YAAY!! I thought it was deserving of its own thread to celebrate a rare goal for the hardest-working midfielder in the Prem. Claude Makelele. The thread is not extremely timely because I have been really busy lately - but I promised that I would scream the loudest when Makelele scored and he did. I loved the appreciation that he got from his teammates on his goal and although it was not perfectly taken in my opinion it was a beautiful goal and a perfect punctuation mark to this magical season for Chelsea fans. I got up and hugged everyone in my house when he scored (which was a big surprise to my mother-in-law). If you read Phil Ball's take on Spanish soccer it is always informed and he really captures the atmosphere surrounding La Liga more so than any other English-writing columnist. So, I was not surprised to be equally impressed by his blurb about Makelele in his weekly La Liga wrap up. Although I think there is an error in the article a few weeks ago eddieba26 did the research on this but I do believe Makelele did have a CL goal with Madrid. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=332987&cc=5901 so even if you have done it in other threads - re-post your appreciation for Makelele here - I will start off. I believe that the attitude around Mourinho's Chelsea team grew from Mourinho's trust in Makelele. His consistent play combined with the "team" atmosphere this year led to one of the stingiest defenses ever seen. Of course, Cech Terry Gallas (and surprisingly Gudjohnsen and Joe Cole) all had a role in this as well. So, Go On! Blues! Makelele epitomizes the unselfish team concept that pulled wins out of likely ties and ties out of likely losses several times this year.
He is that holding ring in a chain called Chelsea. Simply put, he is the best in the world at what he does.
Absolutely true. I think Chelsea's future success may depend on how adept Scotty Parker is at filling this role. Maka will be 33 next season I believe and even though he certainly has some years left, he won't be here forever. The Charlton supporters singing "There's only one Scotty Parker" made me realize that the kid needs a chance at Chelsea. Young Player of the Year to less than Tiago. WTF is going on?
Makelele is a truly outstanding midfielder.He quietly does his defensive duties without whinging and with a smile on his face.He rarely talks to the press,he keeps his talking on the pitch.Its is so rare to find a defensive midfielder with very few bookings.he
Henry: "Makelele's the man" "To me, Makelele makes the difference in this team," said Henry, whose Arsenal side failed to follow up their unbeaten 2003/04 campaign with another championship. >SNIP< "Thanks to him, the other midfielders can move upfield and exert more attacking pressure. He has been at Chelsea two years, the two years that Chelsea have been competitive" >SNIP< "Every time he crosses the halfway line he tells himself off!" said Henry. "But we need those players. They are anonymous but we footballers know. Once we are back in the dressing room, you go up to this guy and say 'thank you!'" http://www.eurosport.com/home/pages/v4/l0/s22/e6876/sport_lng0_spo22_evt6876_sto716844.shtml