As Patrick Vieira was homeward bound with a bunch of kids from practice matches half a world away, on a swampy night in front of 63,811 in Central Florida, Conor Gallagher must have sat on the bench and put on his thinking cap for a decision that might just change the season that starts next week.
Should he stay with Chelsea? Or go home to the Palace?
I know there’s probably no more than 1% chance that Gallagher will decide to return to SE25, but facts are facts: since returning to Chelsea, he’s had a very uncomfortable time on the pitch. And, on Sunday when he woke up from his American nightmare, I hope he was getting a tummy tickle from an Eagle’s feather.
From Conor’s viewpoint, look at how Chelsea’s pre-season tour worked. He was a starter against Club America, got a yellow card and was replaced at half-time with the score 0-0. Without Conor, Chelsea went on to win 2-1.
Relegated to the bench for the game against a very moderate MLS team, Charlotte (who’ve lost more than half their games this season), Conor replaced Kovacic at half-time with Chelsea one up, but the Americans equalised, so it went to a penalty shoot-out. Nine penalties later, Chelsea were a beaten team – and the only penalty missed was by Conor with a feeble attempt at a Panenka.
On to Orlando to face Arsenal for the Florida Cup (it’s a biggie – last year’s winners were Everton!), Conor started on the left side of midfield. Watching was painful. It wasn’t just the high-cost low-style blue outfit he was wearing. In Palace colours last season, he looked a giant in at least 25 of his games. He gave meaning to the word “marauding”, causing mayhem to opponents, leading and lifting his team to be on the front foot, to win back possession, to attack and to score goals.
On Saturday night, he looked like a little boy lost. He should have had a yellow card for two fouls on Saka in the first 7 minutes. He made just one sideways pass of note, none forwards, and he won just one tackle in the opposition half. His heat map must have been mainly in his own half and he showed a tendency to wander away from protecting the left side of his defence that meant Sterling had to come back several times to plug the holes.
None of this will have escaped the attention of Thomas Tuchel – or the new owners. While Abramovich reported big losses repeatedly during his Chelsea ownership, Boehly and his friends have made their mark by making profits. And Gallagher is a Chelsea asset whose value shot up only when he was with Palace. It might decline very quickly if his pre-season experience with Chelsea continues in the months ahead.
Look, I know Conor has been with Chelsea since he was 8, and I appreciate that he and his family are just dying for him to win a place in his boyhood team, to lift trophies while the fans sing his name. But there’s a reason why so few of us choose to live our entire working life in the place we were when we were 8. Life moves on, better opportunities pop up, and – although I respect his enthusiasm and his experience – Thomas Tuchel is not Patrick Vieira.
Patrick understands the midfield of a Premier League club better than perhaps anyone. Under Patrick, Gallagher certainly blossomed as a Premier League midfielder. He played with huge energy, he led the press, he intercepted passes, he made biting ball-winning tackles, he drove his team forward, he made goals, and he scored goals. Oh, and he did so very well for Palace that he was picked for England – and, when he played for his nation, he managed to be one of his team’s best players, bursting with energy and enthusiasm for the challenges he faced.
To be honest, Chelsea didn’t look ready for the Gallagher we saw last season. They didn’t even have a shirt number ready for him. In the first two Games in America, he wore 38. In the programme on Saturday, he was listed as 38, but wore 15.
On Saturday, he looked like the Conor Gallagher we saw playing for Bilic and Allardyce at West Brom. Chasing around a few yards behind the ball, almost zero creativity going forward, fouling too often, and plainly worried that – faced by world-class competitors for a place in the Chelsea midfield – he might find himself adorning the bench way too often. Too often for his personal comfort, too often to catch Southgate’s eye and be selected for England.
The decision Gallagher now faces must be worrying for him and his family. Stay at Chelsea and face untold uncertainty unless Tuchel finds a place in his system to set Gallagher free as Vieira so successfully did. Or switch back to Palace on loan (keeping his options open for the future) and be welcomed back with open arms by the fans and team mates who love him, the manager who gives him space and time to be the magnificent midfielder we all know him to be, with no doubt about his opportunity to impress on the Premier League stage in time for Gareth to pick him for September’s World Cup warm-up games – and give himself a real chance to be on the plane to Qatar in November.
Which should he choose?
2 comments
Excellent piece Jon, though whether Conor would see those events in the same way that you do we may never know. Logically, of course, he should return to Palace, but when did football and logic ever mix?
unfortunately i can not see him leaving chelsea before jan , his contract is up next summer and will be available on a free. if he is omitted from the england squad that will hurt as will be sitting on the bench , if i was him i would leave now and go back to palace . he wont have to move house and will still be close to his family ,which matters to him . after all career comes before loyalty to chelsea
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