Is this man on his way to becoming a Chelsea regular?
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.