Date: 28th November 2011 at 5:00pm
Written by:

Juan Mata was undoubtedly the star of the show as Chelsea destroyed a sorry Wolverhampton Wanderers side 3-0 as he made two goals as well as adding a superb finish himself, but his countryman Oriol Romeu is worthy of mention for his individual performance and must now be considered as a first choice holding midfielder.

With the benefit of hindsight many may argue that it ‘was only Wolves’ and that it’s a game we should easily be winning, which is true as Mick McCarthy’s side are struggling near the foot of the table, but we haven’t made life easy for ourselves lately and have put in some bad performances against average opposition.

Also, it’s worth noting that during a so-called ‘crisis’ it was a brave call by Andre Villas-Boas to favour Oriol Romeu ahead of our top goal-scorer Frank Lampard, especially as it was the first time that the 20-year-old Spaniard had started a Premier League game.

The ex-Barca man put in a good display as he was efficient in possession, composed on the ball, played a few good passes and defended well. Not only that but he did it all at a good pace, which is something that John Obi Mikel seems to lack when playing in the holding midfield position, so Romeu has a fair chance of making that role his own.

Our midfield seemed to function better as a unit than it has in previous games, with Romeu, Ramires and Raul Meireles all working hard to close down space and chase the opposition, which isn’t one of Lampard’s strengths (sorry Frank). A lot has been made of our leaky defence over the course of the season and it’s fair to say that they’ve been woeful, but haven’t been helped out much by the midfield ahead of them and I reckon someone like Romeu to protect the back four could pay dividends.

We’ve already had a few glimpses in to the future this season as we prepare for life without some of are ageing stalwarts, like Lampard, Didier Drogba and John Terry. The younger generation are making themselves known as Mata has made an impact, Daniel Sturridge continues to shine, Ramires has improved immensely and now Romeu is starting to make a name for himself.

I reckon Oriol Romeu deserves a run in the first team and improve the more he plays, but what do you think?

 

8 responses to “Is this man on his way to becoming a Chelsea regular?”

  1. jfeld says:

    No, keep him under wraps until Barca’s opportunity to buy him back has already passed.

  2. Bombay says:

    Romeu Have aready said he Does not want to reture to Barca…so Barca Can’t false him to come back..

  3. Chelseaphan says:

    Basically this is the team I want to see in January
    Cech
    Ivanovic—Cahill—Terry—Cole
    Ramires——–Romeu——–Mata
    Reus—–Sturridge—–De Bruyne

    Forget the pricey Hazard Reus is the real deal. Moving Mata to midfield, having De Bruyne, and Reus will make us completely unpredictable with pace. Let’s hope this is a reality and NOT fantasy in January.

    Oh Mikel, Drogba, Lampard, Kalouda, Anelka all need to go at least by the summer.

    • bob says:

      I think that in jan. We need to buy cahill roberto higuain and another midfeilder like cazorla. We have to get rid of anelka and kalou defo.and maybe keep the likes of lamps drog and terry for another season to show the youngsters. My team would be
      cech
      ivanovic…………..cahill………terry…………cole
      ……………………………meireles
      …………….ramires……….mata
      sturridge……………..torres……………..higuain
      id put mata in mid because hed be more effective there

  4. MataOfFact says:

    No point holding him back for fear of Barca taking him, if we stunt him for two years we’ll spoil his development and wouldn’t be doing right by the player.

    If he’s a regular and happy, he won’t want to leave. If he leaves then so be it as we entered into an agreement and will have to honour it, we’ll get a healthy sum back should it happen.

  5. kaka says:

    Even if barca activate the clause they can sign only if romeu wishes to join them. That is why chelsea agreed to the clause. It is similar to Bojan krkic and some other ex-barca players contract.

    So don’t worry abt loosing him. As he would surely not want to be second or third fiddle to busquets and other new recruits that barca will be signing.

    Now i hope a similar deal could be struck for that sergio roberts kid. He is really good.

  6. Anselem Jude says:

    AVB should continually use Romeu in place of Mikel. Kalou, Anelka, Mikel, Malouda, Essien and even Drogba should leave in January. What on earth is Ferreira still doing at Chelsea? Get Modric (I don’t care how much we’ll have to pay), Cahil, a good left back and a good winger (Adam Johnson). Send Mceachran on loan. Bring Courtois back at the end of the season because Cech is now a shadow of his former self. Play Luiz in the holding midfield role. Substitute Torres and play Sturridge in his role until he regains his form. Adam Johnson should play in the right flank (if he is bought). Let this be our line up by January: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahil, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Romeu/Luiz, Modric, Mata, Sturridge, Johnson. Blue till I die.