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Chelsea’s swoop for Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas has reaped them rich dividends. They had a start to he season that saw them cruise past opponents week in and week out, their first real hiccup coming at the start of December at St. James Park where they succumbed 2-1 to Newcastle.
Nevertheless, they carried on, their last truly fluent performance arguably was playing away from home in the 5-0 victory over Swansea. Since having convincingly beaten the Swans, the Blues’ performances have trailed off.
Jose Mourinho himself has acknowledged that he has had to resort to a more pragmatic and less artistic approach in recent fixtures because of the unavailability of players interrupting his side’s rhythm.
Fabregas has been at the heart of everything that Chelsea have done and achieved this season. Much like Chelsea, he began in tremendous form with six assists in the first four games. by halfway through the season he had reached a tally of 13 assists and 2 goals in the EPL alone.
Had he carried on at the same rate, he would have smashed his former Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry's record of 20 assists in a single Premier League season. But soon after the win at Swansea, Chelsea faced Liverpool in the Capital One Cup which then meant that Chelsea would lose their spearhead Diego Costa to suspension.
As soon as Diego Costa would return, Nemanja Matic would be suspended for his reaction to Ashley Barnes’ tackle. Then Chelsea’s problems would be compounded due to injuries to Diego Costa and more recently Loic Remy. To be fair to Mourinho, losing players who would feature in the PFA Team of the Year would dent any team’s performances.
Besides, Diego Costa has arguably struggled to reach the form he began the season with since his return from suspension and injuries.
Regardless, the match against Swansea marked the decline of another Chelsea player – Cesc Fabregas.
You could argue that as Mourinho said, the rhythm of the team was affected by the players that were missing and hence it shouldn’t be surprising that Fabregas has also gone down the same road. But it’s not just the statistics – 1 assist and 1 goal in 9 games – that have been poor for the Spaniard.
The former Arsenal man has fluttered in and out of games, making some valuable contributions every now and then but failing to pull the strings and dictate tempo as he is expected to do in his deep-lying role for Chelsea. As he did for the first half of the season but hasn’t even come close to replicating the same in the latter half.
Yet, it is hardly a new phenomenon for the midfielder who cost Chelsea nearly £27 million.
The playmaker’s performances have consistently dipped in the latter half of seasons for at least since 2009-10.
| Cesc Fabregas Goals and Assists | ||
|---|---|---|
| Season | First half | Second half |
| 2009-10 (Arsenal) | 19 | 9 |
| 2010-11 (Arsenal) | 9 | 5 |
| 2011-12 (Barcelona) | 13 | 4 |
| 2012-13 (Barcelona) | 14 | 8 |
| 2013-14 (Barcelona) | 16 | 5 |
| 2014-15* (Chelsea) | 15 | 2 |
While, the midfielder has shown that he is capable of influencing teams and carrying them forward, history has also shown his tendency to decline as the season rolls towards its end.
Often, in the past Fabregas’ relatively less influential performances in the second halves of seasons have been attributed to fatigue, injuries and limited playing time, this time around he has no such excuse.
Whether it was the Fabregas’ dip in form that affected Chelsea’s rhythm or the injuries and suspensions that disrupted the Spaniard's form, we may never know, but history suggests that the former Barcelona man's mojo would have trailed off regardless of external factors.
He deserves recognition for all that he has provided for the Blues this season but perhaps, it is this same decline that cost him a place in the PFA Team of the Year. This is an issue both Fabregas and Chelsea must address if they are to mount a strong title defense next season.
Provided, of course, that Chelsea win the title this season, which, at this point looks like a formality.
