Every once in a while you see a game of football and something or someone stands out from all the crowded minutiae, the interesting formations, the tactical switches, the odd spark of inventiveness, but it nevertheless came as a surprise to me when, on Wednesday night at the Bridge, one of these abiding memory moments duly appeared and took on the somewhat surreal form of a shirt number. The Number 6, to be precise, writ large on the back of Oriol Romeu’s shirt, just below his coat-hanger-like shoulders, emblazoned there for all to see throughout two hours of footy and making so many appearances in my mind’s eye it left me thinking I’d been party to some strange form of subliminal advertising - for a new series of The Prisoner or, if he had been wearing our fag packet shirt of yesteryear, heralding the calming effect of a quick drag on a Players No.6 in a crisis.

For that, in essence, is what Oriol’s performance gave us from the time the Chels went a man down, a calming presence in a crisis, intensifying the belief that we will never need to ask the question, in Shakespearian tones, “Romeu, Romeu, wherefore art thou, Romeu?” because the reply - “No worries mate, I‘m here” was etched in every covering tackle and prompting pass. Moreover, maybe next time Josh will be alongside him for longer than a fifty-minute cameo of creative promise. Yet it would be wrong for me to ponder in too greater detail on their future being paired together, even though I am looking forward to it immensely, because this piece is all about paying early homage to a talented driving force that already looks capable of holding down a regular first team place.

Funny how a sending-off can cause an unfavourable imbalance which serves to highlight ability rather than to curb it, but that’s what happened here for the holding midfielder. Going a man down does destabilise and even though some Shed-Enders seem to have a penchant for picking holes in certain Chelsea players, despite such misfortune hardly providing a level playing field upon which to be critical of any of them, in this instance it did offer us an insight into which ones within the present crop are more ’hands to the pump’ than others and Romeu passed his test with flying colours in my book. Of course, JT’s arrival and contribution was a given and Lukaku’s self-sacrifice a bonus, but it was evident that AVB knew exactly what he wanted in terms of midfield orchestration when the chips were down and numbers reduced - a 19-year old Barca B boy who revelled in his fire-fighting role.

Perhaps it might also be claimed that this clear sign of AVB trust, a natural follow-up to backing his own judgement on the player in the transfer market, implies it wont be too long before Romeu becomes a permanent fixture in the side, or at least as much of one as you can possibly have in this modern day rotational football world. I believe the Boas must be tempted after this display and the against-the-odds nature of it all will have appealed to his own underdog instincts, albeit that Fulham are no great movers or Premiership shakers. Indeed, he looked as though he thoroughly enjoyed solving the conundrum on Wednesday night and appeared in his element when Alex left the pitch, scribbling away and directing operations with such alacrity he made Martin Jol look positively negative by comparison. To me, these two coaches seemed poles apart in approach once the sending-off occurred and our combative reaction got the moral boost it deserved.

Sadly, it is the very nature of Oriol’s role in the side that works against him as he waits to see if he has done enough to make his breakthrough. Mikel and Meireles are seemingly well ahead of him in the pecking order and almost by definition both Ramires and Frank offer more going forward. That’s a lot by way of competition, but my contention remains - none of them could have performed any better than the Spaniard when faced with a situation where the lesser-numbered team normally slides into a default defensive mode. In short, he may not be Maka, but he has made a mighty big impression on me and my subconscious and next time anybody approaches with a pack of cards, trickery intent, and saying “Think of a number” you will know which one is going to spring to mind instantly.

Well written as always. I didnt see the game, so I only have the comments and ratings of others, but its reassuring we saw a player for which pressure seemed to motivate him to play even better.

I hope to be able to see him, in a non "all hands to the pump" capacity, against Swansea.

Romeu could be great but I'm just worried that Barca are gonna come back and get him off us in a year or 2 due to that clause he has in his deal.

Romeu could be great but I'm just worried that Barca are gonna come back and get him off us in a year or 2 due to that clause he has in his deal.

Thats something out of our control, so lets just hope he turns out to be brilliant and helps us immensely for the next two years.

Barca are in alot of debt, and have Busquets who is very young himself, Mascherano who cost a packet, and Keita to play the holding role for them. Even if Romeu is fantastic for us, its not a given that they will buy him back considering their depth.

Thats something out of our control, so lets just hope he turns out to be brilliant and helps us immensely for the next two years.

Barca are in alot of debt, and have Busquets who is very young himself, Mascherano who cost a packet, and Keita to play the holding role for them. Even if Romeu is fantastic for us, its not a given that they will buy him back considering their depth.

And there's always the chance that Romeu will want to stay here. Barca can't get him back unless he wants to leave us.

And there's always the chance that Romeu will want to stay here. Barca can't get him back unless he wants to leave us.

ehhh, im not holding my breath. if barca come calling id put my money on him going

For that, in essence, is what Oriol’s performance gave us from the time the Chels went a man down, a calming presence in a crisis, intensifying the belief that we will never need to ask the question, in Shakespearian tones, “Romeu, Romeu, wherefore art thou, Romeu?” because the reply - “No worries mate, I‘m here” was etched in every covering tackle and prompting pass.

A lovely written piece Dorset.

The more the game went on on Wednesday, the more I found myself saying, "He's bloody good that number 6".

The DM role is his for the taking, and I have no doubt he will have taken it before the season's end, he is that good.

Sometimes you just know you are looking at the real deal and this was one of those occasions.

He was everything Mikel isn't. He was aggressive, he was imposing, he was full of running, and he was clever. It made you realise just what we've been missing. He may even have made a difference on Sunday, when we were crying out for someone to protect the back four.

AVB wanted him and you can see why. Sadly, Barca are very unlikely to allow a kid that good to go cheaply, so this may just amount to an extended loan deal, in which case, fine, we still don't lose. We have him here, now, and he's ready to play, and I fully expect us to make the most of him. As we've seen with Essien, there's no point speculating too much on the future, so let's just enjoy him while we have the chance. Two years of service is better than no years, and you never know, it may just turn out to be longer. He may meet a Londoner and have kids. She may not want to move. She may be an avid Chelsea fan.

I wonder if there are any candidates on this forum .. ?

Barca are in alot of debt, and have Busquets who is very young himself, Mascherano who cost a packet, and Keita to play the holding role for them. Even if Romeu is fantastic for us, its not a given that they will buy him back considering their depth.

Well, Madrid didn't really need Negredo when they bought him back, but they did and then promptly sold him for 3 times the amount. The buyback clause in Romeu's case is higher so there is less chance of that happening, unless he is ridiculously good for us during these two years and even makes the national team. But like DB says, you have to wonder if they would let us have him so cheaply if they don't have any plans for him.

Edited September 24, 201113 yr by footballoholic

Romeu is on Cesc path. He will gain experience here and hopefully make a name for himself and go back when Barca comes calling. I think he said that himself already. We just have to accept it. It doesn't worry me that much.

If he plays as well as he did we should be grateful to have him even for the shorter period.

It's a tricky one. It can either be smart or stupid business. If Barca buy players like bojan, romeu back, then it's effectively a loan of a classy player, which we get paid for.

I've been impressed by his maturity so far and would love to see a natural anchor playing in front of the defence.

Seems ridiculous to consider holding back in the case of what if, if he imrproves our midfield he should play straight away, as with holding Josh back because of his age.

nice read dorset and agree romeu was for sure one of the stand out players of the game the other night

yes he had a good game...............but an objective look at Fulhams midfield says a lot

he was strong and asertive, clever and energetic, put a good foot in and played it short and spread the play - but JOM does all of that - I didn't see much variety in his passing nor much going forward

BUT yes a good all round performance, so I'm not knocking that - but like to see more progression in his play

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2051162/Oriel-Romeu-new-Claude-Makelele-Chelsea.html

Glowing praise for a Chelsea player in the Mail? He must have played better than we all thought.

Then again maybe they are secretly trying to hype him up so Barca take him back, there must be another motive here...

couldn't stop having a dig at us though.....

Have they found their new Makelele? If his dreadful shanked shot into row Z in the first half is anything to go by, they most definitely have

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2051162/Oriel-Romeu-new-Claude-Makelele-Chelsea.html#ixzz1bHOJF8r0

Looks a proper DM, which is something that despite all the coaching in the world, Mikel will never be.

As much as I'd love to be dancing for joy that we've got a brilliant young player to fill an important hole in any team...I have to settle for a small happy smile, covering up a slight fear that we'll lose him once he becomes important to us.

Whether or not Barca will want him back, or he'll want to go, who knows at this stage. But it's always in the back of my mind when I watch him play.

He just radiated class out on the field in the match. The buy back clause dosent worry me too much because barca have so many midfielders that he isnt about to be able to get into the first team in front of them in the next two years. However 4-5 years time he could be an absolute world beater.

He just radiated class out on the field in the match. The buy back clause dosent worry me too much because barca have so many midfielders that he isnt about to be able to get into the first team in front of them in the next two years. However 4-5 years time he could be an absolute world beater.

have to agree with this, my man of the match (tho Torres looked sharp).............apart from one early misplaced pass, thought he was coolness personified (opposition not the best but....) very aware of all around and no panic in his play.......don't agree with above poster re-mikel....Mikel's not bad either and great to have and would have excelled in this match too......would have loved to have seen Josh get some time in this game, much better to play him at home rather than the away game.....

As much as I'd love to be dancing for joy that we've got a brilliant young player to fill an important hole in any team...I have to settle for a small happy smile, covering up a slight fear that we'll lose him

Alas, this is how I feel.

Yeah me too, it's tempering my excitement for him a tad, which is a shame as he looks very promising, and sooooo composed on the ball.

Alan

I thought he started the game last night a bit sloppy and made a few mistakes, giving the ball away. I thought he would have a bad game then, but he quickly turned things around and had a really good game.

Must say I'm very excited about this guy. I just hope we don't help him evolve just to see him go back to Barcelona.

I'm fairly sure there is an option for us to buy out that buy back clause. Which will of course not be cheap to do, but there is an option for us to do that if he does continue to impress.

I'm fairly sure there is an option for us to buy out that buy back clause. Which will of course not be cheap to do, but there is an option for us to do that if he does continue to impress.

I just hope their isnt an option for Barcelona to buy out our option to buy out their buy out clause.....