Gary Cahill

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Remember when he first joined people were comparing him to Terry in his prime?

Even now Terry is much better.

While that is true, a lot of people were also saying, from the start, that he's an above average defender, but nothing more. Some are saying that the criticism of him is knee-jerk or an overreaction, but that's simply not true. Even during last season, there were plenty of people, even on here like The Skipper, Robguima, myself...etc. who always maintained that, yes, he's having a magnificent season and has deserved his place in the start XI, but he will always be a limited player and moving forward, quality wise, he should not be more than an excellent squad player at this level.

[Barbara 15,149]

He needs to be dropped ASAP because unfortunately he became a walking liability.

Will we wait until he really compromises a result to admit that? He was terrible today, should have been sent off twice - and I'll be honest, I said on my Twitter feed (because I had problems accessing the forum today during the match) that I wish he was sent off when he received the yellow (come on, that was a straight red any day of the week). If he gets a straight red with a tackle like that, he misses 5 matches in a row and sorry if I think that would be an early Christmas gift.

I don't remember exactly the context, but in addition to the stupid dive and the terrible tackle, when the game was still 1x0 early in the match, he almost created the best chance for Hull in the entire match. I wish I could recollect exactly what he's done, but it was ridiculous. Then later on he misplaced a pass and that it almost gave them yet another attack chance. The only reason we didn't concede was because Hull sucks big balls.

And people saying the old 'knee jerk' reaction or even using the stupid argument that we've been winning, should wake up. So far we've been lucky that his mistakes - which happen religiously EVERY FRIGGING MATCH didn't cost us anything (except you know, three points against Newcastle and most of the goals we've conceded in the last two months). Just because others - normally JT, Azpi or Courtois - fix his messes or the opponents players don't capitalize the gifts he keeps giving, it doesn't mean he hasn't been a liability. Come on, it's as clear as light.

Zouma isn't anywhere near the end product, he isn't that great (yet), but he's definitely in better form than Cahill and I wish he was sent off today. We would have won the match anyway despite looking terrible (we're lucky Hull's routine is looking even worse than we did for once).

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

I love Cahill, but after witnessing yesterday game, I agree he should be replaced by Ivan or Zouma. Just to send the right message, if you're playing not good, your place is not secure anymore. Jose did that to Schurrle, I don“t see a reason why he couldn't do it to Cahill.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

What is this bullshit everyone wants Cahill off all suddenly?

Yes he isnt world class CB, he never was and currently in not best form, but he always put good performance when needed.

Also Zouma in better form after two games and better CB? I like the kid, think he will be top defender eventualy, but right now how can people say he is in superb form after two games? When he will play 5 consecutive games and against top opponents for whole 90mins, I will make judgement how good he is already and in what form he is...but not after 2 games ffs. He showed glimpses, but that is with every young player when given chance. Im all for giving Zouma chance now that Cahill isnt in best shape, but to say that Zouma is in better form is ridiculous. Everyone is jumping on Zouma bandwagon after Cahill mistakes, but when Zouma gets run of games, he could make plenty of mistakes and that wont be good for development. Put him slowly in games and eventualy he will break through. Varane needed one season too to get ahead of Pepe who was shit back then, but then got better. Cahill can still make improvement, there is reason why Mou plays him for two seasons...

Anyway, Im glad Mou makes these decisions and not some people here who repeat themselves like broken record due to their personal disliking of Cahill, just waiting him to make mistake, so that they can write how right they were...

[dkim2 73]

Anyone with right mind knows Cahill is a huge liability of Chelsea team and is arguably one of the worse defenders Chelsea had in last decades. Only thing makes him sticking to our lineup is him being English. He was great last season when we played defensive minded football. We set low blocks so opposition forwards do not have space to run into Mr. Backpedal Cahill but at the same time it greatly hindered our ability to break down parked buses. Mr. Backpedaling Cahill doesn't suit the high defensive line we now play due to his lack of athleticism and composure on ball. He is okay squad player but should not be a starting XI week in and week out. Zouma is still raw, but at least he has supreme athleticism and much better 1 on 1 defense compared to Cahill.

[iseah100 5,612]

Let him rest till the end of the year and rotate Zouma-Christensen )

[Stats 7,056]

What is this bullshit everyone wants Cahill off all suddenly?

Yes he isnt world class CB, he never was and currently in not best form, but he always put good performance when needed.

Also Zouma in better form after two games and better CB? I like the kid, think he will be top defender eventualy, but right now how can people say he is in superb form after two games? When he will play 5 consecutive games and against top opponents for whole 90mins, I will make judgement how good he is already and in what form he is...but not after 2 games ffs. He showed glimpses, but that is with every young player when given chance. Im all for giving Zouma chance now that Cahill isnt in best shape, but to say that Zouma is in better form is ridiculous. Everyone is jumping on Zouma bandwagon after Cahill mistakes, but when Zouma gets run of games, he could make plenty of mistakes and that wont be good for development. Put him slowly in games and eventualy he will break through. Varane needed one season too to get ahead of Pepe who was shit back then, but then got better. Cahill can still make improvement, there is reason why Mou plays him for two seasons...

Anyway, Im glad Mou makes these decisions and not some people here who repeat themselves like broken record due to their personal disliking of Cahill, just waiting him to make mistake, so that they can write how right they were...

Like I was saying before, if Cahill was half as bad as people were making out, Mourinho would have dropped him. It is as simple as that. Mourinho would not be frightened to play Ivanovic or Zouma at the back if he thought Cahill was a liability. Ivanovic has had many solid games for us in that position so it is not as if he is not trusted. Cahill makes errors, I accept that but the level people are making it sound at is as if he is doing Kolo Toure-esque mistakes. People will hunt down any error he makes but ignore the positives. He did one bad challenge which was the fault of our DM for being sloppy in possession but apart from that he literally won neaely every single tussle he had whether that was in the air or on foot.

But your last sentence, couldn't agree any more.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

What is this bullshit everyone wants Cahill off all suddenly?

Yes he isnt world class CB, he never was and currently in not best form, but he always put good performance when needed.

Also Zouma in better form after two games and better CB? I like the kid, think he will be top defender eventualy, but right now how can people say he is in superb form after two games? When he will play 5 consecutive games and against top opponents for whole 90mins, I will make judgement how good he is already and in what form he is...but not after 2 games ffs. He showed glimpses, but that is with every young player when given chance. Im all for giving Zouma chance now that Cahill isnt in best shape, but to say that Zouma is in better form is ridiculous. Everyone is jumping on Zouma bandwagon after Cahill mistakes, but when Zouma gets run of games, he could make plenty of mistakes and that wont be good for development. Put him slowly in games and eventualy he will break through. Varane needed one season too to get ahead of Pepe who was shit back then, but then got better. Cahill can still make improvement, there is reason why Mou plays him for two seasons...

Anyway, Im glad Mou makes these decisions and not some people here who repeat themselves like broken record due to their personal disliking of Cahill, just waiting him to make mistake, so that they can write how right they were...

No genuine Chelsea fan wants Cahill to fail and make mistakes. The fact is his performances are poor and certainly not up to the standard he was consistently reaching last year. That is a concern for me.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Don't know why people are that surprised, always said last season that the system fully suited Cahill hence why he shone, but now we're a bit more adventurous - don't be too surprised to see him struggling as he doesn't have that maximum protection anymore. I still maintain he shouldn't be a starter for us, rather a very solid 3rd choice CB but unfortunately due to the dearth of CB talent out there at the moment, it's difficult to find a worthy replacement.

[Madmax 9,219]

People talk about Zouma being poor on the ball but what about Cahill? He is absolutely SHOCKING with the ball and is one of the worst around.

Wait, three touches to get it out of your feet isn't normal for world class players?

[Jase 43,479]

Don't know why people are that surprised, always said last season that the system fully suited Cahill hence why he shone, but now we're a bit more adventurous - don't be too surprised to see him struggling as he doesn't have that maximum protection anymore. I still maintain he shouldn't be a starter for us, rather a very solid 3rd choice CB but unfortunately due to the dearth of CB talent out there at the moment, it's difficult to find a worthy replacement.

Indeed. It does feel kinda cringey whenever Cahill says he has improved since joining the club in those one-on-one interviews. Never mind being given the run arounds by Premier League players, at times, he has even struggled to deal with 5th/6th tier players when playing for England against the likes of San Marino, Estonia etc.

[Rom2013 446]

We need 2 CB in reality, Cahill is good but not good enough and Terry is over. Carvalho for example was excelent for Madrid in the first season and horrible in the next ones... We can't have Terry as a starter.

[Victor Von Doom 258]

We need 2 CB in reality, Cahill is good but not good enough and Terry is over. Carvalho for example was excelent for Madrid in the first season and horrible in the next ones... We can't have Terry as a starter.

Er. why?

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

Buy a replacement.

[Special Juan 27,429]

Buy a replacement.

Why buy? Zouma, Ivanovic to CB......these are just some of solutions without buying all the time.

[mikeholiday 209]

So much fuss about Cahill's dive. Terry kneed Sanchez....

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Why buy? Zouma, Ivanovic to CB......these are just some of solutions without buying all the time.

Even then we still need cover. Since Ivanovic doubles as a right back now, we'll need an additional centre back. Christensen isn't quite ready yet.. A cheap squad player wouldn't be the worst idea?

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

What is this bullshit everyone wants Cahill off all suddenly?

Yes he isnt world class CB, he never was and currently in not best form, but he always put good performance when needed.

Also Zouma in better form after two games and better CB? I like the kid, think he will be top defender eventualy, but right now how can people say he is in superb form after two games? When he will play 5 consecutive games and against top opponents for whole 90mins, I will make judgement how good he is already and in what form he is...but not after 2 games ffs. He showed glimpses, but that is with every young player when given chance. Im all for giving Zouma chance now that Cahill isnt in best shape, but to say that Zouma is in better form is ridiculous. Everyone is jumping on Zouma bandwagon after Cahill mistakes, but when Zouma gets run of games, he could make plenty of mistakes and that wont be good for development. Put him slowly in games and eventualy he will break through. Varane needed one season too to get ahead of Pepe who was shit back then, but then got better. Cahill can still make improvement, there is reason why Mou plays him for two seasons...

Anyway, Im glad Mou makes these decisions and not some people here who repeat themselves like broken record due to their personal disliking of Cahill, just waiting him to make mistake, so that they can write how right they were...

Yeah its just the way it is.

People say such and such saying player X is great or a very good dependable CB then 2 games after player X is the worst thing out and should be replaced by player Y because 'he's in better form' although player Y has only started maybe 5 times for club Z in lesser games.

I said it before and I'll say it again, Gay Cahill will never be a world class or anything close to it. People need to stop thinking he can be, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand have been the only world class English CBs in the last 10 years and that speaks volumes not only about Gary Cahill but the quality of English CBs in those 10 years.

I'd still rather have a solid and reliable Gary Cahill ahead of most other center backs in the premier league except for Laurent Koscielny who in my eyes is up there with JT as the best in the league. Don't see how Kompany is regarded as the best when there was moments last season where Martin Demichelis was outperforming him.