I’ve been gone for a bit. I needed some time to recover after the fiasco in Moscow. I was having a severe depression spell where the only time I could stop thinking about Chelsea losing the European Cup was when I was sleeping. I tried to distance myself as much as I could.

I never watched Manchester United’s celebrations or re-watched any highlights of the game. I did happen to catch a snippet of Terry’s misery. How dreadful. I couldn’t have predicted the reaction I had after we lost the game. My fondness for Chelsea even surpassed my preliminarily estimations. So there I sat, with my head in my hands and my eyes watering as if was John Terry himself, thinking of how I would have felt had that the Captain kept his ground and nestled the penalty safely in the corner of the net. Avram Grant has also been fired after three runners-up honors. I honestly can’t say I’m upset to see him go. This is all about entertainment and he doesn’t do it for me. I thought he deserved another chance based on his results but in the long run I’m happy about this decision.

Onto a different subject, the performance of the players throughout the season. This is my personal opinion. I am biased and I can’t help with it. I’ll try to back-up my opinions with explanations. These ratings are based on game for game performances. Whether the player played 50 games on 5 games, it is game for game. The players will be rated in order or jersey number.

The Mighty Blues

#1 Petr Cech – 6.6/10 – Petra oh my Petra, Petra oh my Petra! Not his usual dominant and flawless self. His season was hindered by injuries as it was last season. Never really got in a groove and made some stupid mistakes, none worse than the Aston Villa blunder. The big man still had some great saves throughout the year but you have to say he could have done better. If he stays injury free there’s no reason he shouldn’t be back next season to his usual self. We need to keep this guy, he’s still got 10 years under his belt.

#2 Branislav Ivanovic – N/A – Never made a first team appearance. Looking like a waste of money.

#3 Ashley Cole – 7.1/10 – I thought Ashley Cole played well this season. Didn’t have too many bad games in the entire season. Cemented his place as the first choice left-back over Wayne Bridge. I don’t think anyone would complain. The system doesn’t really provide for him to be a huge attacking threat as he was on Arsenal but he’s impeccable on defense. Silenced Ronaldo like nobody else. Also scored his first goal for the club. Good finish.

#4 Claude Makelele – 7.4 – Called on this season maybe a little to much due to the many injuries. Still the person described as the engine. Makelele allowed Lamps and Ballack to push forward without worrying about defensive duties. I’m kind of ready for him to move on however. I would prefer Essien in that kind of position because I believe he is one of the best players in the world. Grant made Makelele an untouchable but I think next season we have to take off his armor and let Essien rotate into that position. Still played great defense, probably would have played better if we could have used him more sparringly and gave him some rest. He’s 35 or 36 and his time is almost done. One of, if not our most consistent player over the last years.

#5 Michael Essien – 7.3 – This is probably the player most effective by my game for game rule. He started the season dismally and piled up injuries, suspensions, and international duty at the wrong time. If I was rating Essien on the end of the season, I would put him somewhere around an 8.5 and our player of the season. He commenced the season with real class of the strongest player in the world that we’ve come to known. Along with Ballack I’m most afraid of losing Essien. When he’s in the midfield he provides everything. He’s a great finisher, a great defender, comes forward with more speed and power than anyone in the world, and his stamina is unmatchable. I hope our next manager gets him back into the midfield where he needs to be.

#6 Ricardo Carvalho – 7.6 – The best defender we have. In the overall picture that is. Just like everyone else, he suffered from injury and suspension. Very consistent defender. Two huge notable blunders, against Tottenham and Manchester United. This probably took .1 off him but it doesn’t change that he’s the best defender we have. I feel very comfortable when he needs to make a game winning tackle. Great player, great season. Third best player of Chelsea’s season for me.

#7 Andriy Shevchenko – 6.2 – We turned the world’s most feared striker in the world into the most un-feared in 8 months. I heard an Arsenal fan of FanZone say that. Sheva didn’t have his breakout year in England that was the hope. Did get his body on the end of some balls throughout the season. Still slow and still not world-class caliber for Chelsea. A real shame his injury happened after his best game in a Chelsea shirt against Aston Villa. Statistically his scoring wasn’t awful but he was dreadful to watch most of the time when he wasn’t scoring.

#8 Frank Lampard – 7.4 – Super, Super Frank. Super, Super Frank. Super Frankie Lampard! The third consecutive 20 goal season for our vice-captain. That’s an impressive feat for someone who is truly a midfielder (unlike a certain Portuguese who dives a lot and missed a penalty against Chelsea). Lampard has a streaky season and struggled to his form with two big injuries. I can only imagine what his goal tally would be had he not been injured. The beginning of season he was on fire and it was only a matter of time before the Chelsea injury bug got him. Still proved he’s our best passer and key for our team. Dealt with the passing of his mother like a real man and scored to get us to Moscow and in Moscow. He was a whizkid at times during the Champions League. I’m confident he’ll remain with the club next season and sign a new contract.

#9 Steve Sidwell – 4.5 – Never showed he should be on team. Belongs on a mid-table team. We need to sell him this offseason to clear up some of the congestion.

#10 Joey Cole – 7.7 – Would have finished the season as my player of the season and above an 8.0 had he not faltered at the end of the year. Cole has the most appearances for the club and was lucky to stay healthy the entire year. At the time I voted him player of the year on the Chelsea website and I have no regrets. He played very well and scored some fantastic goals for us. If he would work on his crossing a bit that would be key. Joey Cole is a true blue and I love his passion. I only expect him to get better. Can you imagine Robinho and Joey Cole on our wings? Brilliant!

#11 Didier Drogba – 6.3 – Easily my biggest disappointed of the year. All this talk about leaving Chelsea really annoyed me but I wouldn’t mind as long as he performed on the field. He couldn’t oblige me. It was when I think back on how good he was against Arsenal and Liverpool that it upsets me because of the comparison to other games. Almost all his the games he played in besides those two he was lazy and awful. I’d rather him leave if he comes back next season playing the same way. It was only fitting that he showed how stupid he was by slapping Vidic in the face in extra-time of the Champions League Final. Almost as stupid as Zidane. The worst player on the field that day.

#12 John Obi Mikel – 7.0 – Definitely showing promise to be a great defensive midfielder. Mikel got a lot of starts towards the beginning of the season and then not enough towards the end. He’s still super young, 21 years old. Give it a couple years and I’d put money on it that he’ll be as good or better than Viera or Makelele. I have a lot of hope for him. Had a lot of very solid performances and is perhaps our most comfortable player in possession of the ball. He still needs to mature, however. Four red cards and two years is a little extreme.

#13 Michael Ballack – 8.3 – Micah! My new favorite player on Chelsea. The Captain of Germany really showed was the first-year hangover in England is all about; played this season with a vengeance of skill that was unmatched. Also my game-for-game player of the season. Came back after a lengthy injury and performed better than anyone would have expected. Every time he scored he would let out a yell of fury and passion I really think this showed what Chelsea FC is all about. Ballack scored some crucial goals and was our attacking engine during his time in the side. Slaying Manchester United also helped his rating. I can’t wait to see him play next season. I really hope he finishes his career and Chelsea and provides many more moments of inspiration for the club.

#14 Claudio Pizarro – 4.2 – Claudio Pisucko. He’s really bad. Great for Madrid and Peru but hasn’t began to touch down for Chelsea.

#15 Florent Malouda – 6.7 – I had really high hopes for Malouda when we bought him and also at the start of the season with some great performances. It didn’t really pan out that way for the Frenchman, he only scored three goals the entire season. Definitely started to show some promise towards the end of th season. I hope he stays with Chelsea another year and we’ll see if he can adjust to the English game and be the French Player of the Year that we bought him as. He’s also great on the international side. Malouda could be great for us, we have to give him a chance.

#18 Wayne Bridge – 6.0 – Only got a couple games under his belt. Better on the attacking side than Ashley Cole. I’m not particularly comfortable with him if we were pinned back to defense or against a top player. He’s rumored to be leaving.

#20 Paulo Ferreira – 6.9 – Ferreira really played pretty well when he was called on throughout the year; he was used quite sparingly, however. Definitely our best defending right-back and he’s a pretty good crosser as well. He signed a new four-year deal with the club this season before the arrival of Jose Bosingwa. I’m thinking Ferreira will be getting around the same playing time next season if Bosingwa lives up to the hype. Ferreira looked to be our best right-back when he played, I thought he deserved more time than he did.

#21 Salomon Kalou – 7.0- He comes from the Ivory Coast, Kalou Kalou. He doesn’t do coke like Adrian Mutu Mutu. He crossed the ball from the left, it landed right on Riise’s head and that’s why we all love Salomon Kalou. I absolutely despised Kalou at the beginning of the season. Every time he would touch the ball I would say, “Hasn’t got a Kalou.” I’ve done a complete 180 on my opinion after this season, however. Kalou seemed to really get some confidence and this helped him have good performances. He was a menace many games and scored some crucial goals for us. Kalou also led our team in assists. His passing and crossing is among the best on our team and I think his vision may be unmatched. His pass to Joe Cole to score against Blackburn = sublime. If his decision making improves next season, he could be a top player.

#22 Tal Ben Haim – 2.2 – The same rating as his jersey number. Easily our worst player. Made a goal-costing mistake every time he played. Ship him back to Bolton.

#23 Carlo Cudicini – 6.3 – Probably the best back-up keeper in the world besides maybe Lehmann. It’s a safe thing having him on the bench.

#24 Shaun Wright-Phillips – 6.1 – Only made it above a 6 because of the month or so when he played great during the Carling Cup Semi-Final against Everton. Wright-Phillips seems like a pretty nice guy but he isn’t quality enough for Chelsea. He may be our most frustrating player. His touch is about as good as Berbatov with no feet. When he’s on, he’s really on. This just doesn’t happen often enough to keep him on the Chelsea squad. I’ll be happy to see him go this offseason even at a severe loss. I don’t understand how he could possibly cost 20+ mil.

#26 John Terry – 7.4 – This rating isn’t and won’t be swayed by the dreadful penalty miss in Moscow. I felt for him so much after we lost the game. Anyone but John Terry. The most passionate and the most true blue player that Chelsea has. Our Captain. It was really hard to swallow that we weren’t Champions of Europe because of our Captain’s miss. He’s still our Captain and I hold no grudge against him. Without Terry we wouldn’t have brought the game to extra-time anyways. That header clearance on Giggs’ shot was WORLD-CLASS. I’ll say thank you for giving us the opportunity to have a shoot-out before I criticize the greatest Captain in the world, John Terry. After all, who stays on the field for 10 minutes with three broken bones in their foot? More injuries plagued John Terry. He’s been quite unlucky these pasts two years and I really hope for the sake of our team that he can avoid these injuries. He’s also rumored to have regained the captaincy of England. Got on form when he had some time to get some consecutive games. Terry had some goal-line saves in the Premier League as well. Always at the right place at the right time. The Terry-Carvalho duo is unmatched by any in the world. Thanks for everything, Captain.

#33 Alex – 7.3 – Very, very solid performances at the back. A definite future replacement for Ricardo Carvalho if we can keep him at Chelsea. Also a scoring threat. Scored three fantastic goals, leading our defenders in goals. No nonsense play, very strong, very promising. Good first season for Chelsea.

#35 Juliano Belletti – 6.5 – Belletti was a weird case. He started the season with great promise, especially in his attacking movement. Always seemed a little slow with his reactions but this wasn’t truly exposed until the Carling Cup Final. His horrid performance put him out of first team action for a while and Ferreira was preferred. Belletti scored two belters from long range and won the Goal of the Season. I’m not particularly comfortable with his defensive performances. Seems a little slow off the draw and not the caliber of the people around him. I’m just hoping Bosingwa is finally the answer to the right-back problems.

#39 Nicolas Anelka – 6.0 – I had high hopes for the silky Frenchman and high hopes for a Drogba-Anelka combination. Both these hopes are now drowned and I’m disappointed. Anelka’s top perk is that he’s a deadly finisher. Except on Chelsea. Anelka never really fit into the one striker role and looked aimless at times. He had a lot of opportunities in front of net and failed all but twice. I believe he hit the crossbar three times. 2 goals in 20+ appearances is not what Nicolas Anelka is capable of. And to top it off, he lost us the Champions League by missing his penalty. I wouldn’t bring this up had he not publicly announced that he didn’t want to take a penalty. I don’t think that’s a good thing to say when you’ve missed. Anelka also complained about his position and Avram Grant after I clearly remember him saying he could play paired with Drogba or out wide supporting him. Once a sulk, always a sulk.

#40 Henrique Hilario – 6.1 – Not a bad third-string keeper. Very unorthodox and kind of funny.

There we are. My player of the season, as I stated, is the Captain of Germany, Michael Ballack. Big credits to Terry, Carvalho, Joey Cole, and Frank Lampard. Not trophies but still a memorable season. If Jose Mourinho comes back to us, I’ll be praising us not winning any trophies(not really). Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!