Victor Moses. A man brought in by Mourinho at Chelsea once upon a time and looked like a promising young player for the future of the Blues. But in Mourinho's "wisdom" he sent this great talent out on loan after loan after loan, because he did not feel he was good enough to be part of his Chelsea.
We all know how Mourinho's second-stint at Chelsea ended...
I feel that I have the ability to know if a player has that IT factor from the first moment that I see him. Take Quaresma for example who has never really made it, but ever since I saw him play, I knew this was no ordinary player and this guy had talent. Which is why it is such a shame that he never reached the heights that his great talent demanded.
Same goes for Moses and I feared that he'd have the same fate as Quaresma. As he kept getting loaned out, never being allowed to settle in a team it looked as if a really special player would fade away. And for Nigerians, it would be a really bad case of "What if?"
I am willing to bet what little cash I have plus a pancake made by yours truly (I'm an expert), that if Quaresma was given the right coach we would see a player probably surpass Cristiano as the talisman and go-to player in the Portuguese team.
Someoene who has the ability to do some of the outrageous things he has pulled off in games, definitely has the ability to be a world class superstar player. But the raw tools are not enough, you need guidance to refine them.
Moses had those raw tools and he the right coach who believed in his ability, and who could chip away at the rough edges.
That man came in the form of Antonio Conte.
From the start, Conte always wanted to bring his tactical setup that he used for Juventus and Italy, but perhaps he wanted to ease into English football and see if he could adapt. So he refrained from doing so, and wanted the players to operate in a system they felt more accustomed to.
Seeing how that ploy didn't work, he dove straight in and brought his philosophy to the team.
A crucial element to Conte's tactics are the flanks. You look at what Candreva and Giacherrini did at the Euros and the important work of Lichtsteiner and Asamoah.These are the players that you would say are the icing on a very carefully structured cake.
In Moses, Conte saw a player who was great dribbler, technically proficient, smart on the ball, but also had the stamina and determination to run up and down the flank. It's not easy finding all those elements in one player, but Moses had it, and Conte spotted it and entrusted his Nigerian trooper to do the good work.
And do the good work he did.
Moses has been without a doubt one of the best players in the Premiership so far, and is the main event in the new and improved Chelsea show that has been written by Antonio Conte. In every attack, Moses is involved in, and he always knows when to make the pass or to run with the ball, and also to get himself into space to create a chance.
His recent man-of-the-match awards are proof of his contributions to his team, and as a Nigerian, it feels me with so much joy that the world is waking up to a talent that I have known about for years.
Who knows how much more Moses can do or how important he can be to Chelsea this season. There will be times when he won't play well, or have a bad game. But what is for certain is this is a role that he's made his own, and when it doesn't work out for him in a match, based on his current good performances; he has the confidence to fall back into what he knows works.
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