⚽ The Players Behind the Shirt || Chelsea No. 9

the-gorilla (74)modModerator WOX 🍌in WORLD OF XPILAR • 3 years ago (edited)

Continuing my #playersbehindtheshirt series, today I'm looking at Romelu Lukaku's return to Chelsea and the acquisition of their No. 9 Shirt. I've been thinking about this article for a while now and given that Luakaku's now played 5 matches, it's clearly taken me a while to get around to writing this!

So straight in with the historic players who have worn Chelsea's No. 9 shirt.

1993 / 1994 - Tony Cascarino
1994 / 1995 - Mark Stein
1995 / 1996 - Mark Stein
1996 / 1997 - Gianluca Vialli
1997 / 1998 - Gianluca Vialli
1998 / 1999 - Gianluca Vialli
1999 / 2000 - Chris Sutton
2000 / 2001 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
2001 / 2002 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
2002 / 2003 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
2003 / 2004 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
2004 / 2005 - Mateja Kežman
2005 / 2006 - Hernán Crespo
2006 / 2007 - Khalid Boulahrouz
2007 / 2008 - Steve Sidwell
2008 / 2009 - Franco Di Santo
2009 / 2010 - Vacant
2010 / 2011 - Fernando Torres
2011 / 2012 - Fernando Torres
2012 / 2013 - Fernando Torres
2013 / 2014 - Fernando Torres
2014 / 2015 - Vacant
2015 / 2016 - Radamel Falcao
2016 / 2017 - Vacant
2017 / 2018 - Álvaro Morata
2018 / 2019 - Gonzalo Higuaín
2019 / 2020 - Tammy Abraham
2020 / 2021 - Tammy Abraham

This could be a long article... so many great players that are worthy of an article in their own right so forgive me for not giving each player the analysis they deserve.

Tony Cascarino

Cascarino played just 40 games for Chelsea and is perhaps better known for his antics with the Republic of Ireland where his final international match ended in him having a punch up with a Turkish defender.

Source

There were also ugly scenes after the final whistle as a number of Turkish players and fans attacked Cascarino before the big forward was escorted off the pitch by riot police along with the rest of the Irish team. That would be Big Cas’ last involvement in a green shirt as he then announced his international retirement (Source)

I think he was a bit of a legend in Ireland before this happened and this won't have harmed that - I'm interested in @ablaze's thoughts on this one 😃

Mark Stein

Another player who didn't play a great deal for Chelsea scoring a not too shabby 21 goals in 50 appearances (source). He was something of a journeyman but did hold the record of scoring in 7 consecutive matches until a certain Ruud van Nistelrooy bettered it.

Gianluca Vialli

Having had an incredible career in (and for) Italy, Vialli moved to Chelsea for free to play for Ruud Gullit and was one of the 1st big name foreign imports that would later define Chelsea.

Left foot, right foot, headers, volleys, bicycle kicks... Vialli had it all. If you watch the video below, you'll be forgiven for not knowing if he's left or right footed.

Source

He later went on to become player-manager and then full time manager at Chelsea and in his (roughly) 3 years in charge, he won the UEFA Super Cup, Cup Winners Cup, FA Cup, League Cup and Charity Shield and trophies-wise, is Chelsea's 2nd most successful manager (source).

Chris Sutton

Forget that he's one of the worst pundits in the world of football, Chris Sutton had an impressive career with Norwich, Blackburn and Celtic forming half of the incredible SAS (Shearer and Sutton) that led Blackburn to the league title in 1994/95.

At Chelsea though, he was a total flop and as you'll see further down this list, joins some of the world's greatest strikers with this accolade.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Another all-rounder, Hasselbaink had a lot of power and a good goal-scoring record for Chelsea winning the Premier League Golden Boot in 2000/01 (source).

As with many of the players I write about, I'll let his goals do the talking -

Source

Of all the players on this list, Hasselbaink and Vialli are probably the only ones who played some of their best football for Chelsea. And then Abramovich's money arrived... 💲💲💲

Mateja Kežman

Another player that was disappointing for Chelsea but enjoyable for Kežman despite not making much of an impact...

Chelsea was the best thing in my career. That was the climax of my career, for sure. Living and playing in London was something that I will never forget. I don't know if I made a mistake because I moved away so quickly. Maybe I do and maybe I don't regret it, but I always believe in my decisions. But the transfer to Chelsea made my dreams come true. That was the best thing that ever happened to me. Maybe I could achieve more and I could have been more successful at Stamford Bridge, but I don't regret anything (Source).

Hernán Crespo

Crespo was another great player and was perhaps unlucky during his time at Chelsea scoring 10 goals from 19 Premier League appearances in his inaugural season. And then Mourinho arrived but more significantly, Didier Drogba. He was deemed surplus to requirements and went on a couple of loans but was never going to usurp Drogba from the team. He subsequently returned to Italy where he had a good career both before and after his time in England.

Khalid Boulahrouz

🤷‍♂️

Steve Sidwell

Steve Sidwell would take one of the Midfield spots in my all-time greatest Reading team and played a significant role in getting Reading promoted to the Premier League and subsequently finishing 8th in our 1st ever Premier League season. He was so important to Reading's team that his departure to Chelsea (on a free transfer) saw us get relegated the following season.

Despite getting very little game time for Chelsea, they made him a better player and filled his bank account in a way that Reading would never have been able to.

Franco Di Santo

🤷‍♂️

Fernando Torres

What an incredible player (for Liverpool).

Torres broke the British transfer record in 2011 when he signed for Chelsea for a reported £50m and expectations were high. His desire to win trophies a significant factor in his move.

Torres didn't reach the same highs as he had done at Anfield and my memory of his time there is very much one of disappointment and underachievement. I think his time at Chelsea can be summarised in the following short video...

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Despite his disappointing time in London, he did leave with FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League winners medals in a period when Liverpool won the EFL Cup.

Perhaps I'm being harsh. He had some good moments too...

Source

Only the top 2 reminiscent of Liverpool's Fernando Torres.

Radamel Falcao

Apart from his time in England (at both Chelsea and Man Utd), Falcao's goal scoring record is pretty incredible. 72 goals in 80 games for Porto, 70 in 91 for Athletico Madrid, 83 in 140 for Monaco and 20 in 43 for Galatasaray.

But for Chelsea, it was just 1 goal in 12 appearances so it was no surprise that his loan was not made permanent (for a €50m fee).

Álvaro Morata

Another club record transfer (reported to be £60m this time) and another player who never really go going. He played enough but a record of 24 goals in 72 appearances isn't befitting of a £60m forward. I had high hopes for him in FPL (priced at £9m) but he didn't remain in my team for long as another disappointing Chelsea No. 9.

Gonzalo Higuaín

Another striker on loan and another unspectacular time at Chelsea for another all-time great striker. With Eden Hazard at the top of his game, Higuain didn't really stand out but wasn't the flop that many before him were. He just wasn't particularly interesting (in my opinion).

Tammy Abraham

I had high hopes for Tammy Abraham and think that he will become a great player in the future - I wouldn't bet against him returning to Chelsea for a huge transfer fee in the future.

Under the tutelage of Frank Lampard, Abraham was able to get plenty of match time and had a reasonable goal scoring record. Unfortunately though, Lampard's departure signalled the end of his regular playing time and I think he's made the right decision in moving to Rome for regular football.

What Next?

Not since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink have Chelsea had a No. 9 who's really performed for the club. That's 11 players over 17 seasons, many of whom arrived for huge transfer fees who haven't lived up to the billing.

In Hernán Crespo, Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao, Álvaro Morata and Gonzalo Higuaín, Chelsea have had some of the greatest strikers ever to play the game, all of which failed to deliver. And now it's Romelu Lukaku's turn...

With 4 goals in 6 games, Lukaku has started well and is on track to deliver as Chelsea's No. 9 where so many others have failed.

It turns out that I'm not the only one who's been disappointed with Chelsea's No. 9's and some have even gone so far as suggesting the shirt is cursed...

Source

Please share your thoughts about Fantasy Sports or Sport in general either in the comments or via your own post, remembering to post in World of Xpilar and using the tag #woxsports or #woxfantasysports.

Previous Articles:
AC Milan No. 3 and No. 6
Arsenal No. 14
Barcelona No. 10
Liverpool No. 7
Manchester City No. 10
Manchester United No. 7
Real Madrid No. 5