themightyblue

He won't ever be world class, but as he's proved again today he's a good LB. It's hard to perform well when being played out of position constantly, and being taken in and out of the side. Good performance

I would say that's the teams fault though. If the players choose to keep on smashing it forward then there's nothing he can do. He can only give instructions and i'm sure he couldn't account for Chalobah, Vydra and Adbi being so off form. Going a bit off-topic though

Not really Zola's fault. Lack of movement from the Watford players, Chalobah, Vydra and Abdi off their game. Can't blame him for this

Just not his day

Yes, because that's what I said.........

Laughable. So after criticising him after a poor half 'I don't rate him'? Commentator even said it just now, he's had a quiet game. Honestly we might as well just gloss over everything and praise him even when not playing well...... Has he lost the ball a few times? Yes Has he lost it in dangerous areas? Yes Has his passing been up to usual standards? No He's now starting to pick things up.

You really do overrate him..... All of Watford's good play has come from Battocchio and Deeney, Chalobah hasn't been able to impose himself in the game. His only good bit of play was the nutmeg on Bellamy, but then he lost the ball straight after. He's lost the ball quite a few times and gave away that freekick trying to be smart in a dangerous area. Most midfielder's look to make things happen when they're on the ball, doesn't mean they've been successful at doing so. Just been off-form so far, nothing wrong with that. Lets hope he picks it up this half

Bad performance so far. The game has just passed him by.....

Because it'll just be a waste of his talent when he quite clearly flourishes most in the centre. We're already having this problem with Oscar. De Bruyne will see a lack of game time in his position because we already have Mata there and his defensive contribution isn't good enough for the pivot. It'll be better for us long-term if he can play regularly at a competitive club in his favoured position so that we can get the best out of him in future Schurrle plays Left, Right, Striker and just behind the CF. Just as versatile, while actually filling a need in our squad which is the 3rd choice striker position

I'm all for this personally. Next year will be an important one for KDB as it's world cup year and so getting game time week in week out will be essential for him, and it'll help his development rather than being behind Mata and possibly Oscar in the pecking order. With Marin's injury problems and the fact that there's a chance he might leave in summer we need a direct option for the wing who's capable of providing goals. As has been mentioned earlier in the thread Schurrle is also good for the fact that he can become our third choice striker, rather than getting an out and out striker who won't see much gametime and probably become unhappy. It just makes sense really. If things go to plan, we can fill a gap in our squad while KDB continues to develop and then goes to the world cup with Belgium and has a stormer and comes back to us an even better player. Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle and Moses are good, well-balanced options for me

So KDB's agent says that Chelsea have told him he's good enough, but it'll be down to the next manager. A newspaper says we might offer 12m-15m euros plus Kdb for Schurrle a few days later. It's a non-story for me

Thought he was excellent tonight

Lets see how he does on pre-season with the rest of squad and then judge. However, as has been pointed out the gap between the Championship and playing for Chelsea in the Premier League and Europe is huge. If he comes here he won't play week in week out, but could be a massive asset to the squad. Whereas if he goes on loan he'll develop further playing every game and come back even better and maybe just as good as Mikel, Ramires, Romeu etc with a PL season under his belt. Big dilemma.

Well he does all of that apart from assist often. Some may not be a fan, but lets not underrate him for the sake of it

It all depends on how he continues to develop. If carries on as he is, then eventually he's going to stake a claim for a first team spot. He's also 2/3 years younger than Mceachran. Too early to write him off, especially given his rapid progress this season

Well firstly Ramires was playing centrally this season against Spurs which is the game I'm referring too. It's also funny how you criticise someone for being 'simplistic' in this post and then say all Ramires did was 'run around'. But anyway the point of those examples is too show how those players have performed in the big games against the best teams after you only highlighted there bad games saying that Chalobah might make a difference. I can guarantee you Chalobah wouldn't have put in some of the performances we've seen Mikel and Ramires put in against the best teams in Europe (which isn't a bad thing considering how young he is), but you seem to have this highly optimistic view that he's better or not far behind despite the different levels that they're playing at and difference in quality.

I haven't compared their ability whatsoever. But you made a point of saying how they've disappeared against big team, but every player in the world does that. Ronaldo was an example as was Schweinsteiger. Does it mean that they should get rid of Ronaldo and play Callejon instead? No, because at the same time he's proven his worth against the big teams too like Mikel and especially Ramires. You've just pointed out what i'm trying to say. Mikel possess the long range passing etc of Chalobah, in fact there very similar player barring the fact that Chalobah is probably more agile. The difference? Mikel has had to play in the PL, CL etc and try and show his ability at that level. Chalobah has been able to show it at championship level where their is a massive gulf in class. Completely different ball game. Mikel looked like Xavi while playing for Nigeria, but the pressure and quality at Chelsea is different. He could indeed be a very good player, but it's statements like he's just as good as Mikel/Ramires or he'll play ahead of this player next season which I think are just wrong. Plenty of players fail to make the step up to our level despite looking like world beaters playing in a different league. It's easy to highlight only their bad games. Could just as easily say we'd certainly notice the difference when he's not showing the defensive solidity that Mikel did against Bayern, or the engine and ball-winning qualities of Ramires against United, Arsenal, Spurs, Barca, Valencia

Completely agree

Huge difference in quality and pressure once again. And i'm not saying he can't, it's just far too early to be making a judgement considering he's only played 1 full season in competitive football. The expectation on some of our youngsters is often why we as fans are left disappointed. We have to see what Chalobah can do playing against the very best before saying he's better than 'so and so' as ultimately the level of quality they are playing against is on a completely different scale

Every player in the world does that. Ronaldo did that against Barca on numerous times. Where was Schweinsteiger in the CL final? Where was Van Persie in both legs against Madrid? The fact is they may have bad games from time to time, but every player does. There contribution playing against some of Europe's best and the PL's best has been immense and is why they've been handed new contracts. I don't think you realise the difference in quality between the Championship and Premiership. Put Mikel in the Championship and he'd look outstanding (Just like he did at the AFCON) same with Ramires. Obviously it's your opinion, but I do think you overrate Chalobah a bit. Undoubtedly talented, but he's got a long way to go

Another difference being that those players have performed against the best players in the world, have played a big part in winning trophies for us and are currently better players.

But then Chalobah also makes mistakes in that position, and we'll probably sign a new CM too.

Yeah which is why I said we should see how he does in Pre-season before passing judgement on who he's should replace or displace in our team. Could be like Wilshere who fitted instantly, or Cleverley who needed a few more loans

It's something i've picked up on whenever I gone to watch him (Watford happens to be my local club luckily) and a few Watford accounts on twitter say something similar. It's not because he's lazy or anything, but he just dawdles on the ball from time to time. It's led to Watford being placed under unnecessary pressure judging from some of the match reports/reviews. If he's going to play DM then the fact that he's to casual on the ball is a problem. I don't have any doubts that Chalobah will be a star here, all i'm saying is that it should be remembered that he's 18and next season will likely be his first one in the PL (whether it's with us or not). Saying he's already better than this player, or he'll replace this player is far too premature, he has a long way to go before making it at Chelsea. Looking good in the Championship is completely different to performing in a Chelsea team competing in the CL, PL etc

We'll probably be left with Ramires, Mikel and Romeu (assuming Frank leaves). If we stick with the 4231 then we'll need 5/6 players for those positions. The jump from the Championship to the Premier League is a massive one in terms of quality and the pace of the game and so those assuming that Chalobah can just make it into our first team squad and start are getting ahead of themselves. He already does have problems of being too casual on the ball at times and in Premiership he'll get punished for that, like we've seen with Mikel countless amount of times. Best thing is just to wait until pre-season and see how he performs with the rest of the squad and if he is in fact ready to start ahead of Mikel, Ramires, Romeu as well as a possible new CM signing