Posted on: Wed 09 Oct 2013
It's been almost six years since Branislav Ivanovic
made the move from eastern Europe to west London, and the Serbian
defender has been speaking to the official Chelsea website about his
position on the pitch, his goal in Amsterdam and his aspirations under
the new manager…
Wednesday 15 May 2013. Amsterdam Arena. Two minutes into stoppage time, Juan Mata
swings a corner over from the right. The scores are level, one apiece,
and it's Chelsea seeking a very late winner in the Europa League final.
When Mata takes the corner, Branislav Ivanovic
is waiting just in front of the penalty spot. By the time he leaps
above two Benfica defenders to head the ball, the Serbian is 10 yards
further left. His connection is a good one, straining his neck to direct
the ball back in the direction from which it came. Time stands still.
Artur, in the Benfica goal, stands still.
The ball loops teasingly towards the far corner. The question is
whether it will fall from the Amsterdam sky in time to dip under the
Benfica goalkeeper's crossbar. To the ecstasy of the massed ranks of
blue behind that goal, and those in blue on the pitch, it does. For the
goalscorer, suspended in Munich, redemption.
'It was one of the greatest moments in my career,' Ivanovic recalls, smiling. 'Of course I'll never forget it.'
You get the impression, though, that our versatile defender isn't
keen to dwell on what's gone before. As he puts it, 'memories are good,
but we don't live for the memories'. It's little surprise, therefore,
that his career has followed such a consistently upward trajectory. He
secured a move to Lokomotiv Moscow from his native Serbia in 2006, and
it was during his time in Russia that he became a regular fixture in the
talented Serbian national team. Impressive performances in the Russian
Premier League attracted interest from all over Europe, and it was
Chelsea that succeeded in acquiring his services in the 2008 January
transfer window.
It took time for Ivanovic to make his debut for the club - eight
months, in fact - but since working his way into the first team, under
Luiz Felipe Scolari, he has flourished on the pitch irrespective of the
position he has been asked to play in. The defender is the first to
acknowledge that even he's not sure what the club expected from him when
he signed for the Blues, but his versatility across the right side of
the defence has undoubtedly aided his cause in becoming an enduring
fixture in our backline.
'I don't know what position I joined Chelsea as,' Ivanovic laughs. 'I
started as a right-back. After that I played centre-back, and after
that I moved back to right-back!
'All my career I've moved inside and outside. I'm really happy
because it's good for me that I can play both positions. I always try to
do my best wherever I play. In the end I'm happy because I like to
defend, and I'm really enjoying defending in this team.'
For a man who grew up wanting to be a striker - Ivanovic cites the
former Brazil centre-forward Ronaldo as an early inspiration, as well as
his father Rade, a professional footballer himself - his transformation
to right-back, where he has featured in all but one of our games this
season, has been a long one. Fortunately, he has one teammate in
particular who has helped in the process.
'For me Ashley [Cole] is the best left-back in the world in the last 10 years. It's a real pleasure to work with him.
'Sometimes it's difficult to learn from him because he's doing
everything naturally. There are not a lot of things you can do and be
like him. For me he always helps as a good reference. When you have him
opposite you on the pitch you have to work hard to synchronise with him
and we try to do that.'
In January Ivanovic will celebrate six years at the club, and he's
rightfully earned his place as one of the most experienced and
longest-serving members of the squad. He hasn't been around quite long
enough, though, to have played under Jose Mourinho before, joining the Blues just a few months after the Portuguese's first spell at the club had come to an end.
As is his way, Ivanovic isn't keen to reflect on the managers
that he has worked with prior to Mourinho's return. Instead, the focus
is on the future. For the Serbian, pensive now as he thinks ahead, that
means an improvement in the consistency of our performances, and our
results.
'Football is for history, for the fans to remember,' he says. 'Today is another day and we have to focus on the next game.
'It's a big pleasure to play under Jose. It's always a great
motivation from his side. We have to push ourselves to improve and we
have to motivate ourselves for every single game because he expects that
of us, and the club expects that of us.
'It's a big pleasure but there's still a lot of hard work to do.
We've played some good games; we've had some defeats, too. The team and
our performances can improve, we can do better and I think we'll do it
after this international break.'
It's no surprise that Ivanovic leaves you with the feeling that he
always wants more. That desire and belief has helped him become as
equally adept at right-back as he is at the heart of our defence, and
with him at the back there's good reason for Blues supporters to look
forward to many more trophy-laden years at Stamford Bridge.
