Hi everyone, apologies if this is the wrong section. Just registered here today.

Just to be clear, I'm not a Chelsea fan, I am a lifelong Juve fan and Serie A is my speciality.

So you're probably wondering the reason why I'm posting on a Chelsea forum right? I came across an article today on twitter from Rory Smith on the ESPN website about Crespo and Sheva's time at Chelsea (link to article is posted below) in relation to their successes in Calcio.

As I have established I've been a fan of Serie A for nearly 20 years and seen both Sheva and Crespo for years before they came to Chelsea. Sheva unfortunately flopped for use, but according to the article Crespo is also seen as being a flop.

I think this is extremely harsh and is misinformed, Crespo's goals to game ratio for Chelsea was superb if I'm not mistaken and was homesick for the majority of his stay in London, his second spell was a lot better than his first which was hampered with injuries and his wife having a miscarriage.

So the reason I'm posting is that I wanted to know what are the Chelsea fans opinions of Hernan's time at the club? Is he unfairly seen as a flop or is he viewed as a success?

Thanks for your views in advance :)

While he played decently and had a good scoring record here, I personally just felt like we didn't get enough out of such a big name. I wouldn't consider him a flop as he wasn't a poor signing, but the overall experience of him being at Chelsea was just a bit of a non-event.

Edited June 26, 201312 yr by Jonty

Considering that Torres has made our yardstick for a 'flop' so huge, I wouldn't consider Crespo to be one.

 

One of my all time favourite players, mainly from when he was at Lazio, so I was a bit disappointed that he never reached those heights for us.

 

Scored beauties against Wigan and Arsenal if I remember rightly. Classy player in his day.

Considering that Torres has made our yardstick for a 'flop' so huge, I wouldn't consider Crespo to be one.

Even if we'd never have signed Torres, I wouldn't call Crespo a flop. Sure, it was disappointing that he didn't play more matches for us, but when did, he did well and scored some impressive goals.

He always impressed me when he played, his movement and positional awareness was outstanding.

Considering we invested £16m into him and only got 49 appearances out of him then yes, the signing itself was a bit of a "flop" especially as he spent 3 years of his contract on loan and he was eventually released on a free.

 

 

With regards to his actual performances in a Chelsea shirt he was mostly excellent and I really do wish he could have settled at the club because I think he had the potential to be a Chelsea legend as his finishing was so sublime and natural. 

I thought he done well (more so, the short stint after the loan) and wouldn't consider him a flop at all.

 

One thing I'll always remember about Crespo is how he read the game. A big part of the times he was called offside, he wasn't actually offside. He was just too quick for the linesman and read the line really well.

 

Also, remember when he came on right at the end when we were struggling at Wigan away and he scored a cracker.

 

There were tears from him at the end of his last season with us. Nice fella as well!

I rated Crespo extremely highly, and if he flopped at all it was to do with the rotation system in place and Chelsea not playing to his strengths. Loved the guy!

Top class player for us IMO. Totally agree with Bluebeard's points above. Ranieri didn't do him many favours and often preferred JFH to Crespo, which is just one of the reasons why I have never rated Claudio as a top flight manager. Nice bloke though.

Definitely not a flop. Always looked a top class player who was a superb finisher.

 

Things didn't go right for him in his time with us, but on the pitch he played very well.

 

Definitely not one to be bracketed with Sheva, Torres, Kezman and Pizzarro.

Top player for us. I met him he seemed nice and the two ladies he was with on that occasion must have been models unreal. I wanted a photo with them not crespo.

Crespo was the turning point of us having world class talent for me. The way he used to run across the line making defenders not having a clue where he was or who was marking him.

 

He didn't make enough appearances but for me he was decent in many of them, Still remember the moment he won his first league title with us, He was absolutely estactic.

Crespo was the turning point of us having world class talent for me. The way he used to run across the line making defenders not having a clue where he was or who was marking him.

He didn't make enough appearances but for me he was decent in many of them, Still remember the moment he won his first league title with us, He was absolutely estactic.

He's goals for games ratio is very good if I remember correctly.

Edited June 26, 201312 yr by bluegraham

Big fan of Crespo's.

 

As has already been mentioned, I've never seen anyone getting wrongly flagged for offside, just because he timed his runs down to the nth of a second.

 

His goal against Liverpool at The Bridge in '06 when the ball came over his shoulder and he fired it in was my personal favourite Crespo goal.

 

Pity he couldn't settle in England but definitely not a flop in the Torres sense of the word.

I think if we had given him enough time he would have been very good for us, unfortunately we didn't.

I think if we had given him enough time he would have been very good for us, unfortunately we didn't.

We gave him every opportunity to acclimatise to England as possible but he just felt home sick the whole time he was here and missed Italy.

We rather generously allowed him to play on loan in Italy for three seasons until his contract expired at the club.

Lots of misinformation in this thread. Crespo didn't feel homesick, Crespo didn't require more time to settle. Crespo wanted to return to Italy to be with his wife who, following a miscarraige, was unable to settle in London, but went to Italy where she felt more at home.

 

And so if anything Crespo is to be admired for putting family before fortune.

At the time I thought we should let Drogba go and keep Crespo.

I was proved wrong but he did well for us. An excellent footballer.

I loved the bloke, a fantastic striker and was gutted he couldn't settle.  That goal at Highbury is an all time favourite.

 

http://youtu.be/nNYbc2qVbMc

Lots of misinformation in this thread. Crespo didn't feel homesick, Crespo didn't require more time to settle. Crespo wanted to return to Italy to be with his wife who, following a miscarraige, was unable to settle in London, but went to Italy where she felt more at home.

 

And so if anything Crespo is to be admired for putting family before fortune.

Didn't know that, thanks!

Helped us win a league title,scored some great goals and pretty much scored every time he played so no not a flop for me.What a handsome man aswell.

Thought he was brilliant in Italy and think he was a top quality striker for us. I think himself and casiraghi both had the goods to become legendary strikers for us.

I loved the bloke, a fantastic striker and was gutted he couldn't settle.  That goal at Highbury is an all time favourite.

 

http://youtu.be/nNYbc2qVbMc

Great goal. I was a big fan of Crespo.

Oozzed class. We could really do with a striker like him now

Oozzed class. We could really do with a striker like him now

 

South American with a good goal scoring record in Italy?

 

Hmmm, I wonder who we could buy....