Saturday 9 May 2015 15:30, UK
Unsung hero Cesar Azpilicueta deserves more credit for his role in Chelsea's Premier League title win, writes Nick Wright...
Eden Hazard is Chelsea’s magician and John Terry is their leader, but ask Jose Mourinho for the first name on his team sheet and you might be surprised.
Cesar Azpilicueta looked destined for a bit-part role after the Portuguese’s return to the club last season, but the Spaniard has upset the odds with a quiet rise to become one of Mourinho’s most valued assets.
“I think a team with 11 Azpilicuetas could probably win the competition,” Mourinho said ahead of a Champions League clash with Galatasaray last February. “Football is not just about the pure talent. Football is also about character and personality, and Azpilicueta has all those traces of a winning personality.”
Just ask Ashley Cole and Filipe Luis. Azpilicueta hasn’t looked back since ousting club legend Cole with a seamless conversion from right-back to left-back last season, and summer signing Filipe Luis has found him equally difficult to dislodge, making just seven Premier League starts since his £16million arrival from Atletico Madrid.
"I am happy because when I came here three years ago, I did not play a lot,” Azpilicueta told French radio station RMC after the Blues clinched the title against Crystal Palace. “There was a lot of competition, but I worked hard and won the title; that was my goal."
Big game specialist
His hard work has paid off, and while fellow full-back Branislav Ivanovic gains most of the plaudits for his goal scoring exploits, Azpilicueta is second to none for consistency and reliability. Like the Serbian, he also has an appetite for the big games.
In Chelsea’s 2-0 Capital One Cup final win over Tottenham in March, Azpilicueta was arguably the best player on the pitch, making a game-high of eight tackles and five interceptions without committing a single foul. He is a refreshingly old school defender, and there were even shades of Terry Butcher when he played on with a bandaged head after a bloody collision with Eric Dier.
More recently, Azpilicueta excelled in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge – nullifying former team-mate Juan Mata and, again, making more tackles (six) and more interceptions (six) than anyone else. He was even better the following weekend against Arsenal, ensuring nothing came down the Gunners’s right-hand side and making 10 tackles, seven more than any other player on the pitch.
Azpilicueta’s qualities are not eye-catching or spectacular, but he embodies the defensive grit and strength of character that has helped Chelsea through the last few months of the season. The Spaniard’s defensive prowess has also given PFA Player of the Year Hazard greater licence to work his magic down their left flank.
Fitting in
Azpilicueta has made a habit of fitting in. The 25-year-old’s senior career has already spanned eight years, three countries and seven managers, and it began with his hometown club Osasuna in the Spanish city of Pamplona.
“I was always a striker when I was younger,” he said in a recent interview with Chelsea’s official website. “Sometimes I played on the right wing or at right-back but I was a striker until the age of around 15 or 16.”
Azpilicueta was thrown in at the deep end when he made his La Liga debut away to Real Madrid at the age of 17 in April 2007. But sure enough, he fitted right in, and a few months later the versatile youngster was Osasuna’s first choice right-back.
The Spanish youth international was linked with Barcelona and Arsenal during his first three seasons of senior football, but it was French champions Marseille who eventually put a €7million offer on the table – and Osasuna needed cash.
“The French don’t realise quite how good he is,” former Osasuna manager Jose Antonio Camacho said on Spanish television days before his departure in June 2010. “If he leaves, it will be a real coup for Marseille. In two years, Azpilicueta will be one of the best full-backs in the world.” He paused, knowing he had given the game away. “Damn, why did I say that?”
Chelsea recognition
Maybe Chelsea were listening, because two years later they parted with £7million to take Azpilicueta to Stamford Bridge, where he was affectionately nicknamed ‘Dave’ by the team-mates and fans who quickly grew to love him.
His no frills playing style is mirrored by a grounded personality off the pitch. Azpilicueta lives near Chelsea’s Surrey training ground with his young family, and he is a popular figure in the dressing room.
The likes of Hazard, Terry and Diego Costa dominate the headlines at Chelsea, but Azpilicueta’s understated excellence was recognised last season when he won their Players’ Player of the Year award, with Mourinho describing him as “unbeatable”.
Even the man he replaced couldn’t help but praise him. “Cesar has been brilliant,” Cole told beIN SPORTS at the time. “I couldn’t play right-back, and for him to come in on the left and do such an amazing job, it’s credit to him. He’s a good guy. He trains like a warrior and he plays exactly the same.”
Mourinho was particularly annoyed by the selection of Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho’s over Cesc Fabregas in this year’s PFA Team of the Year, but Azpilicueta was perhaps even more unfortunate to miss out to Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand - another left-back he kept out of the side at Stamford Bridge.
Immaculate
Azpilicueta has gone from strength to strength since signing a new five-year contract in September, and in November he was singled out as the Premier League’s best defender by Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.
“When I watch him, he’s as near to perfect as possible when it comes to defending; he’s immaculate,” Neville said on Monday Night Football.
When I watch him, he’s as near to perfect as possible when it comes to defending; he’s immaculate.
Carragher added: “Azpilicueta is an out-and-out defender. You very rarely see anybody get the better of him. He’d be my No 1.”
The stats back them up, too. In 28 league appearances this season, Azpilicueta has not made a single defensive mistake which has led to an opposition chance. And in his 84 Premier League appearances to date, he has been booked just seven times and sent off once – the only red card of his career.
But for all that acclaim, Azpilicueta continues to operate under the radar. Chelsea’s right-footed left-back gets his job done with minimum fuss and maximum dedication, and recent history suggests he won't be giving up his place any time soon.
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