After starting the season by scoring his team’s first goal of the campaign during the 4-0 win, Gary Cahill’s form has dropped as dramatically as the team around him. While the 25-year-old remains one of the most sought after centre-halves in Europe, he has looked a shadow of himself when he’s stepped out for Bolton since August.
It is no coincidence that his form is the same as his team’s, as their main player he has been pivotal in their success, leading by example and being the poster boy for the passing style of play that Owen Coyle has tried to bring to the Reebok.
Usually, Cahill’s form is outstanding. Bought from Aston Villa having struggled to break into the first team, he has risen to the top of his game and is now on the radar of teams that are far above the heights of his former team but it looks like this new platform of importance and praise has been the downfall.
During the summer transfer window, every team that could possibly be interested in buying a defender were linked with him. Arsenal (of course), Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United were all potential suitors, as were Inter Milan and the holy grail of football, Barcelona. It is hard for anybody to ignore being mentioned in the same sentence as these teams and linked with a big money move that will undoubtedly bring new levels to his game.
However, as the market drew to a close, nobody had made a bid that was ever going to get Coyle and Phil Gartside to even consider letting their star player leave. Arsenal were rumoured to have offered just £6 million to take him off their hands, which was labelled derisory and a joke during an angry retort. In the final few days he looked like he would still be on the move but nothing came about.
In hindsight, that move should have gone through. Although the money is nothing nearly what he is potentially worth, it is a decent sum for somebody nearing the end of their contract. Having lost Johan Elmander for nothing while Daniel Sturridge went back to Chelsea having looked been the find of the season and seeing Lee Chung-Yong and Stuart Holden both suffer long-term injuries, the opportunity of some extra cash should have been welcomed.
That £6 million could have brought in a centre-half and a striker to fill the voids and may have lead to a more positive season.
This psychological distraction came to a head at the weekend against Tottenham. Nobody other than Stuart Atwell will ever try to justify that being a red card, it was definitely one of the worst decisions this season but it was Cahill’s dallying in possession and poor ball control when trying to turn inside that created the opportunity for the horrific refereeing. He seemed to be caught unaware by his opponents and the usually composed defender made a schoolboy error. His lack of confidence in his team-mates has forced him to try and do it on his own.