Chelsea’s Legendary Magician – Gianfranco Zola
All Chelsea supporters know John Terry, who we hail as “Captain-Leader-Legend”, idolise “Super Frankie Lampard” and regard the indomitable Didier Drogba with the reverence of a king. These are household names today, and will remain so for years to come. However for some of the more recent fans, the name of the great Gianfranco Zola does not necessarily hold the same significance. For them and for all those who have seen him and loved him, here’s a tribute to the “Little Magician”.
It was in 1996 during the time of Ruud Gullit, the then head coach who had started the revolution of the influx of foreign talent into Stamford Bridge, and advocated his love for “complete’ football”. Gianfranco Zola was signed for a fee of 4.5mil pounds from Parma. Prior to joining Chelsea he had spent time under arguably God’s greatest gift to football, Diego Maradona at Napoli. Many doubted what the diminutive Italian could achieve in the fast pace and the grueling intensity of the Premier League. However the man was all geared up to prove his doubters wrong.
It was a period of transition at the club and a different experience for Chelsea fans with so many non-British players playing for the side, but talents like Zola, Ruud Gullit (as player manager), Gianluca Vialli and the rest shone almost immediately after coming into Gullit’s setup. It was a reinvigorated lot with beautiful interplay, with the man Zola, right in the thick of things. It was truly a wonderful time to be at the Bridge. The team had a new found spirit and Zola was a free-scoring delight for the fans. The run to the FA cup victory in the 1996-97 was orchestrated by his brilliance; scoring from headers, freekicks, volleys and in any other way possible. By the time he was done with the first seven months of his Chelsea career, he had scored 12 goals and went on to win Chelsea’s player of the year award. With the quality of football they displayed on the pitch, the club and the players seemed in a way ineffable.
By the high standards of performance in the league and Ruud Gullit’s desire for an upheaval of the squad, we saw a steady improvement in our league standing which contributed to more players moving to the Bridge during the 1997/98 season, such as Tore Andre Flo, Gustavo Poyet and Roberto Di Matteo. With Gianfranco “Little Magician” Zola playing behind the central striker, his form was always steady. There were dips at times but he was always one who bounced back strong and led the team from the front.
February 1998 saw the departure of Gullit under somewhat controversial circumstances after a dispute with chairman, Ken Bates. What came next was the surprising decision to promote Gianluca Vialli as a player manager. Many players and fans alike feared this would bring disharmony in the dressing room and the team’s momentum would wither away. Quelling all such fears, we went on to win both the English League Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners’ cup beating Stuttgart 1-0 in the final, which Zola was initially slated to miss, only for him to come on in the second half and score within 30 seconds of his introduction. The 1997/98 season also saw Zola score his first hat-trick for the blues in a 4-0 demolition of Derby at Stamford Bridge. Come the end of the season and throughout the next, the team was playing superb football and were brimming with confidence. Gianfranco Zola’s partnership with Gus Poyet and Dennis Wise was something all Chelsea fans are still probably day dreaming about. Our brilliant form secured us the third spot in the 1998/99 season with only 4 points shy of the champions, Manchester United. Oh and Champions League football for the first time in our history!
One of the best memories of this free-flowing football was when Chelsea mauled the to-be champions, Manchester United in October 1999. 5-0 was the final score from that day, with Poyet scoring two and Zola involved in three of the goals. It was a game that showed our steel at the back and the fluidity up front. So much that United had one corner and three attempts on goal in the whole game.
The 1999/2000 season was a great year for the team in Europe as well, reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League at our very first appearance in the prestigious tournament. And it included defeating Barcelona 3-1 with Zola opening the scoring that night at the Bridge. However we went down 5-1 at Camp Nou to be knocked out from the competition, albeit with our heads held high. Zola was also instrumental in setting up the winner for Roberto Di Matteo (another legend, but more on him later) in the FA Cup final against Aston Villa, our third FA Cup triumph! (and 2nd with Zola and co) With Champions League and FA Cup keeping us busy we finished the season at the 5th spot, marginally missing out on the final Champions League spot to Liverpool (although we did get our own back in the 2002/03 season.)
By the 2001/02 season, Claudio Ranieri had taken over the reins of the club, and Zola saw his playing time drastically reduced. Ranieri had begun his tenure with showing the door to the then old guard of the club, Dennis Wise, Roberto Di Matteo and the likes. Zola was one who stayed on, although at one point he conceded that he had decided to move on after the likes of Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink seemed to be developing a solid partnership up front. However he continued to show sparks of his brilliance and had a standout season with the club, scoring 16 goals in all, with a particular one which led to Ranieiri calling him a wizard.
It was 2002 when we witnessed this genius from Zola which could be termed as cheeky as it was audacious. It was during a corner kick in a game against Norwich. Zola, generally not in the fray during corner kicks, was positioned near the back post and at the moment of delivery, dashed towards the front post and artistically volleyed the ball in the net with his back of his heel. Yes, a back heeled volley from an unbelievably acute angle!
As the end of the 2002/03 drew close, Chelsea fans grew drearier with every passing day fearing the inevitable until Zola’s last game. It came against Liverpool and it was now time to bid goodbye to this legend. It was a game of tremendous proportion, termed as the 20 million game, with the winner taking the fourth and final champions league spot. Zola started on the bench and the winner in the game was scored by Jesper Grønkjær. Zola came on to a tremendous reception from both the Chelsea and Liverpool fans, and saw off the victory and the subsequent qualification into the Champions League (that sweet, sweet revenge). A game of such magnitude, and yet as the magician walked off the field, almost every fan in the stadium, in blue and red, were on their feet. And so were the millions glued onto their television sets, with teary eyes and heavy hearts, bidding goodbye to a little bit of magic from their lives.
After all the success the club had gone through in the recent times, it convinced a Russian Tycoon namely Roman Abrahamovic to take over the club. He tried his best to persuade Zola to stay on, but being a man of his word, he had already made up his mind. Zola, then aged 37, departed to his home country and his home club Cagliari.
His last season was as good as he could have hoped for and he left Chelsea FC on a high. Overseeing the development and passing the baton of the “Midfield Maestro” to a young boy named Frank Lampard – and not to mention, his secret recipe for cooking up the perfect free-kick.
Personally I was grateful beyond imagination that Zola had stayed that extra season after the exodus that happened the season before. Even though I had the opportunity to see this magician live on TV, I was still a newbie to the world of football then, enthralled by the wondrous things that players did on the ball. It was the influence of this magician that has made me a what I am today, a “True Blue” – and I’ve never looked back ever since!
During his time at the club and even after it, he won many honours by which the club showed their gratitude for his service to the club:
- Inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame : 2006
- Awarded an OBE – Honorary member of ‘The Order of British Empire’ : 2004
- Voted Chelsea’s Best Ever Player : 2003
- Voted into Chelsea’s centenary XI : 2005
He left the club scoring more than 85 goals in all competitions with 59 of them coming in the Premier League. More than just goals he was a character everyone in Stamford Bridge loved and all the other teams respected. He was our very own “Maradona of the Bridge” and fittingly before he left, he was bestowed with the title of Chelsea’s greatest ever player in 2003. It is even said that post Zola’s departure, the number 25 jersey has been retired by the club. True or not, it sure would be a deserved testimony to our greatest player.
Straight from the horse’s mouth:
Gianfranco Zola had probably the best technique I’ve ever seen in a footballer I’ve played with and he was always willing to help out others.
– Frank Lampard
His first season in England, and I taught him to say, “Be Careful “ instead of “Thank you” (This one just had to be here)
– Dennis Wise
Gianfranco is right up there, the fans love him and he’s probably Chelsea’s best ever player. I loved to sit with him and practise one on ones. All the young players wanted to be like him and do what he’s been doing.
– John Terry
(John Terry was so overwhelmed with Zola and his reputation of being a great teacher, that he picked jersey number 26 when he first came to Chelsea, so that he could always be nearby his mentor – Zola #25.)
It was a pleasure to have played with him. We love him dearly at Chelsea and he is the greatest mate and it has been a pleasure for all of us here to have been able to share the dressing room with him.
– Dennis Wise
The man is a genius. He is unique. He is indeed the greatest player to play for Chelsea Football Club.
– Sir Richard Attenborough
Gianfranco tries everything because he is a wizard and the wizard must try.
-Claudio Ranieri
We went over to his wife to convince her to stay. We really needed to convince him to stay on in England, with Chelsea. Everyone enjoys so much playing with him.
– Gus Poyet (on rumours that Zola was to move back to Italy in 2001)
On his relationship with club captain Dennis Wise:
Zola and Wise were known to have the perfect schoolboy buddies kind of relationship. While on the field it was all industry from Wise, running and battling for the ball. Stringent on possession and a keen pass, twirled together with the brilliance from Zola, who would collect all the passes and weave them into seemingly impeccable goals.
One, a Spiky, combative midfielder; and the other, an overly amiable playmaker. Sir Alex had once spoken of Dennis Wise, “A man, who could start a fight in an empty room” while Zola couldn’t find a single enemy in a room full of people.
In short, the two were complete a antithesis of each other, both on and off the pitch. In spite of this, their bonding and understanding on and off the field was closely knit, and they remain very close even to date.
The best incident was when Zola, being new in England, wanted to pick up the English language. With all his dedication, he set out to do so via a Mystery novel, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Zola was deeply engrossed in the book but was not aware of the fact that Dennis Wise had torn out the last few chapters of it. Zola ended up telling everyone, “The book was great, very gripping and detailed, but the ending was very strange” only to receive the last few chapters a month later post training, duly handed out to him by Wise himself. Needless to say, this was a rare, one off moment when the Zola went berserk!
The Novel Incident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEHY_t7RuKo
Chants:
You enter a room full of lads, dressed up in the Chelsea blues and you utter the name Zola, and without the slightest bit of doubt, the whole lot shall go:
“Gianfranco Zola
la la la la
Gianfranco Zola
la la la la”
(I’m sorry it doesn’t provide much, but that’s all I can do from here. Do check the video for the tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZo2_hYeAU8)
Nick-names:
1) The Italian Maradona – Owning to his time spend with the Master Himself.
2) Marazola – Continuing from #1.
3) The Little Magician – Courtesy the magic he produced at the Bridge
4) Lola – Given the tune of his chant (mentioned above) is taken from the song named ‘Lola’, by ‘The Kinks’
A Class apart, with his still ball technique:
Zola was a master tactician with his clinical finishing and impeccable vision. But the most standout factor was him in the dead ball situation. Nearly one in every five of Zola’s goals for Chelsea was from a free kick. He scored 14 free kicks in all – 12 in the Premier League and 2 in Europe. And this is almost a third of all direct freekicks scored by the Blues up to the 11/12 season. His technique with the dead ball was something which we rarely come across in football wherein he could direct a ball to any corner of the net regardless of the initial position.
Take this stat below as an example:
Most memorable Goals:
1) Free Kick against Tottenham – 2003
Not only was it against bitter rivals Tottenham but this goal exemplifies his dead-ball genius.
2) Back heel against Norwich – 2003
I have already spoken so much about it, just go watch that surreal back heel volley, to the top corner.
3) Stuttgart – 1999
Finals of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup against Stuttgart, and within 21 seconds of his arrival, scores the winner.
4) Wonderful solo goal against Manchester United – 1997
A solo effort of the highest quality against Manchester United after beating two defenders.
5) Volley against Arsenal – 2002
Lovely control on the thigh, rounded off with a superb Jump Volley to the bottom corner.
Notable Mention: Rounding three defenders – final game for Chelsea, against Liverpool – 2003
This effort did not end up in the back of the net but it is rumoured that poor Jamie Carragher had to undergo a knee operation after Zola turned him inside out, twice!
Best Personal Zola Moment:
Most definitely, this picture:
Managerial Ways:
Zola hung up his boots after the 2005 season with Cagliari – but not before promoting them to Seria-A the season before, and scoring a brace against the “Old Lady of Turin” in his very last game for the club. After his glorious career on the field, Zola decided to spend some time on the touchline and went into football management. In 2006 he was appointed as assistant manager of Italy U21s alongside former Chelsea striker Pierluigi Casiraghi.
Zola was to come back to England and to the Premier League soon in 2008. He had a successful managerial spell at West Ham, replacing Alan Curbishley at the helm. Maybe, just maybe, there were some Chelsea fans who wouldn’t have minded Chelsea dropping points against the Hammers during that time, just so that we could all see that broad-mouthed grin. Regardless of that, he received a fitting reception when West Ham visited Stamford Bridge. It was like he had never left. We were all waiting for him to get rid of his managerial outfit, change into his blue #25 and rush onto the field, and we in turn, would stare open eyed and with gaping mouths for a moment of mystical brilliance from our Magician. Unfortunately and rather realistically, that never happened.
He also had a short stint with Watford till 2013, during which he guided the team to play-offs in the Championship only to eventually lose out to Crystal Palace. Many Chelsea fans and pundits have touted Zola as a possible future Chelsea manager, and let’s be honest – many of us have spent countless nights dreaming of that day. Maybe standing alongside Jose in the dugout, as the finishing coach, hell, even the goalkeeping coach, but just seeing the two working in tandem would be enough to send us to ga-ga land! But in reality it doesn’t really matter where the man is, he shall forever be in our hearts – the ever-smiling, free-scoring, club legend, Gianfranco Zola!
