Salomon Kalou: One of football’s great riddles
Unquestionably one of the best back-up strikers in the Premier League, many football fans may wonder why Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou has not sought a new challenge away from Stamford Bridge. The view of the Ivorian is mixed among the Chelsea faithful however he does come as a bit of a puzzle to football as one of those players that you feel aren’t quite fulfilling their full potential.
Kalou, often eclipsed by his brother Bonaventure, whom people believed to have the more potential of the two, began to make a name for himself with notable performances for Dutch outfit Feyenoord. The striker was then snapped up by Chelsea early into the Abramovich revolution after an impressive goal scoring record as the Ivorian left the Dutch club with 35 goals in 67 league appearances.
You can clearly see from Kalou’s record in Holland that his best role is as an out and out striker, and this is where much of his issues with the London club arise. For seasons now Kalou has often been forced to play out of position, in a Chelsea team that for years executed a 4-3-3 formation, Kalou was forced out wide, on the left or the right. It is a dilemma similar to that of Liverpool’s Ryan Babel, another player who undoubtedly has the potential to reach great heights and although it is a demonstration of Kalou’s versatility and work ethic that he experiences success in that role, it is also a hindrance on a player who is underused.
The Ivorian holds a more than average goal scoring record for the club, considering many of them come from off the bench, averaging around ten a season in all competitions. He is often given opportunities in competitions such as the Carling and F.A Cups as a front man and this is where he gains the majority of his goals, again illustrating that when used to his full potential, he will score goals. Having said this he is no stranger to chipping in with important goals in the league, think of Manchester United at home in last year’s campaign, a goal that in hindsight may have appeared more important than it proved to be but nevertheless was still against the League champions.
Kalou does however have the added bonus of the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti famously favours the 4-4-2 diamond formation and when utilising the Ivorian, is likely to do so in an out and out striker role. This has already paid dividends as Kalou has bagged 4 goals in 13 appearances so far this season, a ratio better than his previous campaigns. He has showed his potential in this role with an impressive brace against Atlético Madrid in a recent Champions League tie, a game I was at myself and can safely say that it could easily have been a hat-trick. Kalou does, like any other back-up striker, suffer from the fact that he is expected to instantly perform when given a chance and this is not healthy for a striker’s confidence. I am of the firm belief that given a run in the team, for instance in the scenario of a Nicholas Anelka injury, Salomon Kalou could stake a claim for a regular starting place for the Blues and rid himself of this tag as a bit of a puzzle.
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Kalou is a good finisher, he has always done us a service when he is called upon. Maybe he deserves more of a chance
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Kalou has always done us a service when called upon, he is a good finisher, maybe he deserves more of a chance
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He is awesome!
I can’t wait for sergio aguero, david villa, and sergio aguero to land in chelsea.
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Are you on Crystal Meth ? ask anyone who watches chelsea on a reg basis and they will tell you Kalou is awful and a waste of space,and is a reason why chelsea have struggled to win aything of note since he signed he not improved one iota and still runs down blind alleys , misses open goals , bottles it in top games always picks the wrong pass, to be honest he just crap
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I watch Chelsea practically week in week out and I rate Kalou. He does have the ability to miss his fair share of chances but so does Anelka, who’s despite getting the golden boot last year, hasn’t been in the league of drogba. There are many players i would rather see leave the bridge before Kalou
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All though this may be a bit of topic. Out of interest Oli, who would you rather see leave the bridge ahead of Kalou?? Do you really see him as a key figure in your hunt for silverwear this year?
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Key figure in the hunt for silverware is too far obviously, but i do think he has a big part to play for a squad. He is first choice back up for strikers and as any Liverpool fan will tell you, you need a few decent strikers to win the prem. He is much more important than like Mikel, Sturridge, in my opinion Malouda and Belletti (although belletti is very versitile which is a plus)
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I think that the situations of players such as Kalou is a little bit unfortunate really. They show bags of potential in one position and get bought in by big clubs at a young age. However, because bigger clubs are generally overstaffed (particularly up front), this means that they get played out of position, meaning that they don’t feel comfortable and end up making mistakes that they get lambasted for by fans. Pretty much every big club has one – Kalou for Chelsea, Babel for Liverpool, Nani for Man Utd and Bendtner for Arsenal. These are players who have bags of potential and have already proved themselves at at least U21-international level, but because they don’t get played enough in their preferred positions at their respective clubs, they end up, in some fans eyes “not fulfilling their potential”, when, in actual fact, they could do a lot more for the team if the manager gave them a bit more game time. It’s unfortunate to see, because these players actually tend to perform well when they play where they’re supposed to. Another good article, Oli
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Thanks Nick. I agree, he hasn’t been helped by being played out of position, Babel and Bendtner are other good examples, not too sure about Nani, i think he’s just terrible to be honest! But i completely agree with the fact that they are expected to instantly perform and are criticised when they don’t
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I quite like Kalou as a back-up option. He reminds me a lot of Sylvain Wiltord, but not quite as good.
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