Andreas Christensen

[chelsea_4_eva 1,157]

too weak

[Vesper 28,796]

3 hours ago, chelsea_4_eva said:

too weak

he is shit

so done with him

and now we get so much less than we could have

[Vesper 28,796]

On 04/12/2020 at 9:10 AM, Jason said:

lol, that comment you replied to aged well

NOT

[Jase 43,479]

On 12/4/2020 at 0:55 PM, Tomo said:

Quietly good game against Sevilla in what his first with Mendy behind him.

Given Zouma and Rudiger's vast improvements since Eduoard's introduction AC also deserves a fair shot to see if he can similarly grow with the stability we now have.

[MoroccanBlue 5,297]

Hope he is the first to be sold out of all the dead weight. 

[Vesper 28,796]

so now the deadwood has hurt his knee

FFS!

so sick of this all

[Tomo 21,733]

So it turns out he actually was injured during that clash with Grealish and played the rest of the game through injury....

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

Just me who thought he played decent last night? Seems that many have made their mind up on him but if he can cut somethings out of his game he can be a very useful player for us still. Won some big headers last night and showed a bit more intent on the ball. Not the most physical CB and if he can bulk up a bit or be more clever for duels in the same way Thiago Silva is, theres no reason why if TT persists with a back 3 he cant be a part of the squad. 

Edited February 8, 2021 by OneMoSalah

[Milan 17,853]

12 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

Just me who thought he played decent last night? Seems that many have made their mind up on him but if he can cut somethings out of his game he can be a very useful player for us still. Won some big headers last night and showed a bit more intent on the ball. Not the most physical CB and if he can bulk up a bit or be more clever for duels in the same way Thiago Silva is, theres no reason why if TT persists with a back 3 he cant be a part of the squad. 

I got a bit negative when I saw him getting ready to replace Thiago against Spurs. But in that game and against Sheffield as well, he was solid and deserves credit. He kept it cool at the back, read the game quite well and won big header against physically superior players, especially yesterday. I had to apologize as I did not see it coming. Long may it continue.

Just one thing. I know I know he is a defender. But bloody hell can he score some goal for Chels already? 😄 With Zouma and Thiago not in the team now, we need to continue our trend of scoring from corners, one of our main weapons this season.

[James 5,197]

 

[King Kante 1,476]

5 hours ago, James said:

 

I have maintained all along that of the 4 CB's we had last year, his reading of the game, positional play and passing ability is by far and away the best. Problem with him is his physical and mental game, however in a three that is not so much of an issue. 

[Tomo 21,733]

On 09/02/2021 at 12:40, King Kante said:

I have maintained all along that of the 4 CB's we had last year, his reading of the game, positional play and passing ability is by far and away the best. Problem with him is his physical and mental game, however in a three that is not so much of an issue. 

Given a similar type of defender who had similar issues in John Stones has had resurgence this season with Ruben Dias and combining that with Rudi/Zouma treating the ball like a hot potato vs pressing has strengthened my belief that i want to see him given a run with Silva.

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

Given a similar type of defender who had similar issues in John Stones has had resurgence this season with Ruben Dias and combining that with Rudi/Zouma treating the ball like a hot potato vs pressing has strengthened my belief that i want to see him given a run with Silva.

[Tomo 21,733]

15 minutes ago, Jason said:

Exactly the reaction i would have got if i said the same about Stones this time last year!

[Jase 43,479]

2 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Exactly the reaction i would have got if i said the same about Stones this time last year!

Could care less about Stones and I don't think his issue was finding the right defensive partner for him.

Back to Christensen, partnering him with Silva is one thing but we know Silva won't be around for much longer, given his age. If your solution to making Christensen better is by partnering him with Silva, then what happens when Silva retires/leaves?

Also, partnering Christensen with Silva isn't suddenly gonna make the former better at say, dealing with physical challenges/players. And we know Christensen has looked better in a back 3, than back 4.

And if a CB needs a specific player to partner with him to look good, then that CB isn't very good to begin with. 

[King Kante 1,476]

On 14/02/2021 at 11:15, Jason said:

Could care less about Stones and I don't think his issue was finding the right defensive partner for him.

Back to Christensen, partnering him with Silva is one thing but we know Silva won't be around for much longer, given his age. If your solution to making Christensen better is by partnering him with Silva, then what happens when Silva retires/leaves?

Also, partnering Christensen with Silva isn't suddenly gonna make the former better at say, dealing with physical challenges/players. And we know Christensen has looked better in a back 3, than back 4.

And if a CB needs a specific player to partner with him to look good, then that CB isn't very good to begin with. 

I think what me and Tomo are getting at (and correct me if I am wrong Tomo) is that AC displays more high level CB qualities that either Rudi or Zouma. 

For me, I would categorise him being better at the following; 

1) Reading the game

2) Positional play

3) Playing the ball under pressure 

His main flaws are physical and mental, which are more exposed when playing with players with the skill sets Zouma and Rudi have. In my opinion, AC's flaws are both more fixable than getting 26+ defenders to start doing what he does better.

Further, Rudi and Zouma get a lot of praise from Chelsea fans for their recovery tackles/runs. However, whenever I see them I am reminded of Maldini's comment that 'if I have to make a tackle, it is because I have already done something wrong'. The Palace tackle last season is a prime example of this. Zouma made an absolute monster of a recovery/tackle but it was largely due to the position he took up initially that he had to make it. So, where one can argue that it is a great tackle, others can argue it is poor play and he has had to bail himself out in a very risky way. 

Personally, I am not sure AC has the ability to quite make the turn around Stones has because of how slight he is. However, like Tomo, I do believe if he isn't playing with someone who is getting caught out constantly from ball watching/being caught out of position he is likely to look a lot better as it will allow him to play to his strengths more and as his strengths are more highly skilled, he could end up looking a good to very good (note not elite) player. 

However, as I have always said about the Zouma/AC/Rudi/Tomori quintet, pick your poison, as all are flawed and who ever you choose is primarily down to personal preference in what they want to see from a CB. 

[Stats 7,054]

On 14/02/2021 at 11:05, Tomo said:

Exactly the reaction i would have got if i said the same about Stones this time last year!

I think if you put Christensen in that City team, he looks a lot better defender. City rarely lose the ball so their CB are less prone to making vulnerable mistakes. Their ball retention is just superb and Pep is more tactically astute now. Dias is brilliant but yhh I think Christensen is very similar player to Stones. But difference is one is at City and one is at us. Their game against Spurs last week, how much times did City even manage to get the ball in City's half let alone have a effort in open play?

[Jase 43,479]

8 hours ago, King Kante said:

I think what me and Tomo are getting at (and correct me if I am wrong Tomo) is that AC displays more high level CB qualities that either Rudi or Zouma. 

For me, I would categorise him being better at the following; 

1) Reading the game

2) Positional play

3) Playing the ball under pressure 

His main flaws are physical and mental, which are more exposed when playing with players with the skill sets Zouma and Rudi have. In my opinion, AC's flaws are both more fixable than getting 26+ defenders to start doing what he does better.

Further, Rudi and Zouma get a lot of praise from Chelsea fans for their recovery tackles/runs. However, whenever I see them I am reminded of Maldini's comment that 'if I have to make a tackle, it is because I have already done something wrong'. The Palace tackle last season is a prime example of this. Zouma made an absolute monster of a recovery/tackle but it was largely due to the position he took up initially that he had to make it. So, where one can argue that it is a great tackle, others can argue it is poor play and he has had to bail himself out in a very risky way. 

Personally, I am not sure AC has the ability to quite make the turn around Stones has because of how slight he is. However, like Tomo, I do believe if he isn't playing with someone who is getting caught out constantly from ball watching/being caught out of position he is likely to look a lot better as it will allow him to play to his strengths more and as his strengths are more highly skilled, he could end up looking a good to very good (note not elite) player. 

However, as I have always said about the Zouma/AC/Rudi/Tomori quintet, pick your poison, as all are flawed and who ever you choose is primarily down to personal preference in what they want to see from a CB. 

Still disagree with that assessment, especially when you are basically suggesting that Christensen will look better alongside Silva than the other defenders.

Silva is a great defender but he is not some sort of savior who will turn others to be great. Christensen, first and foremost, should be looking after himself and his development. If he needs another kind of defender alongside to look good, then you have got a problem. Do we say the same thing about Silva himself or Terry? Christensen has been at the club for 8 years. Can anyone really say that he has improved? He also turns 25 years old this year. At some point, either you grow up and get better or you don't. 

Another thing with Christensen, which I mentioned in the previous post, is that he has looked better in a back 3 than in a back 4. In the back 3, he has played alongside Rudiger, especially, a lot and I don't recall him getting exposed as much as he does when playing in a back 4. In the back 4 system, he just does himself no favors and get exposed a lot more, even with some of the supposed good things you listed above about him, and it doesn't even have anything to do with who he plays with. Remember the red card he got against Liverpool earlier this season? All came about because of the lack of point #1 and #2 you mentioned above. Don't remember much of last season right now but there are probably other mistakes of Christensen that one can pick out from the matches.

Also another with the Stones comparison is that, IIRC, he had off the field issues last season, which contributed to his loss of form and the poor performances. Otherwise, he played a good amount of games whenever he's fit. He didn't suddenly just play more because of Ruben Dias.