Official Chelsea FC Thread

[Ted Lasso]

1. He is tired of Luiz and will sell him to Barca

That, he should do. Luiz is not a Mourinho player. He is a world class centre back who is not actually a world class defender, if that makes sense. Sell him to whichever possession obsessed team is willing to pay for him.

[treiz]

There are some crazy rumors going on with Chelsea now.

1. He is tired of Luiz and will sell him to Barca

2. That we are in for Falcao next summer

Highly doubt both of these.

These 2 'rumours' will be a running theme for years to come.

1. He is tired of Luiz and will sell him to Barca

That, he should do. Luiz is not a Mourinho player. He is a world class centre back who is not actually a world class defender, if that makes sense. Sell him to whichever possession obsessed team is willing to pay for him.

I understand what you mean in terms of he's not world class defensively but I disagree since last year he was our best defender and it wasn't even close. I don't understand when people say he's not a 'Mourinho' player because he really is.

Luiz in terms of talent and ability is actually a near comparison to prime JT, he's strong in the air, good on the ball on his feet and more talented than JT at that, can deliver a pass with great range (again better than JT), he's more aggressive than Terry, very strong in the tackle and pacey for a CB. His main problem is his concentration as well as defensive awareness, he doesn't have JT's tactical nouse but his physical attributes are up there with him if not better.

Ramos at RM and Lucio at Inter were also pretty similar, he is a Mourinho player

[5DOM]

He's a big game player who has a concentration problem in smaller matches. He rarely makes mistakes in cup competitions and NT matches. For Brazil, he's usually a rock with or without Thiago Silva. But then that's true for most Brazilians. They up their play when they play for Brazil.

[Ted Lasso]

He's not a Mourinho player because he cannot defend deep consistently. He is nothing like John Terry. He is more of a 6'3'' Mascherano. Not that that's a great comparison either.

Also, he makes plenty of errors in big games. Watch the Champions League final to see how many times Ashley Cole alone had to cover for him. Iirc, he actually yelled at Luiz at some point in the second half.

He makes two types of errors; positional ones when he has to withstand pressure and possession-related ones when he mocks around overconfidently with the ball. But he is good at one on ones defensively, he is fast, and he is very skilled so people think he is a world class defender.

He would be much better off on a team where his skills on the ball are more vital and he can defend much higher.

[5DOM]

He's not a Mourinho player because he cannot defend deep consistently. He is nothing like John Terry. He is more of a 6'3'' Mascherano. Not that that's a great comparison either.

Also, he makes plenty of errors in big games. Watch the Champions League final to see how many times Ashley Cole alone had to cover for him. Iirc, he actually yelled at Luiz at some point in the second half.

He makes two types of errors; positional ones when he has to withstand pressure and possession-related ones when he mocks around overconfidently with the ball. But he is good at one on ones defensively, he is fast, and he is very skilled so people think he is a world class defender.

He would be much better off on a team where his skills on the ball are more vital and he can defend much higher.

Yelling at another defender is perfectly normal and Cole's been doing that to everyone for years including the likes of JT and Cech. Both Luiz and Cahill were fantastic in that Final considering they had just come back from injuries with almost no time for training to face a far superior team. The only really bad mistake I can remember from Luiz is overcommitting and fouling Muller near the box which thankfully led to Gomez blasting one into row z following Bayern advantage. One could say he could have done better on the Muller goal, but I think Cole and Cech should have done better. Bayern dominated the match and had a lot of shots, but there weren't many clear-cut chances for them either, which is all you can ask for from your defence.

Luiz has already won the CL, Confed Cup and FA Cup, and he was pivotal in many matches, so I'd say he's been top class among the current crop of CB's which is mediocre at best.

And no, I don't think he would be much better in a team that plays high defensive line. He's actually not that fast, and his inconsistent concentration level would be even more exposed which is why Mourinho doesn't believe he should be playing DM in the first place. Of course there's also the matter of AVB trying the high defensive line and failing miserably. It wasn't just JT's loss of pace. Ivanovic and Luiz while better suited for it didn't do much better either.

That said, I think he might go if we can get this Mangala kid who keeps getting linked to Mourinho.

[Slava]

I'd take Luiz in a second on United as a box to box midfielder. I just wouldn't trust him in defense. He's got the same cockiness and attention span of a prime Rio Ferdinand without the same ability. Put him further forward and he's a beast. Benitez used him pretty well imo.

[treiz]

He's not a Mourinho player because he cannot defend deep consistently. He is nothing like John Terry. He is more of a 6'3'' Mascherano. Not that that's a great comparison either.

Also, he makes plenty of errors in big games. Watch the Champions League final to see how many times Ashley Cole alone had to cover for him. Iirc, he actually yelled at Luiz at some point in the second half.

He makes two types of errors; positional ones when he has to withstand pressure and possession-related ones when he mocks around overconfidently with the ball. But he is good at one on ones defensively, he is fast, and he is very skilled so people think he is a world class defender.

He would be much better off on a team where his skills on the ball are more vital and he can defend much higher.

Like I said it's in terms of ability and talent, anything JT can do as a physical and technical attribute Luiz can do and some he can do much better. He does whatever Mourinho wants from a CB based on talent, he's always had these players, Carvalho-Terry-Lucio-Ramos-Varane these are guys with around the same physical and technical attributes and Mourinho has always wanted these attributes from his defenders. Again, talent wise.

He's actually a really good player in the big games, he doesn't make that many errors in big games surprisingly, he does get really complacent a lot of the time. I did watch that game I still have it recorded on my TV, like 5DOM said Cole yells A LOT on any given game, that's his nature, he'll yell even if he's complimenting the guy and I do remember that, that was the only mistake Luiz made that whole game.

That game was a prime example, despite them dominating the game the only good chance they could muster was the Robben chance at which Cech saved with his feet and the Gomez miss, other than that despite having the ball for 85 minutes they couldn't challenge Cech (not even from the penalty spot), that's all you can ask for a defence that was under pressure for the entire game plus extra time. Him and Cahill were put through the test that game not just because they came back from injury but they were always busy and they were magnificent.

What you described was two errors defenders can make in general, every defender has been guilty of that. Heck one of my criticism of Cahill is that he's really slow to react but has good recovery, which is why he has plenty of these last minute tackles in his portfolio and most of the time he gets beat on the dribble are ones he could've easily prevented if he was either more aggressive or can diagnose a play quicker, but to his credit he's been really good for us this year. That could be seen as positional errors, also he is a bit cocky and arrogant but I think most teams game plan against Chelsea is not let that midfield have the ball, so he's forced to come out of the back and sometimes ping the ball, it's what to every big team does. Look at United when they had Rio, Barcelona with Pique, RM with Ramos, Hummels with BVB etc

He's actually not that fast, he's got good recovery speed but not great. He'd be terrible at a high line, he's good as long as he has someone covering him. Basically win the ball around the midfield area and initiate attacks quickly, that's why he's so valuable to us. When the opponent has the ball he's so strong and agile that he'll win the ball around the midfield and that exploits the opponent as they don't have the numbers to defend

[J-Mezzy]

So what was up with Mou being at the Colombia-Belgium game? Was he just watching the handful of Belgium players we have or is he actually scouting for more talent from either team?

[5DOM]

So what was up with Mou being at the Colombia-Belgium game? Was he just watching the handful of Belgium players we have or is he actually scouting for more talent from either team?

You've got to ask him

[BelgianMagic]

So what was up with Mou being at the Colombia-Belgium game? Was he just watching the handful of Belgium players we have or is he actually scouting for more talent from either team?

I wouldn't be surprised if he was there to watch Falcao & probably Martinez. He sat next to Luciano D'Onofrio ("behind-the-scenes Belgian football agent) who has lotta connections in Portugal & France. Press was also speculating bout a posibble €70mil offer for Falcao in January.

I think KDB's time in Chelsea is over btw. Belgian TV had a quick interview with Mou, said it was a great game and he enjoyed it, but when the reporter asked about KDB's performance he didn't even answer and rushed himself to his car .. Not the first time he storms out of an interview after that exact same question

Our NT Coach is apparently gonna talk to Schalke bout a possible KDB loan. It's our coach's former club and they already wanted KDB in the summer, so wouldn't surprise me if he'd end up there ..

[bbms]

I love Kevin De Bruyne's potential. Not following him recently, but I saw some world class football by him for Belgium last year, outplaying Hazard(not saying he's better than Hazard). But yes, Chelsea is loaded and he should seek a move. I'd love to see him playing in the Bundesliga again, hopefully defending Dortmund or Schalke.

[rosemasw]

what a miserable performance today. it is unacceptable to lose twice to FC Basel. Mata in.

[5DOM]

No need to panic. What was essentially the same lineup produced the most convincing win of the season just 3 days ago. **** happens, but this time at least we are quite easily through. I just wish we rotated today. That was something like Oscar's 110th appearance in last 17 months. Insane...

[BelgianMagic]

Did Hazard come off the bench? I followed the game on Belgian radio and didn't hear his name once in the first half .. Was he that bad or did he come off the bench?

[5DOM]

He came off the bench, and was the only one creating chances for rest of the game. Oscar's probably been our best overall player this season, but Hazard offensively is just on a different level. Incredible talent

[5DOM]

So yeah... we probably won't win anything big this season, but the 6 players out on loan at Vitesse could win the Eredivise. 3 are key players (with Piazon being one of the best players in the league), 1 is an impact sub, and 2 barely play, but the rumour is we could send even more youngsters there because Vitesee can't afford transfers. Bamford and Feruz are probably are probably the best bets

[Navas]

Am I the only one who was apprehensive about Mourinho coming back? Or at the very least taking some time off?

If there's anything that's back, it the old profligacy at the goal, which has been common for Chelsea.

[CUKBYE]

We're sitting second in the league, something like 2 goals behind on difference, and we've been playing very poorly, getting super lucky. We have a chance to go down to the library this Tuesday and take the league lead, even though Liverpool are probably going to win, and by a few goals, being 1st equal in the league is a good thing. If we can hit our straps, control games and kill teams off or at least defend effectively, we could win the league, the FA Cup AND the champions league. I'm optimistic and excited.

[5DOM]

Am I the only one who was apprehensive about Mourinho coming back? Or at the very least taking some time off?

If there's anything that's back, it the old profligacy at the goal, which has been common for Chelsea.

I had always wanted Mourinho back, and nothing that's happened so far has changed that opinion. There's not been any significant improvement in performance, but the games against Norwich, Cardiff and Southampton convinced me that we made the right choice in bringing him back. It's refreshing to see someone willing to take risks when things aren't going well - no more Azpi for Ivanovic subs when down a goal. We are also doing relatively well in both the PL and CL, and this is with strikers who miss sitters like it's their job. We probably should have spent the Willian money on a striker, but Willian looks really good. Set piece defending could use major improvement though. I think we'll realistically start challenging next season when the striker and CM positions are addressed.

[Navas]

Am I the only one who was apprehensive about Mourinho coming back? Or at the very least taking some time off?

If there's anything that's back, it the old profligacy at the goal, which has been common for Chelsea.

I had always wanted Mourinho back, and nothing that's happened so far has changed that opinion. There's not been any significant improvement in performance, but the games against Norwich, Cardiff and Southampton convinced me that we made the right choice in bringing him back. It's refreshing to see someone willing to take risks when things aren't going well - no more Azpi for Ivanovic subs when down a goal. We are also doing relatively well in both the PL and CL, and this is with strikers who miss sitters like it's their job. We probably should have spent the Willian money on a striker, but Willian looks really good. Set piece defending could use major improvement though. I think we'll realistically start challenging next season when the striker and CM positions are addressed.

For Mourinho, I understand wanting him back, but it's like getting back with an ex. Doesn't usually work out too well.

As for Azpi for Ivan, it's Rafa.