Styles

Kakuta at this point looks like a mini Joe Cole; slow, weak, ineffectual and full of useless tricks. Ronaldo at 19 was an integral member of a Portuguese national team that reached the Euro 2004 final. Kakuta at the same age is barely getting Carling Cup minutes. Close control? Ronaldo was a great dribbler before he became the powerhouse that he is now. Kakuta has nothing on a 19 year old Ronaldo, absolutely nothing.

They were very loud, I had to turn the volume down! lol

Why because he 'won' a lot of freekicks? That doens't make him weak. Kakuta is 5'7 at 19. Ronaldo was about 6'0 and obviously weighed more.

Ronaldo was a significantly better dribbler, was taller, quicker and stronger than Kakuta at the same age.

I was advocating for his signing the summer before he came. If anybody remembers we were playing Bolton at home towards the end of the 06-07 season and Shevchenko was playing for us and Anelka was playing for Bolton. The disparity in terms of quality between the two strikers was embarrassing. Had we had Anelka that season we probably would have won the league for the 3rd time in a row.

Two very good games from Zhirkov (Villa and today) for what has been a promising start to the season for him. I thought Terry was superb with only Cech the other worthy contender for MOTM. A fairly easy nights work and thank god for no new injuries.

I like all our youngsters and hope/pray that they succeed with us. I sincerely wish Kakuta justified the insane hype that surrounds him but sadly I do not see it. I just want our supporters to be realistic because I know once he doesn't make it all of you will blame the club for not giving youngsters a chance etc. I thought Bruma was badly exposed against Newcastle. He looked very nervous, his positional sense wasn't good and lacked the strength needed to play against somebody like Ameobi. I think he would be better served playing at RB instead of CB, for now anyway,

I think Robben was just a better player had he played just 2 games or 90 games. He was doing things that Kakuta is simply incapable of doing. Kakuta won't get 90 games for Chelsea which you seem to imply is the magic threshold for one to improve. He'll be lucky to get another start anytime soon on the back of todays performence.

When Robben came to Chelsea he was about a million times better than Kakuta is now at the same age. Why do you keep mentioning Neymar? Not once have I mentioned him.

Pace - quite clearly doesn't have pace that can be labelled as an attribute. That much is obvious. Skill - is this the same type of useless skills that Joe Cole had? Those big windmill stepovers that were just embarrassingly bad? Vision - I'll agree with that one. Having the vision is one thing though however, making the pass is another.

Answer the question; what does he actually do or what attributes does he have that can be useful for Chelsea? I remember Robben at 19 would run past opponents like they weren't there. Mikel at 19 had immense strength and passing ability. Kakuta just doesn't do anything but is ridiculously hyped.

Of course but when a player does't have much to offer technically you look at their physical aspects. He has no speed or power. What does he actually have that's a useful attribute? Walcott is a god awful footballer but his pace is a real asset for instance.

Are you suggesting Kakuta is anywhere near as good as Messi?

Tough away game and we're a point better off than last seasons corresponding fixture. I thought Ivanovic was superb and showed why many prefer him to partner Terry ahead of Alex. I thought Kakuta was very disappointing. Too small, no real speed and don't see what all the hype is about. The team improved a lot once Zhirkov replaced him, why Zhirkov didn't start ahead of him was confusing.

Robben was clearly better than Duff and Cole despite being younger and coming from a weaker league. Mikel has played 170 odd games in a midfield that at one point included heavyweights like Makelele, Essien, Ballack, Lampard and Deco. They were both comfortably ahead of Kakuta in terms of talent to suggest otherwise is simply wrong. Kakuta at this moment in time is 50-50 and with his contract up in the air I'd suggest he is more liekly to leave then stay because he is doing nothing to make the club offer him the huge contract his agent is likely pushing for,

Kaka and Pato; two very good young footballers. That's why they got their chance under Ancelotti. Chelsea will only play the best youngsters like Robben and Mikel. The club just hasn't been lucky enough to find young players as good as those two were. I do think McEachran has a chance. I see a level of technique and calmness in his play that I haven't seen in many young players.

Robben was world class at 19 and Mikel was very, very impressive. Kakuta hasn't struck me in the same way they have. We can also judge Gael on the fact he doesn't get much playing time. Obviously he is deemed not good enough to get those minutes. People act as if we have a world class teenager at the club. Surely he would get minutes without having to have a serious injury crisis? Just reading the reactions in this thread people want the club to throw a huge contract at him to make him stay. What has he done to deserve that? Thousands don't fulfill their potential and there is no guarantee Kakuta will.

I've seen him play a fair few times for the youth, reserves, senior team and his country. He is a good young player, better than the average infact. But I don't think he is a special young talent like Mikel and Robben were at the same age, the last two youngsters who have forced their way into becoming big players for the club.

Big test for Kakuta to prove he is at the very least an option against Premier League teams in games that matter. If he doesn't perform to a decent level I'm sure he will not get another chance in games that matter unless we have a real injury crisis. Since we're already out of the Carling Cup he needs to impress if he wants minutes.

I don't get the fuss about Kakuta and his contract. He's a good young player but nothing more than that. Why should the club bend over backwards for him when he hasn't proved anything? He isn't the best youngster we've had at the club. Mikel at 19 was real potential, he was light years ahead of Kakuta at the same age. If it weren't for injuries to Drogba, Lampard, Kalou and Benayoun then Kakuta wouldn't probably even be in the match day squad. He hasn't forced his way into the team because he most likely isn't good enough to. He is the beneficiary of injuries at this moment in time, not a world class youngster who deserves to start games. If he goes so what? He has done nothing and his potential is overstated. Robben at 20 was a world beater but people will have you believe Kakuta is just as good and it's laughable.

He is potentially a very good player but how soon will he settle down? He did fairly well yesterday and had a lot of very good moments. But sadly there were moments were he was simply outmuscled or his passing was way off. I think once he gets to grips with the league and style of refereeing we could have a very good player on our hands. Mikel and Ramires are both 23, they are likely to be here for the next 6-8 years. Essien is only 27. Great stuff.

I think Ballack's son was also playing in the same age group as Didiers son. Under 10s I think it was. Let's hope Ballack moves back to London when he retires. Imagine that; Didier, Malouda and Ballack's sons all playing for Chelsea. A wild dream but just imagine!

This is easily the worst wind up routine on the internet. Give it a rest mate. :mellow:

Sad news.

I've heard Lucho Gonzales is not in the squad? Great news because he is a good player.