Cahill’s happy to f ight it out
EXCLUSIVE GARY CAHILL is a fighter. He has spent his entire footballing life trying to prove himself, claw his way into teams, prove the doubters wrong yet again.
Even when Cahill joined Chelsea at the age of 26 from Bolton for a paltry £7million in January 2012, he assumed he was only signing as a back-up player and that he would have to battle his way into a starstudded team that included John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, David Luiz and Alex.
He was right – his first appearance did not come until February. But then he stayed.
Yet here we are, six and a half years and six major trophies later, including two league titles, a Champions League, a Europa League, an FA Cup, a League Cup, 58 England caps, five of them as captain – and he is still fighting.
As Chelsea’s troubled season comes to a head with them still scrapping for a top-four place against Liverpool tomorrow, and an FA Cup final against Manchester United to look forward to, he has already won one battle, but faces yet another.
Cahill is not the sort to charge down the manager’s door in a rage and demand a move when he is dropped. But he does not like it.
When Chelsea manager Antonio Conte left him out for several big games recently, including the Champions League clashes with Barcelona, he took it on the chin and fought his way back. Now his England place for the World Cup is in real jeopardy. “It’s tough to be left out,” he said. “At Chelsea, I have probably played 90 per cent of the time. It’s not something I handle very well.
“But I’ve been back in for the last eight games and we’ve had seven wins and a draw.
“I am a strong character, but of course you get annoyed. My team-mates don’t see it, but deep down I find it tough to sit there and not influence big games.
“I don’t show it to anyone. Maybe my wife – she’s happy I’m back in.
“It always seems to be that when someone is signed it’s, ‘Cahill’s on his way’. I’ve had that for as long as I can remember. Yet last year, John Terry win the Champions League you must have more luck. You have to be good to deserve it, but at the same time you have to be lucky.
“In the league, usually the team who deserve to win it, win it. Luck is important in every competition, but when was captain off the pitch but I was captain the majority of the time on it. I’m hearing, ‘Cahill might be fighting for his place’, yet we smashed records last year. It annoys me. “Maybe it’s the way my career has gone. You always try to prove yourself. The majority of Chelsea fans have been unbelievable, but there is maybe five per cent always thinking, ‘Get the next best thing in’. I feel that. “But then I came to the club for £7m. I can remember you play 38 games you show you are the best.
“In a little tournament like the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Champions League or Europa League, sometimes one decision can move your future.” But Klopp believes how determined I was. I’m sure the club bought me to be a squad player then. At £7m, you didn’t have to be a brain surgeon to realise that.
“But if I retire tomorrow I’d be proud of what I’ve done here. Players go for £30m and don’t make the level. Whether you like me or not as a player, you can’t say that’s not success.”
The saving grace for Cahill from a disappointing season, which is likely to see Conte depart, would be winning the cup. He has a point to prove. When Chelsea won the trophy in 2012, although he picked up a medal, he had a hamstring injury for the final, so “it is one I’d like to win on the pitch”.
Cahill added: “I was really disappointed last season when we lost the final to Arsenal. It was one we let slip away.”
And for Cahill, winning the FA Cup would be better than finishing fourth. “I’m in the winning trophies camp,” he said. “I know it is vitally important for the club to be in the Champions League, but a trophy is a trophy.”
So can he force his way back into Gareth Southgate’s team for Russia this summer, after being left out for the past two squads?
“I was disappointed,” he said. “I have been involved for so long, played in the majority of qualifying games. At the time of the friendlies, I was not playing for Chelsea, but now I am. All I can do is play well.”
And tomorrow it is Liverpool and the incredible Mo Salah, 43 goals this season, let go by Chelsea in 2015 after just 13 appearances. “Mo has the same attributes I saw, but now bundles of confidence, which is a huge thing,” he said. ●GARY CAHILL was speaking at the launch of the new sensory room at Stamford Bridge, designed for families with children with additional sensory needs to experience on non-match days as well as during a game. playing in the biggest final in world club football is a more exciting position to be in than that of City, who they beat in the quarter-final.
“There are a lot of teams in world football where their season is already done,” said Klopp, who is also seeking to make it successive top-four finishes for Liverpool for the first time since 2009. “City are champions and still play football chasing records, but they have these long weeks now with training, recovery and always being fresh.
“But I wouldn’t change it at the moment – we’re going to Kiev.”