leave…
The reasons i Wud be SAD if he leaves…
a) He’s got Potential… He has what it takes to be a true winger…. No two ways about it…. He’s got pace… trickery.. gets past defenders well..and good crossing ability.. all in all a TRUE WINGER….
b) He’s only 23… he still has a lot to improve about his game… He can grow from being a great POTENTIAL to being a great REALITY…..
c) He’s done well for Chelsea before….If injuries dont strike, i believe he can reproduce his 04-05 form, which i am sure will have his strongest detractors (read JOEBLUE) eating their words…..
The reasons i wud be GLAD t see him leave are..
a) He’s on some kinda decline…. If you just look at the statistics and numbers (which are never true indicators of anything) he’s been on the slope down….
b) His pace has dropped since when he arrived at the BRIDGE…. Can be attributed to the constant injuries he picks up… but whether its permanent cant be said for sure…. Whether he still has the pace to do what he used to, can only be seen if he has an injury free pre-season and season…..
c) He’s INJURY PRONE…… This is the inexplicable feature some players have…they have the tendency to get injured very easily…(ex. KIRKLAND)
Some players are just injury prone!!! period….
Unfortunately He is one of them….
So he will always be in danger of being at the doctors clinic before a crucial fixture… which is very disheartening….for the team and management…
Somehow… the overall feeling i have is that if he leaves i will be a tad sad… but i am sure Chelsea will cope with the loss….especially if they are aquiring Drenthe…. who will be an understudy for a while before stepping up…
Robben should not go, he is one of the best wingers in the world (provided he is fit)….
WTF, JM has said that he will play 4-3-3 this season which means more flair, speed, stlye & Robben & J Cole are the most important players for that formation. So in all probability, he will get to play good number of games, all important matches. If he goes, as Badlyblue said, it will be his immaturity & greed for money. How can he forget what happened with Gallas? Gallas is earning more money but his team is struggling to keep players & will fight for CL spot.
Yes, madrid have history & are one of the best clubs in the world, but will Robben be part of Madrid history? contrary if he stays at chelsea, he will definitely be part of history.
Anyways, If he goes, it will be massive boost for Kalou, Jose will pay more attention to development of Kalou / Sinclair / Sahar as they can be the best replacement.
Troubles started last season do not seem to end, A Cole, Bridgy, Terry, Ballack are injured, Robben not sure about future, African nations cup will cost us dearly in terms of first team players etc…. Lets see how team comes through this. But something tells me that we will play the best football coming season.
robben will definitely be missed. He is one of the best wingers in the world. JM please dont let Arjen move.
A player can’t be judged simply by goals and assists….a player like Robben uplifts entire team with his exuberance…just remember FA cup final….Chelsea were not all threatening but as soon as Robben arrived he played havoc with ManU’s right defence…he was criss crossing their entire defence without any effort….and then a team like Chelsea which has a more direct style needs Robben more as he provides flair and pace on flanks,without him opposition can easily stiffle our attack as has been proven in last season….and regarding his greed, tell me how many players are there in international football who put their club first,very few… and unfortunately Chelsea still is not that type of club for which palyers will overlook money…even home grown Terry puts money first, so how can one blame Robben.Just for an idea, can’t his(or anyone’s) wages be related to his performance in coming season.
In the end I would say we will certainly miss Robben.
it will be sad for having a player like robben leaving chelsea as we are going to playing more of attacking football using our wingers-dont leave.
manish we have other players to uplift the team not just robs!!! I think JC is the man to put our trust in this season for threatening from the flanks!!
I just want to make 1 thing clear about my earlier post!! Never once did I mention money luring Robben but the stigma that surrounds the likes of a team like Real madrid. They have such a great European pedigree that it plays such an influence in luring players to their club. I think Robben is flattered by the prospect of being offered a contract by Real and that his father is the little devil on his shoulder pushing him to sign!!! Lets face it the wages offered by Real and Chelsea will be very similar, so I dont think it will play such a big role!@!
Robben pls stay!!!!!!!!!He’s great and can bring excitement to EPL provided tt he is injury-free…
guys just look back 2 seasons….when chelsea rocked in that 4-3-3..formation….robben was too good….that year…
but certainly he is prone to injuries….he doesn’t hav a good phisique…but in talent wise..he’s as good as any one on the left flank….
the best thing about robben” when he’s fit” is that he can impact the game in a big way….remember the effect when he came on in the carling cup final…..
he gives tremendous width and spped to this chelsea side……
my best advice to robben is to see out his contract and be a good man with chelsea fans…..it is too bad for all of us if he leaves us this year….the year we are lookin to bring home the big fat trophee that has evaded us so far……
so he should stay and fit in his favourite 4-3-3 formation ” that jose promised to use to make the game more attractive”
so robben……ppleeeesssssssseeeeee stay…………….
Bluegal – have to agree BUT there will be takers for Lampard.
Robben is a worldclass winger.. and his finishing is top quality. If he was in any team other than Chelsea he would really flourish. Ther’es something about Mourinho’s tactics that inhibit the attacking qualities of our players.
Sure he’s greedy sometimes but that’s partly due to an eagerness to please given the limited game time he gets.
I cant believe the poeple who are just willing to discard Robben as if he’s just a peice of garbage..
And about the diving?
If you remember in the first season Robben wasn’t actualy diving all that much. In fact I rememebr thinking he’s a tough little fellar for his size – he was chasing players down and sticking to them whenever he lost the ball.
Even Essien seems to go down sometimes these days.
When he first came it was something to marvel at – to watch him stand his ground with all that tenacity.
Something tells me it’s JM who has actively or passively encouraged the ‘acquiring free kicks’ mentality.
So much for me looking forward to seeing the best of Robben this season:-(
I’m really disappointed in Robben though! Initially he and his father said tyhat Robben was going nowhere……now its the same player and father who are looking 4 an exit from Chelsea.. I sense a lack of loyalty. Mourinho and Kenyon have made it very clear that they want Robben to stay, but I cant understand why he is so anxious to leave, even considering he is such a valuable asset to our team.
I would never encourage keeping a player against his will though……no matter how good as he is! Ive had enuff of the speculation and anxiety.
If Robben wants to leave….he should be man enuff to say it and stop beating around the bush! He owes us the fans that much.
At the end of the day though…we all are BLUES fans 4 lyphe, whether Robben leaves or not!
Cheers “Blues”
Robben or No Robben?????
Robben is a great player… he was very important during 2006-2007 as we missed Joe Cole as well. I think both are very similar players with thier pace and tricks. Robben had a very poor last season, he could have made great impact. But we are yet to see the best of him. I am not sure SWP is the right replacement but a fitter Joe Cole may mean we wont feel the absence of Robben much.
Robben is proven quality- and worldclass quality when in form
I would be extremely dissappointed to see him go- and for a paltry 15mil- that is absurd!
I’m sure Drenthe has bags of potential-but i would much rather have Robben than Drenthe. If you are going to let someone go for transfer funds- sell SWP and get Drenthe- makes much more sense.
Love this blog btw!
Many great points brought up… I think that Robben is despensable, but that Chelsea is better with him in Blue. Torohi, we can’t sell SWP in stead of Robben because SWP wants to stay and apart from a few awry crosses and extra dribbles into defenders, SWP has given his all and has stayed healthier. We can’t blame SWP’s heart, and that’s something I love about him, even though he agrevates me sometimes. He fights sincerely for his team and gives his best. I think we should keep SWP. He’s our paciest player, as well.
But about Robben, I think he’s a fantastic player, very extremely talented and sharp with his crosses, but he is a bit weaker than what I’d like and therefore goes down more easily (Cashif I think you’re very wrong if you think Mourinho’s instilled a go-down mentality in our players. You have no proof, so don’t put out the allegation.) If Drenthe becomes a left winger, then with his defensive background and seemingly magical feet, he’ll become a fantastic player. And from the few videos I’ve seen, he looks muscular and powerful. So that’ll solve our Robben problems–injuries and going down.
If Drenthe replaces him, cool. If not, we’re worse off.
Oh, and I forgot Cicinho. He was injured most of last season, but while healthy he was Real’s #1 RB. He’s fantastic, I’d compare him to Ashley Cole in speed and defensive ability, and his crossing ability is STELLAR! I’d very much like to see him in Blue. You see Real’s my favorite Spanish side and second favorite team, so perhaps that’s also a reason why I wouldn’t be THAT sad to lose Robben–I could still follow his career.
Hey maysam, what about that link to the training/matches videos/pics??
maysam, you can send it to BC’s email and may be he can publish it here if deems fit.
Robben provides a very very good substitute option to Jose to change the pace of the game with substitution… but just that robben will not be happy with it.
Its said that best person should get most minutes on the pitch but i feel malouda should be player as starting the game and then subbed in 65th-70th min by robben… robben will tear apart those tired defence legs more effectively that time..
And for that to happen… HE HAS TO STAY.
regarding his fitness i still feel like killing that blackburn player who deliberately made that horrible tackle on him… he was just playing awesome before that… after that i have never seen him play as he was doing before.
yeah about pics , I don’t know what BS’s email is . and I will go to Chelsea Vs. Galexy this Saturday, I will take some photos there too.
I put the training pictures in my myspace .
and even if we sign Drenthe he wont be playing this season most probably… his club has made sure on this.
Well done, BC . very effective article. U know what, for a moment I told myself ‘yeah he is right, we don’t need robben’ but I hesitated and thought for a second then I told myself ‘No he is not right, we need robben’. But I cannot tell you Why? I feel we need him.
I am one o f his big fans. I don’t trust what Jose Mourinho said about him , because Jose said these words about W.Gallas too and Gallas left Chelsea last season.
Actually , I think this poll was not good. I believe the effect of Robben departure depends on other players. u never know , maybe Malouda or J.Cole or SWP experience one of their best seasons next season, so there is no problem but it can happen conversely. Or maybe robben stays but he gets injured and spend most of the games on bench. Nobody can foresee soccer however, I wish what is gonna happen be in favor of Chelsea.
Somebody give some news about Bridge and Ashly . I heard they won’t be able to start this season.
As I said If Robben played on Saturday versus Galaxy, he would definitely stay, but if he did not , he would probably leave chelsea.
He’s gonna leave ya’ll……….. I know it!! Hey BC can u write an article about Madrid and Chelsea. Personally I’m getting sick and tired of em(Real Madrid Steelers)…….They’re giving me a headache!!!!!!!!
I want Chelsea to meet ( and have wanted Chelsea to meet ) Real in the Champions league and teach them something.
Forget their so-called euro pedigree, its this year and and victories now that count . Think what would have happened if at Real if they hadn’t won the La Liga this year. LOL LOL . Still Cappello leaving them must give a pointer on what gonna happen to them next year.
Barca the La Liga
Chelsea bashes them hard on the way to the CL.
If you think that Manure and Looserpool have improved, just wait till you see Barca and Real, and no, I’m not just reffering to Henry and (maybe) Robben’s respective moves to these clubs.
Barca two great defenders, Abidal and Gabi Milito, and “the new Patrick Vieira” Yaya Touré. That should make them better for next season. Oh, and little striker by the name of Leo Messi keeps getting better and better. They have the same …problem?… which we have with too much depth in our midfield, except they have it at the forward spot. They might even play four forwards!!
And Real, they’ve signed the fantastic Metzelder, the German CB, along with Saviola, of whom I’m a fan (someone wanted JM to sign him), as well as Dudek from the Scousers and Pepe, a defender from Porto. if Robben follows, they’ll be a terrific team next year, not that they aren’t already…
But I’m certain next year Chelsea will be able to win whatever competition they’re in. We’ll need a bit of luck in the semifinals of the CL for once, and apart from that, we’re going to be really difficult to defeat.
Good rumors as well of Terry signing a £131,000 a week contract, that’s 6.8 million a year, making him the highest earner in the Pren (can someone confirm this??)
I wanna tell you something funny and strange.
it means Robben will go . by the way, I am a superstitious person
Tonight , I washed my robben shirt which I played soccer with yesterday. i cannot believe that, when I put it out from washer , it was completely riped.
I washed the shirt before but It had not ever happened.
Any update on Robben?There has been no fly back for Robben so far as was reported 2 days back…moreover Ibramovich says he wants Robben to stay….
I hope he stays and demolish defences.
abramovich has stated that robben is not for sale even for 50 million pounds
source:goal.com and the sun
Maysam, that was funny.
[...] How indispensible is Robben for Chelsea? [...]
Wud be gud if he stayed, but if theres a player at our club doesn’t wanna be there let him go… Plus he’s not untouchable, Scotty Sinclair cud give him a push, never mind Joey Cole, Kalou, Phillips
WE WANT OUR TITLE BACK!!!
You think Kalou is an able replacement?? I don’t think so. I saw him more of a forward than a winger last year, always playing next to Drogba. I’m not so sure about his wing skills.
I liked Robben and would be sad to see him leave, but that would only do good to Chelsea’s future. Let me list out few points supporting this assumption:
1) Someone earlier mentioned that Real would probably pay as much as Chelsea. So money is not as much of a factor. Nor Real are a club to be held in high esteem based on their recent performance. 1 la league title in 4 years. Have not reached semi finals of Champions league in seasons.
Accepted Real were great “Once Upon A Time”. So why should Robben join such a club where he would get no silver-ware for sure.
Unlike in Chelsea he would not have to fight for his place in Real. He would be an automatic first choice starter in Real. As the only notable Real midfielders are Diarra,Guti,Gago,Reyes and Higuaín. Out of these, two (Diarra & Gago) are defensive midfielders and would do more of a holding role.
Instead in Chelsea, Jose has already mentioned his plan to stick to his preferred 4-3-3 formation unless injuries force his hand. Hence the only place he can play is among the upfront 3 which would constitute two strikers. For the midfield 3 would have the likes of Essein, Ballack, Lampard (I am not sure), Malouda, Sidwell, Mikel, SWP and Makalele. This puts Robben in direct competition for the one remaining place upfront with Joe Cole or probably Lampard. So he will not be a granted a starting place everytime. If he slips up a time too many, a worthy substitution would be the easily available. There would be no bed-in period in a match. So everytime he walks out he will have the constant pressure to keep his place.
2) Robben’s exit would leave the youngsters to make a one odd appearance in the premier league matches which would benefit their development immensely.
3) Robben has not been that much of an asset in Champions league matches too. As could be seen in his world cup appearances. I don’t imply he is a flop at big stages but just seems to need too much time to adjust.
4) It would up to an extent solve Jose’ problem of plenty as mentioned earlier.
5) Now this may be selfish thinking but it would give more space and playing time to Joe Cole. Robben is an out and out winger hence his passes can never be as penetrative and clear cut goal scoring opportunities as those of someone like Cesc Fabrigass. Arsenal thus concentrates more on taking ball upfront from centre of the fields than wings and it has paid rich dividends. Joe Cole and Ballack for one have such abilities to slip passes from central midfield or similar positions. True we cannot have the game centered towards central midfield and need wings to split play. For this purpose we have SWP and Malouda who would do quite a good job there.
6) If you don’t want to stay, you can not be counted upon and its better if you leave.
What would we be lacking if Robben leaves:
1) Robben’s pace and trickery.
2) His constant un-nerving and softening of the full backs.
3) A player who was only 23 and had the potential to become someone really big.
Now all of those attributes except the third aspect can be compensated by the present squad to some extent. And if you now include the probable new signings of the likes Drenthe any remaining doubts should be cleared and put back the smile anticipating the start of new season which i am sure would make us the champions once more.
No way never believe BBC……they are just lieing….Robben’s on injury…..
[...] he is surely on his way out. We are only shagging over the price. As you know already I’m a big fan of him but the prospect of signing Alves makes me tilt towards sending off unhappy [...]
[...] but there’s as yet no movement on the reported negotiations for Robben (is he really worth over 30 million to Chelsea?) and Drenthe. Maybe Marcelo will feature in Schuster’s plan after all, although his extended [...]