Waiting for Higuaín at Chelsea
Gonzalo Higuaín will probably make his Chelsea debut against Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow at Stamford Bridge. It’s been about a week and a half since the news of his sorta-clumsy loan move broke but it feels longer than that.
His arrival has the excitement of a big name signing to a striker-starved club along with the doubts that (even still) naturally accompany prolific Latin strikers coming to England late-ish in their careers.
Its impossible to know what will happen but I have a feeling Higuain’s time as a blue will be a success. He has been an absolute goal machine his entire career and despite his brief time at San Siro being regarded as a failure he still put scored 8 times in 22 for AC Milan. He is far from done.
It’s well known that Higuain set the single season Serie A goal record while playing for Maurizio Sarri at Napoli, and the manager employs a similar approach now at Chelsea. Crucially, Higuain’s former teammate Jorghino is pulling the strings in midfield just like in that magical season at the San Paolo.
Although they’ve had a decent season Chelsea have lacked a reliable center forward and Higuain seems tailor made for the role. He is more consistent than Alvaro Morata and more compatible with the style of play than Olivier Giroud. He is glad to take up positions in the opponents box but also willing and able to incorporate himself into Sarri’s collaborative movement heavy attack. If it goes right he will allow Eden Hazard to operate from his perefred space cutting in from the outside and facilitate late arrivals from midfielders in addition to finishing.
The knocks on him mostly have to do with poor performances in finals and the self doubt that comes with them. In this sense I actually think a new, foreign culture will help. He is not as tuned in to the gossip and chatter, not looked to as the face of the squad. Higuain will be free to focus on his game. As for the finals... Chelsea aren’t in the Champions League. Dometic Cups and the Europa League are not of paramount importance. If they win great, but failure won’t be the millstone of his blunders with Argentina.
What Chelsea need is an efficient, professional number nine. The kind that finishes the chances that fall to him and wouldn’t have allowed them to be held scoreless three times this month. In that I believe Gonzalo Higuain will succeed.