Victor Moses' Endeavour Teaches Juan Cuadrado a Chelsea Lesson in ICC Loss
STAMFORD BRIDGE, LONDON — The fireworks were supposed to be an overture to a night of entertainment.
The champions were back on home soil for the first time since they paraded the Premier League trophy around Stamford Bridge in May. There was excitement in the air.
Instead, the pyrotechnics were the highlight on an otherwise drab night. It was all downhill from there.
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Yes, it’s pre-season; yes, results mean little; yes, the season hasn’t even started yet. Those factors can’t protect Jose Mourinho and his players from the reality that slapped them in the face against Fiorentina, though.
Chelsea are Premier League champions, but in 2015/16, they don’t look like they’re going to be good enough. It's five pre-season games now and not one victory after Fiorentina left Stamford Bridge with a 1-0 win.
It isn’t his first-choice players that will keep Mourinho awake at night as he ponders Saturday’s visit of Swansea City—it’s those on the fringes who have shown themselves again to be Chelsea’s Achilles heel.
Chief protagonist is Juan Cuadrado.
The Oxford English Dictionary must seriously be reconsidering an amendment to the term mediocre for its next edition. In this age of the emoji, they’ll be better off using an image of Cuadrado to define the word.
The Colombian is mediocre personified, something he proved once again when he stepped out against his former employers.
This isn’t a personal attack on Chelsea’s No. 11, more an observation.
Cuadrado was supposed to provide Chelsea with width when he joined the club for £26.1 million in February; he was supposed to challenge Willian; he was supposed to add a new dynamic to Chelsea’s attacking midfield.
All he’s done is help ensure Chelsea have regressed in the process.
Cuadrado isn’t going to cost Chelsea the title this season, but he will be a considerable symbol for the failure that seems to be taking grip at Stamford Bridge.
The contrast between Cuadrado and Victor Moses was striking on Wednesday.
Mourinho made 10 changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Arsenal in the Community Shield a few days previous, with only John Terry remaining in his starting XI.
The intention was clear—the manager wanted his fringe players to give him something to consider before the season starts for real.
It was their big opportunity—one last chance, if you will.
Chelsea’s starting lineup picks itself. Such has been the change—or lack thereof—in west London this summer, it will be the usual suspects Mourinho turns to in his pursuit of glory.
The answers he is looking for now is whom he can rely on outside of that. To whom can the manager turn if and when Paris Saint-Germain happens again? Who can make a difference when Diego Costa isn’t on goalscoring form?
Aside from Kurt Zouma and the youthful Ruben Loftus-Cheek, it doesn’t look like there are many options.
Moses and Cuadrado both struggled on the flanks against a well-organised Fiorentina side.
Say what you will about Serie A in the 21st century, Italian teams still know how to win matches; they haven’t lost that knack for suffocating an opponent in their defensive third.
La Viola showed that to a certain degree on Wednesday as Chelsea produced little. The visitors frustrated the wingers, cutting the supply lines and giving them little space to get in behind.
It was a difficult night for Cuadrado and Moses to make an impact.
Here’s the thing, however. Cuadrado did what we’ve come to expect of him at Chelsea: He surrendered. He accepted his fate, kept his head down and offered little.
Playing out of position at left-back, 19-year-old Bertrand Traore was a more potent attacking threat.
Where Cuadrado did a disappearing act to make David Copperfield proud, Moses grafted. He put a shift on the left.
It says a lot for a performance that a player is receiving praise for something we regard a prerequisite. Equally, though, it says plenty for Moses' character and ambition.
He may not be the most gifted player in this Chelsea team, nor can his profile rival any of those ahead of him in the pecking order.
When it comes to attitude and desire, though, Moses is showing he has few peers.
His story is one of endeavour. From the streets of Nigeria to south London, he’s worked his way into professional football through hard work.
Running up and down a wing with intent doesn’t mean he should be a starter at Chelsea—indeed, the debate is whether Moses should even be a Chelsea player at all—yet it’s players with his commitment who will take Mourinho’s team far. Well, further than the likes of Cuadrado at least.
So much hope has been pinned on Cuadrado and, for the best part of eight months, he has given nothing. It’s tough to recall a time when he has at least put in the effort Moses demonstrated against Fiorentina and has throughout pre-season.
Whether it’s a character flaw or simply a lack of confidence is irrelevant. Cuadrado isn’t befitting of the champion tag that’s been bestowed upon him by the genius of others.
The dynamics of football in their purest form are rather simple. The players with the discipline and physicality defend, while those with the flair and a maverick's streak produce the moments that win games.
Cuadrado falls into the latter apparently. He's an attacking midfielder, and by definition, it's the Colombian who should be making things happen for Chelsea.
Instead, he seems to watch games pass him by. He expects the others to produce the magic when he was signed for exactly that reason.
If Cuadrado failed while trying, it would make the circumstances more acceptable than they are. The only winger on Wednesday who could make such a claim was Moses, however.
Moses isn't a star; he'll rarely be a match-winner even. Yet at least he tries. At least he'll go down with a fight and graft for those around him, attempting to make things happen.
Cuadrado has contributed nothing to this Chelsea team. Zilch. With Mourinho relying on him for his backup plan, it’s what the champions are threatening to end up with.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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