What has Michael Ballack done for Chelsea?
While Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho may not be best mates with Andriy Shevchenko and Khalid Boulahrouz, he certainly has a soft spot for one Michael Ballack.
Mourinho was responsible for convincing Ballack to sign for Chelsea ahead of several other clubs (including Manchester United), and overall has gladly played him at the cost of unbalancing the Chelsea midfield.
Ballack’s season for Chelsea has been average - intense scrutiny, the pressures of playing in a new league plus an unfamiliar position (and status) on the pitch means that Michael Ballack of Chelsea has not been the Michael Ballack of his reputation. And as the season draws to a close, Chelsea’s summer transfers will come under scrutiny again, fairly or not.
Ballack may still help Chelsea win the Premiership (1% shot at that) or the FA Cup (better odds there) - but when his season is reviewed, they’ll all ask the same question:
With his 100k+ / week wages, what has Michael Ballack done for Chelsea?
- Are Chelsea petty or just inept?
- What if Robben and Ballack had joined Manchester United instead of Chelsea?
- Ballack: Tottenham and Barnsley didn’t beat Chelsea, we beat ourselves
- Chelsea saving Ballack for the winter
- Ballack, Not Shevchenko, The Problem With Sorry Chelsea
Discussion - 29 Responses
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Not a lot really, hasn’t lived up to the hype at all. I know it’s difficult in a new league and all that, but this is Michael Ballack we’re talking about. He’s been very disappointing..I know he’s had to contend with many injuries, but more has been expected from him.
He’s also been playing quite poorly for Germany. He actually looks - dare I say it about mr slicked-back hair - lacking in confidence. He has scored a few vital goals though…but mainly with his head.
What has ballack done for Chelsea?
What has carrick done for Man united?
Both are equally stupid questions
Ballack did start the season slowly but as it progressed i
thought that he was fantastic.
Watching Chelsea games i noticed that Ballack always turned
up where the danger was in both areas and this is proved by
the stats where he always covered more ground than any
other player.
If you think back you will recall that he closed down the
keeper a great deal which i think was a waste of energy.
He was badly missed on Tuesday night as was Essien in
midfield.
A lot of his work goes unnoticed because he is not flashy.
I remember watching a game and thinking he’s been superb
but the following day he got 5 from the press.
I don’t think there’s too many player’s that would like to
mark him.
No stupid questions, only stupid answers.
Thanks for sharing though.
I thought the same for a while. I think that valuable midfielders are often overlooked, particularly where they have a reputation for scoring and don’t score.
Even Frank Lampard, who at last count had 21 goals and 19 assists this season, didn’t make it into the PFA team of the season. I’m assuming that’s because of his England form because he has outperformed several who were in that team in the league.
Anyway, back to Ballack. He moves the ball rapidly and prevents the opposition doing the same. Chelsea tend to win matches by wearing their opposition out and keeping them chasing is a big part of that. Midfielders who run with the ball look better but those who pass it quickly tend to gain more ground.
If you’re not convinced that Ballack’s been goog for Chelsea, take at look at how they’ve performed without him.
Not very much - for what they are paying him - he looks very ordinary.
In fact Mourinho’s two signings last summer have been average - although Shevchenko looks like he’s settling in a bit now - with some good goals.
The guy only ever puts in his best performances for his country, really.
NOTHING…..what else can anybody say??
Im not convinced Ballack and Sheva were the managers choice but he has to deal with them both and they have both underperformed. Sheva at least looks like he is trying but Ballack does not. Too many sideways passes and when he does play a longer ball its a 50/50 one too often. Reminds me a bit of Ray Wilkins on a bad day.If they are there next season lets hope they are to prove they were worth the money!
Ballack has done a great job for Chelsea considering the circumstances he has had to play under. Playing after the World Cup, playing in a different league, new team, in a different position and under so much criticism.
If it had been just the new position, the new team or the criticism, I’m sure he would have handled it well. But so many things came bearing down on him that Chelsea will only see the best of Ballack next season.
As for what ‘A man’ said, mate, I think you’re more pissed off at the insinuation that he’s done nothing. I never said anything of the sort.
Ballack is very much a part of the team and has built a great camaraderie with Lamps and Terry - the engine and soul of Chelsea.
He makes the team unbalanced, but that is Mourinho’s choice, not anyone else’s. Mourinho has done worse in other departments, such as playing Essien over Boulahrouz in defence when Essien was so badly needed in midfield.
Agree on all that about the new league, new position, etc. (read: excuses) but the plain fact of the matter is that Chelsea do NOT need Michael Ballack! He is one of the highest paid players on their team. And if there hadn’t been so many injuries at the back, Essien would get the start over him 9 times out of 10 - because he can do the same things Ballack does, and with better quality.
I’m not trying to knock Michael Ballack, b/c he is a fantastic player. I’m simply saying Chelsea didn’t need him. I was confused from the start when I heard they were signing him. You already have Lamps, Essien, Maka, Mikel, & Diarra; what do you need a declining superstar like Ballack for, who doesn’t fit into Mourinho’s system (unless you drop Frank), and costs more than any other player on the roster besides Sheva. He is 30 years old!!! This is not smart investment; not when they obviously needed more depth at the back and on the wings (Not knocking J Cole or Robben or anything, they just need similar understudies) This is why people hate Chelsea! Not because they have money - because they use it wastefully, and in doing so, ruin the transfer market for smaller clubs by driving up prices at an abnormal rate. And boy am I glad the Reds did it again and fed Mourinho his shirt.
Oh and “a man”: Carrick has been much more crucial to ManU’s season. Don’t even try to argue otherwise. Chelsea would probably be a lot closer to lifting the trophy if Carrick weren’t there.
without bothering to go into it, Carrick has done MUCH MUCH more for Man United then Ballack has for Chelsea.
Hahahahahaha. Nice one, Ahmed. I see you finally got around to at least attempting to finish the piece.
Pity you did it after I slated it earlier and then removed my comments from the site, eh?
Ballack is not to blam for any of this. it is Mourinhos fault(or whoever decided to sign him) for signing a player who plays the exact position that Lampard does(probably better to, ill get to that in a bit). if anything, Mourinho should be playign Ballack over Lamps or subbing ballack in specifaclly for Lamps sincde they play the exact same position. Why not make full use of Ballacks extordinary ability rather then play him out right or left?? If anyoen is to blame fo rhtis, its Ballack for even going to Chelsea, what did he think woudl happen there?, that he would unseat Lampard? He owuld have been better off going to a numbe rof differen teams who could hav eput him in th eposition he needs to be in to dominate game sliek he can. The most obvious is Man United, him and Scholrs would be virtually interchangable in fergues system of 2 wingers, one holding midfielder and a free roamign attackign midfielder, basically subbing one Ballack for another or one scholes for another., youre getting the same exact player. That woudl have been leathal. Shame on Ballack=))……….speakign of Lampard, Jose shoudl just try an dsell him now while his value is at its peak and befor he begins to hit the down years. IMO, Lamps is the mostover-rated player at Chelsea, if not the Continent. hes commended for scoring loads of goals, but hwo many of those are truly meaningful ones? Now all goals are meanignful but what i mean by that is, how many goals has lampard scored against top competion? Every time i watch a Chelsea CL game or one against the other 3 in the top 4 of the premiership lapard is non-existant. it seems he scores braces against the wigans and watfords of the world but cant do anything against any real quality teams(maybe now everyone can see why he doesnt produce with england? Or how many game winners does Lampard get against ANY competition for that matter? Few, if any. EVERY game-winner i read abotu chelsea havign is scored form th elikes of Robben(wigan), essien(too many to count), and Ballack(svaed them in the round agaisnt Porto) just to name thos ei know are deifnitley ahead of him………..Ballack on the other hand is a completely different story all together, lats year at bayern alone, i beliave around 70-80% of his goals were goals which put Bayern in the league or won games all together for them. Ballack is consistenly THE man fo whatever team he plays on IF hes utilized the right way. SImply put, ballack knows when to create and when he has to turn it on. For this reason alone i would put him ahead of Lampard, but i know that wont happen cuz if mourninho has one fault( an dhes ha smany), its that he is stubborn with his ideas of putting square peg sin round holes, hence signing THEN putting Ballack out of position.
Cheers.
Nice one, Ahmed. How does it feel to be god? Still, it’s your site I guess.
You’re welcome to bitch otherwise mate - see the latest article on SL for an example of how much criticism is allowed here. I just didn’t want the discussion going in the wrong direction (bashing me for views I didn’t hold).
I dont think he has done that bad of a job. He is a high profile player, and for a first season in a new league you really shouldn’t expect too much from him. I think the real test will arrive next season when he doesnt have these excuses, and will be more or less settled at chelsea.
He is actually an integral part in many aspects of chelseas play. for instance his very good in set pieces as he is a brilliant in the air, making chelsea more of a danger at set pieces.
I cant believe how much people are slating him. Hes been given a different role to the one hes got at Bayern and hes done it well. Lampards already got the free role for Chelsea so you cant expect him to score tons. He distributes well, defends and keeps it ticking and the fact is hes Michael Ballack, knowing your playing with or against someone like that has an effect on games in itself.
The guy who said Carrick has done more for United then Ballack has for Chelsea- what an understatement! I’m sorry, but David Blunkett could have done a better job in the Chelsea midfield then Ballack. The thing that gets me about Ballack is his laziness. He will strut about in the centre circle, not getting forward, not defending, rarely running, never challenging. To be fair, he has scored a few headers, but their the only headers that hes gone up for. For a 100k+ a week, he does about 1/4 of what Essien does, who is on at most half Ballacks wages. Chelsea were unlucky this year with injuries, but if we had a proper midfielder to play alongside Lamps, Maka, Essien (Mikel when Essiens in defence) then the league would be easily ours.
Too much noice against Ballack.
The poor should be a showman on the pitch to win the sympathy in UK.
Can you imagine a situation where Mourinho would switch Lampard’s and Ballack’s position next season?
In such scenario those who are criticizing Ballack would have compliments for him and would certainly criticize Lampard, although I believe that both should play at the same time at midfield together.
Ballack is much more complete then other Chelsea’s mid-filders. Plays with two legs, hits with both of them, is much more collective then others. Defends good and scores.
Remember Drogba’s first season at Chelsea and watch now, he is your hero now. NO?
But for me Chelsea’s main problem is that Drogba (of course who scores a lot) and Roben are to much individual players and ignore on more than 50% of cases their midfielders who wait for the ball and don’t receive it from them.
Check some statistics during the game and you would see that as much they contribute to the goals, they do damage, perhaps even more.
Both don’t know the so-called ‘killing pass’ which M. United attackers do. If those two would not insist on striking or dribbling every time they touch the ball with their foot, Chelsea would certainly score as much as M. United and win more matches then they dead this time.
Ahmed ur dead right,Mourinho does have a soft spot for BAllack and not Andriy,etc.Shev should go back too milan,he had a rubbish season this year.only 13goals he scored,thats rubbish as a striker.
I want to say that Chelsea Fans should be ashamed when they question Ballack’s committment to the club or to football itself. Frank Lampard is the most overrated player in the world and Michael Ballack is truly one of the most gifted players. He is 30, yes but with age comes brilliance which is evident in his case. Frank Lampard must be kicked out of chelsea unless he learns to play on the wings of midfield. Ballack is 100% better than him and if you use hi m in attacking midfield, he would score twice the amount of goals Lampard has scored. Here are some stats of his scoring:
Bayern Munich [AS A DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER WHICH IS BAD MANAGEMENT] — 50 Goals in 107 Appearances
Germany National Team — 35 Goals in 77 Matches
Bayer Leverkusen — 32 Goals in 70 Matches
STUPID Chelsea — 8 Goals in 36 Matches
I myself am a Chelsea fan and i would like to state that Ballack must be given the free kicks that Lampard takes. Lampard and C.Ronaldo are the worst free kick takers in the world. The best in the premiership currently are Giggs and Ballack. Ballack is not given a chance but when he is, he does score as we saw that he gave the team hope when they were 1-0 down against Everton. He scored a free kick against Tim Howard and it was one of the most amazing free kicks this season. Chelsea eventually went on to win the match 2-3. Frank can’t even score a simple one. Drogba and Old Geremi have scored better than Lampard.
Lampard and Ronaldo rely on power rather than placement which is the cause of their misses. Anyone when asked will say the Ballack, Tevez, Berbatov, Giggs and Drogba place the ball very well on dead-ball situations. So, my request to Chelsea, kick Lampard out!!!
Chelsea’s Best Lineup 2007/2008
Petr Cech
M.Richards R.Carvalho J.Terry W.Bridge
M.Essien
J.Cole A.Robben
M.Ballack
Shevchenko Pizzaro
Substitutes:
Cudicini
Tal Ben Haim
Drogba
Mikel
Alex
BALLACK DID ENOUGH ,HE DOESNT PLAY THE SAME POSITION AS LAMPARD DOES,BALLACK NEED MORE SPECIAL DUTIES FROM JOSE,JOSE MUST WOERK SPECIALLY WITH BALLACK,I THINK JOSE NEEDS TO WATCH MORE VIDEOS OF FC BAYERN WHEN BALLACK USE TO PLEY FOR THEM,AAND HE WILL FIND OUT THE MAIN ROLE OF BALLACK THE GREAT MASTER OF MIDFIELD HE CAN PLAY LM CM,RM HE CAN SCORE HEADER,FREE KICKS,PERFECT PASSESALMOS LIKE BECKHAM,HE CAN BE E PERFECT DEFENDER,HE IS STRONG,HIS HEIGHT IS PERFECT,JUST LETS WAIT AND SEE THIS SEASON,BUT DEPENDS FROM JOSE.
BALLACK IS THE BEST.
ONLY BALLACK.
ILOVE BALLACK.
TOGHALBAME BALLACK.
BALLACK DID ENOUGH ,HE DOESNT PLAY THE SAME POSITION AS LAMPARD DOES,BALLACK NEED MORE SPECIAL DUTIES FROM JOSE,JOSE MUST WOERK SPECIALLY WITH BALLACK,I THINK JOSE NEEDS TO WATCH MORE VIDEOS OF FC BAYERN WHEN BALLACK USE TO PLEY FOR THEM,AAND HE WILL FIND OUT THE MAIN ROLE OF BALLACK THE GREAT MASTER OF MIDFIELD HE CAN PLAY LM CM,RM HE CAN SCORE HEADER,FREE KICKS,PERFECT PASSESALMOS LIKE BECKHAM,HE CAN BE E PERFECT DEFENDER,HE IS STRONG,HIS HEIGHT IS PERFECT,JUST LETS WAIT AND SEE THIS SEASON,BUT DEPENDS FROM JOSE.
Ilove u so much m.ballack u r my favorit player Iwish 4 u good times
lampard is good yess,however ballack is the most mordern football player interms of touch on the ball.He has a delicate touch that gives his game captivating grace.No other player in world football has such football dignity and composure than ballack.Ballack is center piece of midfield and this is proved when he was voted UEFA midfielder of the year,2002 ahead of the legendary zidane.Why he is not himself at chelsea is that old players like lampard and essien are battling to secure their names and also,these players put themselves in his position.Otherwise should ballack be given his position privillages,we shall see the worlds silkiest goal threat power