Higuaín insists his loan at Chelsea was not a complete waste of everyone’s time

As those rather amusing “Just OK” ads from AT&T tell us, just okay is not okay. Gonzalo Higuaín, on the other hand, is more of a Cricket Wireless man. (I realize these mobile phone carrier references are rather USA-specific, but it’s what I know.)

Just okay, is quite okay for him, at least when it comes to his six months in the SW6.

“I could have done better. But I think what I did is not bad and then we managed to win the Europa League and reached the Champions League, so they were good results. People expected more from me, but I think the goals were fine in that short time.”

Higuaín played a grand total of 24 scoreless minutes in Chelsea’s Europa League-winning run and scored 3 of his 5 Premier League goals against two teams relegated at the end of the season, Huddersfield Town (2 goals in a 5-0 win) and Fulham (the opening goal in a 2-1 win). He also scored the third goal in a 3-0 win over Watford on the penultimate matchday and the second goal in a disappointing 2-2 draw against Burnley.

Just okay, indeed.

“If you are a good player then people expect everything from you. But sometimes people don’t take into account that you are coming from a different league, from the Italian one that is completely different, to the Premier League. People don’t consider the fact that I played there for only a few months.”

Or sometimes people take those factors into account but also look at the larger context of the situation. Then again, I suppose it worked out just okay for both Higuaín and the man who vouched for him, Maurizio Sarri.

“Yes, I understand that they expected more from me and I appreciate that because that means that they relied on me. I also know that people have good expectations from the best players. I always welcome criticism, provided that it is constructive and not destructive. I just want to say that I had the chance to play in one of the best leagues in the world.”

-Gonzalo Higuaín; source: Telegraph

In fairness, it was a better loan than Falcao’s or Pato’s.

It was, you guessed it, just okay.

P.S.: In a lovely bit of coincidence, Higuaín also has 5 goals so far this season in Serie A, in about just as many minutes as he played in the Premier League last season (1047 vs. 1092). How do you say “just okay” in Italian?