Chelsea 2011/12 Season Preview: Malouda Vital for Villas-Boas' Initial Success

Florent Malouda experienced a mixed year last season for Chelsea.

He finished as the Blues' top scorer in the Premier League with 13 goals. He still attracted widespread criticism from some for his role, or lack thereof, during the Blues' turbulent mid-season run that gifted Manchester United an insurmountable lead in the race for the Premier League title. 

The Frenchman had a spectacular start to the season, leading the league with six goals in the opening five fixtures. The frustration from Chelsea fans is that this type of form is not consistent, something the player has been labelled with since his £13.5 million move from Olympique Lyonnais.

Malouda has constantly divided opinions in West London. This is in part due to the high expectations the player has generated from the outset. He scored a superb solo effort on his debut against Manchester United, brushing aside one of the best defenders in the world, Rio Ferdinand, in the process.

More performances like this were interspersed throughout the next four years as Malouda began to settle in to English football and produce on a more consistent basis, culminating in the 2009/10 season when he was voted the Players' Player of the Year. 

Guus Hiddink provided the catalyst to enable Malouda to produce his potential in blue. The Dutch coach gifted the Frenchman greater responsibility during his spell as interim-manager in 2009 as the player claimed a permanent place in the side. Former detractors were forced to praise the rejuvenated Malouda.

Malouda then performed in clutch moments for Chelsea as he provided two assists in the famous 3-1 victory at Anfield in the Champions League, before scoring another important goal in the 2-1 victory against Arsenal in the semi-final of the FA Cup, a trophy Chelsea would later win against Everton in the final.

Subsequently, he signed a new contract in 2009 that runs until 2013. Malouda should have one last multi-year contract on "Chelsea" wages, so there should be extra motivation to impress new manager Andre Villas-Boas. Perhaps even enough to be rewarded a contract that might see him finish his career at Stamford Bridge. 

Chelsea, though, aims to revamp the squad by introducing younger, more athletic players. and this policy could threaten a 31-year-old Malouda. However, there are plenty more candidates who could be discarded before Malouda's name enters the reckoning.

Villas-Boas will likely utilize his trademark 4-3-3 formation that worked so effectively at Porto last season. The front free involves two inverted wingers that support a lone striker, likely to be Fernando Torres or the Colombian Radamel Falcao who is tipped to join the Portuguese tactician at Chelsea.

Malouda immediately springs to mind concerning the right forward role due to his ability to cut inside and unleash a lethal shot as he demonstrated in the home fixture against West Ham last season.

There is, of course, the inevitability that Abramovich will sanction a lavish spending spree on the globe's finest footballing talent. There are many areas that Chelsea can strengthen, though, which means Villas-Boas will probably not be throwing the baby out with the bath water.

When one considers existing candidates in the Chelsea squad, none are more suited to occupy the wide forward position than Malouda who has often relished playing closer to the striker without defensive shackles.

Other candidates for the wider roles would be Yury Zhirkov, but the Russian has suffered recurring injuries since joining the Blues. Daniel Sturridge looks promising but despite his impressive from on loan at Bolton, it would be too much of a risk to expect the youngster to contribute consistently over a whole season.

Salomon Kalou seems to have exhausted his opportunities to become a starter since his arrival at the club, and Nicolas Anelka is a year older than Malouda and not nearly as effective at beating a defender and supplying a cross or pass to a team mate. Anelka often slows the play down, which is to the contrary of what Villas-Boas asked of Silvestre Varela and Hulk last season for Porto.

The wide forwards' defensive duties will be sacrificed under Villas-Boas on the basis that they can constantly run at the full-backs and interchange with the other wide forward to confuse the opposition and negate man-marking. Malouda, in this respect, still has plenty of pace and strength to drift past defenders with ease.

He has contributed 32 goals and 20 assists in the past two seasons and could conceivably produce more impressive numbers next season if deployed under a more expansive footballing ideology. Chelsea will have to outlay a huge amount of money to replace this productivity or get lucky by promoting an academy player—neither seem feasible at the moment.

Malouda is equally as adept at filling in on the left of a three-man central midfield, which will also works in his favour when the manager considers who he can rely on to cover inevitable injuries. The African Cup of Nations, next January, will also become a factor. Villas-Boas will probably have to utilize some makeshift center midfielders with Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel expected to participate.

While many fans see the arrival of Villas-Boas as an opportunity to completely overhaul the squad, Chelsea should heed the warning of last summer. After claiming The Double, the club sold or released Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Juliano Belletti, Deco and Ricardo Carvalho.

This quintet played 160 games throughout the 2009/10 campaign and were not replaced with equal quality. Thus, Chelsea suffered a wretched patch of form due to its ineptitude to deal with injuries. Ultimately, it proved crucial during a spell 11 games, as Chelsea mustered a measly 10 points as it finished runners-up to Manchester United.

Malouda might not claim the headlines that Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard or Fernando Torres produce, but he can prove to be an integral part in the inception of Villas-Boas' Chelsea revolution.