Just a few hours ago, Chelsea were reported to have bid 19.7 million pounds for Real Madrid's 24 year old Brazilian Robinho. Could this signing be the player Roman Abramovich craves to make his pipedream of Chelsea Samba football a reality?
Personally, i have a few niggling reservations. From what i have seen, he is certainly a cracking player who ticks all the stepover and fancy footwork boxes. He has pace, precision and seems like he could function in an attack with Didier Drogba or Nic Anelka. Scolari said 'the Drog' was "200%" in his plans and Anelka has been on stonking form in pre-season. Yet i believe i may have a case of Shevchenko-syndrome. Having seen my club throw away 31 million for Sheva and 24m for Shaun Wright Phillips, i now approach news like this with caution. It was the same with Deco earlier in the season. Despite being a playmaker, it seems that fitting Lampard, Ballack and Deco into the same midfield will be like trying to square a circle. Similarly, Salomon Kalou's future looks less bright with the whispers of Robinho. I felt Kalou had a great season last term and is developing into a promising young player, but let's see.
- B/R Ticket Guide
There is no doubting Robinho's goal-scoring record. Eleven in thirty-two and four in the Champions League is impressive, but whether Robinho can do this in the physical Premiership is another matter completely. We have seen nimble forwards being bundled over by burly centre-backs many a time over the years, and against teams such as Hull, Stoke, Bolton, Blackburn et al, the Brazilian may see himself crowded out, especially on a wet, cold, tuesday night up in Sunderland.
Yet Big Phil seems to know what he is doing. Pre season success is not an indicator, but the mix of Scolari's talent and the Chelsea desire for revenge may prove to be a potent cocktail; let's just wait and see. If he succeeds, he will be a tremendous success; failure will only reinforce my Shevchenko-syndrome
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