When, in the summer of 2004, the original will he/won't he saga of
Steven Gerrard's possible move from Liverpool to Chelsea (not to be
confused with the second tedious instalment, which took place twelve
months later - and any future instalments, of course) ended with the
England man agreeing to stay at Anfield, Chelsea's Portuguese manager,
Jose Mourinho, moved swiftly to sign Benfica's Tiago Mendes for £8m.
Fresh from duty primarily as a bench-warmer in Portugal's squad for that
summer's European Championships, Tiago was at the time an unknown
quantity in England.
He was certainly highly-valued by Benfica, though,
and the Lisbon club's chairman could barely conceal his fury that the
23-year-old should wish to leave his homeland to play in London, but
Tiago rose above the criticism to make an impressive full debut at
Crystal Palace in August, culminating in a fine strike which clinched a
2-0 win. However, with players such as Alexei Smertin, Scott Parker and
Joe Cole also vying for the one available spot alongside the outstanding
Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele in the middle of the pitch, Tiago
found himself a frequent spectator. When he did play, his discipline and
work-rate could not be faulted, but often having done the hard work,
his distribution would leave a little to be desired.
An occasional
reluctance to put his foot in also frustrated the supporters, although
his 48 appearances in all competitions throughout Chelsea's magnificent
2004/05 campaign indicate clearly his importance to Mourinho's plans.
His four goals - the midfielder also scored in a draw with Bolton and in
wins at Fulham and Manchester United - were all fine efforts, with the
latter strike being particularly memorable, as he silenced the Stretford
End with a magnificent 30-yard curling shot into the top corner.
However, despite the triumphs of the season, it was clear to all
observers that nobody had sufficiently tied down that third midfield
spot, and in August 2005 Chelsea paid in the region of £25m to take
Lyon's tough-tackling schemer, Michael Essien, to the Bridge.
A couple
of weeks later, Tiago made the opposite journey, with the French side
paying 10m euros, roughly £7m, to capture the services of the Portuguese
international. (Kelvin Barker) |