For the first 45 minutes of the first pre-season game in America, the captain’s armband was worn by the Chelsea right-back Branislav Ivanvovic.
Serbian influence
It was ahead of the match against the New York Red Bulls that Branislav Ivanovic was informed he is the club’s new vice-captain. It is a role undertaken for many years by players who have been with the club for many years such as Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Petr Cech and even current one John Terry.
Still, this is defintely something that the Serbian has to get used to going forward as the understudy of the longtime English captain.
"I am doing what I was doing before, trying to do my best. I will try to do that in the future as well but basically not a lot of things change. John Terry is the real captain and leader and of course this helps me a lot because I am used to being that part of the team, and it is great. Anybody is proud to be the captain of their country and I hope we will have a good year," the Serbian stated, excited about the new season moving forward.
Moving Forward
He, along with Terry and Cesar Azpilicueta, played the full 90 minutes against Paris St-Germain at the weekend.
Kurt Zouma, Oscar and Azpilicueta again were those who started and completed the match against the Red Bulls as he looks forward to one more match against the defending Champions League champions Barcelona in the United States before going back to England to prepare for one more friendly against Fiorentina and then against Arsenal for the FA Community Shield at Wembley.
Jose Mourinho stated that he is ''not worried with tactical aspects, and I’m not worried with the result, but just worried about the possibility to play at a higher intensity and prepare ourselves for the Premier League.''