Gary Cahill

[NiclasCFC 2,582]

I missed the unveiling of Cahill cuz of school Somebody know where i can see the full press conference?

[Madmax 9,219]

The signing of Gary Cahill is fascinating in this respect. Chelsea need a covering defender for John Terry, who looks uncomfortable without an intelligent defender like Ricardo Carvalho or Rio Ferdinand alongside him. The positionally aggressive David Luiz is clearly a similar case.

Cahill is a very interesting player in statistical terms, and there is one stat he excels at. That is the ‘offsides won’ category – which is recorded by taking the deepest defender when a side catches an opponent offside. Cahill has been the deepest defender when an opponent has been caught offside 1.9 times per game, more than any other Premier League player.

And his previous club, Bolton, had the most prolific offside trap in the league.

The two are clearly linked, but this relatively obscure statistic is crucial for a side like Chelsea, looking to play a high line. We’ve previously looked at how that means they’re catching opponents offside 160% more than last season (though the stats may have changed since that article).

It’s not beyond the realms of belief that Villas-Boas is aware of the above statistic. If so committed to playing with a high line but without a defender to sweep behind Terry or Luiz, why not go and buy the covering defender of the side with the best offside trap?

Equally, the ‘covering’ part is crucial, and Cahill naturally stands off opponents. Another interesting statistic is that, of players who have played in more than the average number of Premier league games this season (WhoScored’s parameters, not ZM’s), Cahill makes the second fewest tackles of any centre-back, more than only Gary Caldwell of Wigan:

However, he makes the fifth most clearances of any player in the league:

And also the joint-second most blocks:

Defensive play is largely about positioning and therefore is difficult to record in numbers, so it is often hard to paint a picture of a defender’s style – but these stats do it perfectly. Cahill wins offsides (making him suitable for a high line), doesn’t get drawn into many tackles, but does make clearances and blocks (making him a good covering defender).

In remains to be seen whether Cahill has the pure ability to play for Chelsea, but stylistically he makes sense. Cahill alongside Luiz, Terry or Ivanovic also seems a better fit than any of the other three combinations.

It’s particularly interesting that Chelsea’s first game with Cahill is against Norwich; in the reverse fixture between the sides in August, Norwich caused Chelsea’s high line plenty of problems, with Grant Holt giving Ivanovic a difficult afternoon. It seems an appropriate game to assess how Cahill will fit in.

Full article -> http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/01/20/gary-cahill-chelsea-high-line/

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

[khattak 0]

he will made chelsea proud....

[Sheva. 5,373]

Chelsea new boy Gary Cahill has hit back at claims he was greedy during contract talks with the Blues. He said: "It's disappointing when you see things in the press. You bite your lip because I didn't read one report that was correct. It was upsetting, but my family and the clubs knew the real situation. It was really hard (to accept the perception I was greedy) because that's the perception I got."

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I missed the unveiling of Cahill cuz of school Somebody know where i can see the full press conference?

[NiclasCFC 2,582]

Cheers mate!!

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Cahil on terry:

When asked if he was bought to replace Terry, the £7million signing from Bolton said: “They are massive shoes to fill.

“But if I can have half the career he has had, I will be happy with that.

“If you come here thinking you are going to be the next John Terry then you lose.

“I just hope I can learn from him and I’m looking forward to working with him.”

Cahill, 26, knows how important it will be to strike up an ­understanding with Terry.

He added: “Adams and Keown were the bedrock of Arsenal and England for quite a while.

“I hope I can be talked of in the same breath as them.

“It will be nice to work with him but I have to be respectful of others too.”

Cahill isn’t sure how his career turned – after once being loaned to Burnley.

“When I went to Burnley I just thought I could play in the Premier League and play regularly,” he said.

“But when I was there I never thought that I would be where I am.”

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I certainly do hope he's replacing Terry!

[Tomo 21,733]

I think he should get a start at loftus road but for me the first choice centre half's are still Luiz and JT for now. Its up to Gary (like he said) to work his way into the team.

[zolayes 14,489]

I think Cahill is a stop gap . cover for Luiz and Terry . hope to see Ivo concentrate at rb ,,,Think JT may only have this season an possibly

next before his time is up . Then it will time for Luiz to look after Kalas or Chalobah

[Tomo 21,733]

I think we should look at starting to lesser Terry's role from next season on, we don't want to end up in a Carragher situation.

If Bruma, Kalas and Chalaboh can reach their potential we have some awesome cb's.

[Santiago. 1,500]

ILLAS-BOAS: DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

Posted on: Wed 01 Feb 2012

Andre Villas-Boas has spoken about his decision not to hand Gary Cahill his debut in our 1-1 draw against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.

With John Terry missing the game through injury, there was an expectation from some that our new signing would play alongside David Luiz at the heart of the Blues defence, but the manager admitted our recent run of form had been behind the idea to keep Cahill on the bench.

'We have found solidarity defensively recently,' he said. 'The team has been playing well so we decided not to change it tonight.

'Of course he [Cahill] has the quality to come straight in but we didn't want to change the dynamic of the team tonight.

'This pairing [ivanovic and David Luiz] has been used before and I decided to stick with it for this game, I spoke to Gary about my decision and it was taken well by him.'

Having dominated possession in the second half, a last minute own-goal secured a much needed point for the Blues in an eventful match which also saw Ashley Cole dismissed with five minutes remaining, ruling him out of the game against Manchester United this weekend.

The manager, though, believes that we could have gone on to take all three points from the game if we had capitalised on our domination slightly earlier.

'We created chances through crosses mainly, but our efficiency to finish those crosses wasn't there, mainly due to occupation of the spaces. We managed to get a lot of set plays but Swansea defended well,' he said.

Fernando Torres drew another blank in front of goal, a year to the day from when he signed for the club, but while his current drought now stands at 17 league games, confidence and belief, says the manager, is not a problem for the Spaniard.

'It's taking him time, but the confidence is there and we believe in the player so it is important we persist,' said Villas Boas.

'He helped the team today with his movement, lay-offs and passing, but we need to create more opportunities for him.

'Torres and Didier compete for the striking places, and we know Drogba's significance to this team, but when he returns he will bring extra competition for both Torres and Lukaku, but it will be a big plus for the team.'

http://www.chelseafc...2596412,00.html

[termninja 5,290]

He did well today. A huge game with a lot of pressure while playing in our shaky defense for the first time. I liked him while he played for Bolton and now I like him even more when he's our player

[Hamilton 2,120]

Indeed good debut, future leader probs..

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

Third goal....

[Ollie 4,400]

What a game to make your debut in, coulda been sent off but was definitely acting like the captain. He will be our next captain. This game will spur him on now, he is now a Chelsea player. The 3rd goal was Luiz's fault imo, statuesque defending, let him go.

[Hamilton 2,120]

Wasn't Luiz closest to Hernandez? And Ivanovic could have put much more pressure on Giggs to prevent the cross imo..