Not every footballer can be anointed as the best thing since sliced bread. But as far as praise goes, it is safe to say few footballers ever hope to hear themselves described as “not as bad as people think he is”.
Something along the lines of “criminally underrated” or “competently completes his duties with the minimum of fuss” would be marginally more preferable.
But unfortunately for Chelsea goalkeeper Henrique Hilario, those two latter descriptions are not quite accurate. The first one, all things considered, probably is.
Ahead of, during, and indeed even in the aftermath of yesterday’s 2-0 FA Cup victory against Stoke City, the goalkeeper was routinely described as “Chelsea’s weak link”, “a worry” and “a liability” by the various 'experts' asked to comment on the game.
All this despite seeing the 34-year-old keep a clean sheet — with only a few minor scares — against a team that constantly examines opposition goalkeepers with long balls into the box.
Yes, we get the fact that his surname lends itself to ridicule. You wonder whether, if Hilario had a different name — Kuszczak, for example, or even Cudicini — he wouldn’t get half the stick he does. Because there seems to be a genuine disparity between what he has done on the pitch and the response he has got off it.
Admittedly he was poor against Manchester City in the ignominous 4-2 defeat at the end of last month, particularly for Carlos Tevez’s first-half equaliser that changed the course of the game. But that goal cannot be blamed entirely on the goalkeeper — no matter how slow he was to get down to a mishit shot — when even assistant manager Ray Wilkins acknowledged there had been “five or six” mistakes from other Chelsea players in the build-up.
Nevertheless, it wasn't a reassuring display from the No. 40 — although few of his team-mates emerged from the game with any credit.
"Unfortunately things didn't go quite right for him last Saturday,” Wilkins admitted in the week after the game.
"Supporters nowadays will always have a pop at the errors and as a keeper you make a ricket and you've lost a goal.
“Hilario is experienced enough to come through it. He’s substituted for Petr [Cech] many times very well and it was just one of those games when it didn’t go as he wanted."
But in other areas, Hilario is actually entering something of an Indian summer in his professional career. He earned his first international cap last week, playing the second half of his country’s 2-0 win against China. He now looks set to go to the World Cup in South Africa as Portugal’s second choice shot-stopper.
Carlos Queiroz might not be blessed with a range of world-class ‘keepers, but clearly Hilario has been doing something right in recent times.
Indeed, it is hard to identify exactly what it is about him that has attracted such condemnation. The main criticism (other than his unfortunate name) seems to stem from his height. He’s officially listed at 6ft 2in on Chelsea’s official website, but that seems optimistic in the extreme when you see him lined up alongside some of his team-mates.
And even if that is accurate, he is still giving away three inches to Petr Cech — a huge difference in a position which seems, now more than ever, to covet prodigious elevation.
But goalkeeping is not all about height, with Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas being perhaps the ultimate example. Comparing Hilario to the Spanish No. 1 might be something of a stretch, but he does share some similarities.
Like Casillas, Hilario is a very good shot-stopper (in this respect he is genuinely — but not criminally — underrated), and yesterday he showed good athleticism to punch clear a number of throw-ins and corners despite his diminuitive stature.
Communication with his back-line has been a problem in recent games, causing a few worrying moments, but that shouldn't really be a great surprise. It cannot be easy for a goalkeeper, used to sitting on the bench week-in and week-out, to suddenly come into the team and command his box like he has never been away.
Nearly five months after recovering from a long-term injury, Joe Cole is still being excused for his poor performances, many keen to suggest he is still getting back to 'match fitness'. Hilario has gone weeks and months without ever actually playing — so if he is judged by the same rules it’s more than understandable that it is going to take some time to adjust when he is finally called into action.
He is not the same 'keeper as Petr Cech, who has developed a great understanding with his defenders only after years playing together, and will not always come for the same crosses as his team-mate. He shouldn’t be blamed if it takes a few games for him and what is (given the injures to Ashley Cole, Ricardo Carvalho, etc.) an unfamiliar Blues back-line to forge a solid appreciation of what to expect from one another.
The encouraging news for Chelsea fans is that it seems Hilario does not suffer under pressure. He may have been poor against Manchester City, but when he was called upon earlier in the season against Liverpool in a crucial game at Stamford Bridge he was exemplary, making a number of smart saves in an important 2-0 win.
There are further examples in his Chelsea career. His first game for the club was in a 1-0 win against FC Barcelona, and his Chelsea career has had many games like the one at Blackburn a few years ago — where he kept a clean sheet after 11 months without a competitive appearance.
That Manchester City aberration was only the second time he has been on the losing side in nearly 30 Chelsea starts.
It is his understated consistency which seems to have gained him the support and faith of his team-mates:
“Hilario has never let us down at all. He has been brilliant every time he has come in, whether it is for one game or a run of them,” Frank Lampard said recently.
"That is something we are not worried about. You have to have faith in him, and Ross Turnbull behind him, and we certainly have that."
Chelsea can still win every trophy they are going for with Hilario between the sticks — which is perhaps the single most important point. Petr Cech's injury, sustained in the first leg of the Champions League tie against Inter Milan (Hilario came on and kept a 30-minute clean sheet) is a blow, but his understudy can keep things ticking over until his return.
The Czech international's injury will probably keep him out of the second leg of the clash with Jose Mourinho (who brought Hilario to Stamford Bridge) but he should be back for the campaign's final run-in. In the meantime, the understudy will take all the advice and tips he can get from his team-mate.
“He is my friend and it has been an absolute pleasure to work every day with Petr,” Hilario told Chelsea’s official website last year.
“I feel proud that when I am playing, I have his support and it helps me a lot, not only when I am playing but because every single training we are together and we challenge ourselves.
“He is an absolutely fantastic goalkeeper and I learn a lot with him.”
The absence of Cech (who himself has had some wobbles this term), especially at such an important stage of the season, is an undeniable blow to Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea. But pundits and, by proxy, fans immediately identifying his understudy as a weak link in the side are guilty of making a lazy and inaccurate assessment.
His record and past performances for the Blues don't merit such a conclusion, not yet at least. Watch his next game with an open mind — chances are you will be surprised.
He's not as bad as people think he is.
