In a time when Chelsea sit seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, he’s been the stand-in captain and enjoyed a fantastic run in the side, Gary Cahill has probably gone through the toughest season of his Chelsea career.
Since the day he walked through the doors at Stamford Bridge from Bolton, he’s been a scapegoat, an easy target for the fans and never more so than what we’ve seen this season.
He may only be a stand-in captain, but Cahill is growing into more and more of a leader with every game that he dons that famous armband under Antonio Conte.
This season, Cahill has been lambasted by fans and can never be seen to do anything right, which explains the celebrations for his goal above.
Cahill has become Chelsea’s scapegoat. Despite the club going on an incredible 13-game winning streak that saw them concede just four goals. The club have the second best defensive record in the entire league, conceding just one more goal (15) than Tottenham (14).
As a player, he’s never been afraid to tell his fellow teammates what he thinks and that’s always been apparent. What he’s also learning this season is how to be a captain in the Premier League.
‘The dirty side of being the captain’ if you will, something John Terry has excelled at over the years. How and when to speak to the referee to get the best outcome for his teammates, the way he speaks to the media both before and after the game, all the things that may not spring to mind when you think of a captain.
When a team like Chelsea go into the transfer market and buy a player from a club like Bolton, who were then in the midst of a relegation battle that would spark their nose dive through the divisions to League One, he was never going to be able to win over all the most, despite what he has gone on to achieve at the club.
On this day five years ago, Gary Cahill signed for Chelsea!
Champions League ?
Europa League ?
Premier League ?
FA Cup ?
League Cup ? pic.twitter.com/j7owESRdfA— Read Chelsea (@ReadChelseaFC) January 16, 2017
There was no mega price tag for fans to use as an excuse, he’d played Premier League football, he didn’t need a season or two to ‘acclimatise’ to the demands of English football.
Nope, he was chucked into the deep end, making his Chelsea debut against Manchester United and showed fans exactly what he was about.
Cahill is by far not the most technical of defenders, nor has he ever had an abundance of pace and with his nationality and position it is easy to pin him up and compare him to Terry, but that’s nothing more than a lazy comparison by fans.
The former Bolton man is a no-nonsense defender that will put his body on the line for the cause.
He arrived at the club back in 2012 for just £7 million. Since day one of his Chelsea career he has been a mainstay in the back four, and now the back three. He’s lifted every trophy there is to win, bare that in mind for a moment.
If Chelsea were to now dip into the market for a two-time European champion, domestic-league winning, central defender who is the vice-captain of their country, how much of a fee would said defender command in today’s market? If £60 million gets you Virgil van Dijk, it’s food for thought.
Cahill is not a £60 million defender, that much is clear but it beggars belief as to how undervalued he is by Chelsea supporters.
