In football history, there are some clubs who managed to win cups and trophies after some special players have joined them. In this article we are going to look for some of them.
5. Claude Makelele at Chelsea in 2003/04 season
The French veteran joined struggling Chelsea in 2003 under Claudio Ranieri. Cause of poor performance, the later was sacked and the club hired Jose Mourinho. Makelele’s positional awareness and game reading ability was amazingly used by Mourinho to help his better attack minded midfielders Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard in the attack. In that season, Chelsea won their first League title after 50 years. The French won six more trophies with the West London club before he quits for Paris Saint – Germain in 2008.
4. Andrea Pirlo at Juventus in 2011/12 season
Andrea Pirlo at Juventus
Juventus won Serie A in the 2005/06 season, but got relegated to Serie B just after lifting the trophy because the Calciopoli incident. The old lady managed to come back in Serie A one year later. From then, Juve failed to win Serie A for 5 years. But after signing Pirlo they won the title again. The then Old Lady manager Antonio Conte built his team around the Italian maestro, and the later played a very important role in midfield leading the club on winning the title again. He was also an exceptional leader on the pitch.
3. Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal in 1995/95 season
Dennis Bergkamp signing for Arsenal
After winning the 1990/91 division one title, Arsenal form dropped dramatically and consequently sacked their manager George Graham. Bruce Rioch was appointed as new manager and the first thing he did was bringing in Dennis Bergkamp. The Dutch struggled in his first season and it was only after the sacking of Rioch and arrival of Arsene Wenger, that the Dutchman showed his true capabilities. His ball controlling skills and creativity was hard to cope up with. He was at the centre of Arsenal’s attack, and Wenger gave him all the freedom to use his amazing footballing brain. He won the Premier League thrice with them including the season of the “Invincibles” and seven other trophies.
2. Eric Cantona at Manchester United in 1992/93
Eric Cantona at Manchester United
United were struggling at the 10th position on the Premier League table when Cantona joined them in 1992. Thanks to the strength, fighting spirit and morale brought to the club by this French maestro, United came back to their best and won the Premier League title of that same season.
Cantona was always a dynamic player and his presence in the team brought a lively aura both on and off the pitch. He was the catalyst and the motivation United had missed. He won 3 more Premier League titles with the Old Trafford club before he retires.
1. Gabriel Batistuta at AS Roma in 2000/01 season
Gabriel Batistusta at AS Roma
Since 1923 AS Roma had not win the Italian League until they brought in Argentinean striker Gabriel Batistuta in summer 2000. Gabriel’s arrival at Roma changed the morale at the club and his partnership with the talented Francesco Totti and the amazing poacher Vincenzo Montella created chaos in opponents’s defence. He scored 20 goals in his first season at Roma and helped them to win Serie A title again.
No comments:
Post a Comment