Duff's decline into mediocrity?
from elevenaside.com
Twelve months on from playing a central role in a Chelsea victory over Barcelona at Stamford Bridge, Damien Duff was reduced to the role of onlooker as the sides rejoined battle on Wednesday night. eleven-a-side.com considers the Irishman’s future with the Premiership champions.
Dutch winger Arjen Robben and England international Joe Cole are now firmly established as first-choice support forwards in the 4-3-2-1 system deployed by Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
When the energy of Robben was exhausted in the second half on Wednesday night, and his side in need of inspiration, Mourinho turned not to Duff – a natural replacement for the left-sided role – but to former Manchester City speedster Shaun Wright-Phillips.
SWP, a £21m arrival last summer, has been labelled by some as the most expensive reserve in the history of the English game, but he has seemingly displaced Duff as next-in-line for the wide berths, leaving the Dubliner under severe pressure when it comes to the comings and goings in the summer.
So where does it all leave Duffer, Ireland’s talisman?
There is no doubt that the move to Chelsea brought Duff onto a higher plane, and his performances, initially at least, lived up to the billing.
Any Irish fan who remembers his demolition job on Lazio in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico in his first season as a Chelsea player will have been waiting for Duff to take the next step onto super-stardom, with both club and country.
But it is clearly evident that his stock has dipped significantly this season, and injuries can only be blamed for so much.
Duff was fit and well for the first two months of the season, featuring in each of Chelsea’s first 11 games. But he was substituted on seven occasions, and in only two of those games did he play the entire 90 minutes.
A knee injury during Ireland’s tempestuous World Cup encounter in Cyprus in October cost him three weeks but he returned and started seven games in a row. Another injury ditched another fortnight, but once again he was restored to the starting line-up when fit.
Now, whether down to Duff’s lack of form or fitness, it seems Mourinho has finally lost patience – the Irish international has failed to start a game since January 22nd.
His difficulties at club level have not exactly been carried over onto the international arena – on occasions for Ireland, Duff seems to have been enlivened by his escape from Mourinho’s organizational rigidity – but it is an inescapable fact that Duff’s displays in the green have slipped a notch over the past two years.
A star of the World Cup finals in 2002 – the right-wing, left-foot artistry of Barcelona’s teenage wonder Lionel Messi on Wednesday night recalled Duff’s stunning display against Spain in Suwon four years ago – Duff has yet to regain those heights at international level; his current goalless run for Ireland, stretching back to a remarkable solo effort against Canada in November 2004, stands at 14 matches and counting.
While Duff will remain the darling of Ireland for a long time yet, it is less certain what the future holds at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho has never shirked from the need to offload some of the club’s more expensive purchases – Juan Sebastian Veron, Adrian Mutu and Scott Parker, all signed by Claudio Ranieri, were summarily dispatched, while Tiago and Mateja Kezman – two of Mourinho’s acquisitions, for a combined £13m – lasted just 12 months before leaving by the Bridge’s over-worked revolving door.
Last season, Hernan Crespo was offered to AC Milan on a season-long loan – only an exceptional season, capped by two goals in the Champions League final, offered him a route back into Mourinho’s affections – while England international left back Wayne Bridge finds himself on a short-term deal at Fulham in a bid to find a back door into Sven Goran Eriksson’s World Cup squad.
Duff has never been comfortable with the bright lights and big stars of the Fulham Road. He once spoke of his awe at sharing a training field with the likes of Crespo, and he routinely avoids the spotlight.
With a Champions League second round exit on the cards following Wednesday’s first leg home defeat to Barca, under-achievers will not be countenanced in the summer review. For better or worse, our Duffer falls into that category, and he could yet fall through the trap-door. Time will tell whether it was a fine trap-door to fall through.
