Speaking on the Telegraph‘s website, former Arsenal striker and Sky Sports pundit, Alan Smith has said that Jose Mourinho must drop Serbian full-back Branislav Ivanovic following his poor performances this term.
Mourinho has already dropped club captain John Terry from the side after Chelsea’s poor start to the Premier League campaign, however, Ivanovic has also come under intense scrutiny and could be next in line for the axe if Mourinho feels he needs to change up the defence yet again.
An option for Chelsea could be to play Azpilicueta out on the right and then put summer signing Baba Rahman on the left, leaving the Serbian full-back out of the side, as suggested by so many pundits and fans alike over the course of this season, albeit being just seven games into the Premier League season.
By the same token, though, the Chelsea manager cannot afford to pick players based on reputation alone or how valuable their presence in the dressing room. As a result, we could be approaching the time when Cesar Azpilicueta is finally moved across to his favoured right side and new signing Baba Rahman is perhaps offered the chance to establish himself at left-back.
Alan Smith feels Ivanovic has failed to hit the heights of his usual performances:
It hasn’t got much better since either as Chelsea have laboured to find some rhythm. Normally so solid and reliable, a determined character always up for the fight, rarely beaten in one-on-ones, Ivanovic has looked a shadow of that particular player. But a severe shortage of confidence also seems to be playing a major part as the Serbia international gets caught in no-man’s-land, neither tight enough to get in a tackle nor deep enough to grant him a couple of helpful yards. And when he did find some room up the right flank, his attempts at crossing the ball often fell flat, much to the frustration of those waiting in the middle.
Smith feels like Ivanovic must be dropped in order for Mourinho to gain some consistency in the side:
Ivanovic, after all, has always been just filling in as a more natural centre-half than free-running full-back. The fact he has made that position his own for the past three or four years reveals the staunch qualities of this true warrior. But nothing lasts forever. In an attempt to find more consistency, Mourinho may go further than just dropping Terry. He could sacrifice someone, once error-free, showing signs of decay.
