Serbian defence and attack - Branislav Ivanovic

Branislav Ivanovic is the low profile key player in a high profile Chelsea team. He is the most versatile defender in Chelsea’s squad who can operate as a right fullback or as a right sided centerback. He moved to Chelsea in January 2008 in a not-so-high profile transfer saga.

Before coming to Chelsea, he was mainly unknown among football fans. After establishing himself as a key player in the Chelsea’s squad, he become one of the most dependent player in the team. He is strong in air, has good tackling ability. He is a tall, muscular defender suitable for English football. Although Ivanovic is a regular team player of Chelsea but he has got less media attention than likes of Luiz, Alex, Cole etc.

Ivanovic’s defensive ability is solid but most precious thing about him is the goal scoring ability. He is very handy at the time of counter attack. Till now for Chelsea, he has scored 15 goals of which 2 goals came in the current season. No one can forget his extra time decisive goal for Chelsea in the 2nd leg clash against Napoli, which was the moment of Chelsea’s resurgence.

Ivanovic scoring 4th goal against Napoli.

“When you join a club like Chelsea and then find it hard to get games, it can be tough, but he has been determined in training and shown a good mentality.” Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink after Ivanovic’s double against Liverpool in April 2009.

At times, he loses his concentration. He was shown 9 yellow cards in the 2011-12 season. The most unfortunate moment in Branislav’s Chelsea career was not playing in UEFA Champions league final 2012 against Bayern Munich as he was shown a yellow card in the 2nd leg clash against Barcelona at Camp Nou.

In both 2010-11 & 2011-12 season, he was nominated for Chelsea’s Player of the Year Award but lost to Petr Cech & Juan Mata respectively on both the occasions. In the summer of 2012 he was linked with Real Madrid but he made a wise decision to stay at Stamford Bridge. His partnership with John Terry is awesome.

Ivanovic is known for his accurate crossing ability and powerful headers. The inclusion of Cesar Azpilicueta in current Chelsea squad will surely provide competition to Ivanovic. Ivanovic playing attacking football is awesome to watch, his run with football towards opposition half is wonderful. He was shown a red card in Community Shield match against Manchester City for a high tackle on Aleksandar Kolarov.

At last, he is a player with great mental and physical strength. He will continue shining for Chelsea in coming years & will score more goals while displaying solid defence.

KTBFFH