Former Blues forward Andre Schurrle has recently revealed to Sky Sports why he chose to leave Stamford Bridge.
The German winger mentioned that a large factor in his decision was that he felt that he had lost Jose Mourinho’s trust.
I don’t know why Mourinho didn’t trust me. It all felt a bit weird to me. It was up and down the whole time. I didn’t get any consistency from the manager, so found it hard to produce my best.
These are troubling words from a man who many Chelsea fans felt was one of our better players. Granted towards the end of his time in West London, the German failed to contribute. But in the same breath, he rarely got a consistent run in the team.
He pointed out how it is hard for young wingers to succeed at Chelsea due to the sheer numbers, along with the fact that there are only two positions available and one is filled by Eden Hazard.
It’s even harder for the wingers, there are only two in the team and Eden plays always, as he’s the best player in the league.
So you have one position on the right wing which was between Willian, Oscar, myself, sometimes Juan Mata, occasionally Kevin De Bruyne.
As the German points out, there is a lot of competition for the right wing position, even if some of the players on that list are no longer Blues.
Another reason that Schurrle found difficulty in West London was due to Jose Mourinho’s defensive philosophy.
The other thing is that Eden is given more freedom, the other winger has to work even harder. You have to work for that freedom, and Eden deserves it as he creates everything up front. He scores goals and makes assists so it’s right he should have that freedom.
The Eden Hazard factor at Stamford Bridge definitely creates difficulty for incoming wingers. It puts pressure on the opposite winger to double their defensive contribution. This is often why Willian was preferred to the German during his time in West London. The Brazilian’s style of play is much more suited to Mourinho’s philosophy and compliments Hazard at the opposite end.
All things considered, I think Chelsea would have been better off if they would have held on to Schurrle. There’s no doubt that the Blues have missed the German in the last two seasons. He offered Mourinho a change in the style of play whenever he was introduced. His ability to run in behind defenders, making incisive runs was extremely valuable to the side. He offered energy and a willingness to make things happen. While he wasn’t always effective, his introduction often helped to change the context of the game.
Considering Chelsea elected to replace the outgoing German with Colombian winger, Juan Cuadrado, Chelsea would have done much better to keep hold of Schurrle. Especially when taking a look at Cuadrado’s overall contribution to the Blues during his time at Stamford Bridge.
The 27-year-old failed to score or gain an assist in 8 months of being there. This is simply unacceptable. Furthermore, he didn’t change the play when he was introduced. He was ineffective and proceeded to hide, rather than offering a change in energy or style.
When taking a deeper look into all of the changes that have been made since Schurrle’s exit, I would still say that Chelsea would be a better team with him in the squad. He trained hard, changed the style of play, and was always looking to get on the scoresheet. Players like Schurrle brought the best out of Willian and Oscar.
While considering that hindsight is always 20/20, I would much rather have held onto the German. It was a shame to let him go and an even larger one that Chelsea replaced him with Cuadrado. Even with Pedro in the team, I believe Schurrle would have had a role in West London.
