Why Chelsea Should Drop Azpilicueta For Cole On Saturday Against Stoke

Ashley Cole has had a tough few weeks. Well, if you consider sitting on the sideline earning mega money for doing nothing tough, anyway. As a result of injury he lost his place for both club and country and has failed to wriggle himself back into either, despite now being available for selection. The left-back has seen his Chelsea place taken by Cesar Azpilicueta in recent weeks but this weekend that needs to change, in my opinion.

Jose Mourinho takes his side to face Stoke on Saturday looking for what would be their third Premier League win in a row, and Ashley Cole should be given the nod to start the game.

Azpilicueta has had a run of solid displays in a position that isn’t natural to him, but against Sunderland on Wednesday he came up short.

The Blues conceded three goals to bottom of the league Black Cats, and while none of them were directly Azpilicueta’s fault, his performance left a lot to be desired.

It seemed as though anyone who ran at the Spaniard was allowed to go straight past him and the face that John Terry had to come across and cover for him left gaps in the middle.

Although he looked solid on the ball, he was sluggish when not in possession and looked as if he had nothing to lose with a lacklustre display.

Branislav Ivanovic has also looked shaky on the right side of defence, Azpilicueta’s natural side, so perhaps dropping the Serbian and switching Azpilicueta to the other side to slot Cole in at left-back would work.

Either way, Cole needs to come back into the team.