Ruben Loftus-Cheek

[Johnnyeye 7,441]

27 minutes ago, Strike said:

What happened to him is tragic but that doesn't take away the progress he made this season. 

Safe to say he has been the best midfielder alongside Kante this season and is a should be a more regular starter going forward. Hopefully, Callum and Ruben sign new contracts. The two seem to get along well and could be part of the new core at the club.

the sick and twisted irony in all of this is that both of them ended up with the same type of injury, what the fuck is this? Chelsea academy curse? fml 

[Johnnyeye 7,441]

11 hours ago, BlueLyon said:

I just hope he comes back without any permament issues. Same with Odoi.

What concerns me more than the length of their recovery is Chelsea reaction.

For all we know those two wont get a chance or will get two or three games to show their worth and then we ditch them if they dont perform. 

This season, they established themselves perfectly because other players were out of form. If Pulisic, Kovacic,...+ whoever we buy get their ground running, no manager will bench them for Odoi or RLC which would be a real shame. 

If we buy lets say Ndombele this summer, RLC can pack his bags and leave the club unless he wants to be sub forever.

These injuries came at the most terrible time. Hopefuly board reacts smart and keeps both in the long term picture and by this I mean give them serious trust and game time once they return.

this board is anything but smart, they have really outdone themselves this time, bravo 

[Atomiswave 6,072]

2 hours ago, Johnnyeye said:

the sick and twisted irony in all of this is that both of them ended up with the same type of injury, what the fuck is this? Chelsea academy curse? fml 

JUst like arsenal....since 2006 they have been hit super hard with injuries all over the place, they still suffer today. Whatever my man, it is what it is. THe Club wont change until RA gets serious again or sells out.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

Oh the irony.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea/new-england-revolution-vs-chelsea-ruben-loftus-cheek-friendly-will-not-harm-europa-league-final-a4142971.html

[Superblue 6,370]

14 hours ago, Jason said:

He might well be but until then, we have a midfield hole to fill...what are we gonna do? Buy someone? Use someone from academy to fill in till then?

Just for now assuming that Sarri remains and we'll be sticking with playing 4-3-3, I would expect Barkley to be the one to take RLC's position and he's the most suited for that as he at least has an attacking instinct and the odd goal in him. To be honest I thought Barkley started the season well and has also looked good for England this season. He's very capable of producing in that position but he's very inconsistent and I just feel at times he's playing within himself so as not to make mistakes. He needs to see what progression RLC has made in the last couple of months and strive for the same.

I would then expect Mason Mount to come back and be the other attacking midfield option. Zola spoke about them nearly keeping him last summer, so I would expect they'll be looking at him as a suitable option even more so now this coming summer. If RLC can recover say by Xmas, Mount could always be loaned out to a Prem team in the second half of next season for more game time. Or you never know he may have usurped Barkley and become first choice at Chelsea in that period?!

RLC is a massive miss based on the last couple of months, but I'm not overly worried about Barkley and Mount. I'm more worried at the lack of depth in the other two midfield positions. Unless players like Bakayoko and Pasalic are going to come back, we will be so heavily and painfully reliant on Kante and Jorginho playing nigh on every game next season. 

Another potential option may be Van Ginkel but I've no idea where he is on his timescale and recovery, and whether he'll ever recover sufficiently given the number of surgeries he's had.

It's probably not the most popular opinion but assuming the ban remains, I would seriously look into keeping hold of Kovacic. Maybe not to buy, I think he still needs to show more for us to commit to that, but surely we could extend his loan (if that is allowed) as a sweetener in the Hazard deal for another season. He can play either of Kante's and Jorginho's roles, just not the attacking midfielder like Sarri kept doing before RLC broke through.

I can't see Sarri doing it but a change to 4-2-3-1 wouldn't be a bad idea otherwise. I've seen enough recently of Jorginho to suggest he's improving and adapting more to the league and could play that position alongside Kante who's best too in that position. Kovacic, if he stayed, is also more suited to playing in a deeper midfield two. And who else would that possibly bring back in but none other than Danny Drinkwater! Sarri himself said he's only suited to a midfield 2. I think if we could sell him we should do, but given how much we paid for him and his wages, I think we may struggle to shift him out so we might as well get some form of use from him. He's a fairly limited player but he's also a decent, reliable and experienced Premier League midfielder who should be capable of coming in and doing a job against some of the lesser teams or coming off the bench to help see a game out.

[communicate 2,703]

1 hour ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Just for now assuming that Sarri remains and we'll be sticking with playing 4-3-3, I would expect Barkley to be the one to take RLC's position and he's the most suited for that as he at least has an attacking instinct and the odd goal in him. To be honest I thought Barkley started the season well and has also looked good for England this season. He's very capable of producing in that position but he's very inconsistent and I just feel at times he's playing within himself so as not to make mistakes. He needs to see what progression RLC has made in the last couple of months and strive for the same.

I would then expect Mason Mount to come back and be the other attacking midfield option. Zola spoke about them nearly keeping him last summer, so I would expect they'll be looking at him as a suitable option even more so now this coming summer. If RLC can recover say by Xmas, Mount could always be loaned out to a Prem team in the second half of next season for more game time. Or you never know he may have usurped Barkley and become first choice at Chelsea in that period?!

RLC is a massive miss based on the last couple of months, but I'm not overly worried about Barkley and Mount. I'm more worried at the lack of depth in the other two midfield positions. Unless players like Bakayoko and Pasalic are going to come back, we will be so heavily and painfully reliant on Kante and Jorginho playing nigh on every game next season. 

Another potential option may be Van Ginkel but I've no idea where he is on his timescale and recovery, and whether he'll ever recover sufficiently given the number of surgeries he's had.

It's probably not the most popular opinion but assuming the ban remains, I would seriously look into keeping hold of Kovacic. Maybe not to buy, I think he still needs to show more for us to commit to that, but surely we could extend his loan (if that is allowed) as a sweetener in the Hazard deal for another season. He can play either of Kante's and Jorginho's roles, just not the attacking midfielder like Sarri kept doing before RLC broke through.

I can't see Sarri doing it but a change to 4-2-3-1 wouldn't be a bad idea otherwise. I've seen enough recently of Jorginho to suggest he's improving and adapting more to the league and could play that position alongside Kante who's best too in that position. Kovacic, if he stayed, is also more suited to playing in a deeper midfield two. And who else would that possibly bring back in but none other than Danny Drinkwater! Sarri himself said he's only suited to a midfield 2. I think if we could sell him we should do, but given how much we paid for him and his wages, I think we may struggle to shift him out so we might as well get some form of use from him. He's a fairly limited player but he's also a decent, reliable and experienced Premier League midfielder who should be capable of coming in and doing a job against some of the lesser teams or coming off the bench to help see a game out.

Please stop with this 4231 and 433. It won't fix anything. The only time people still play 4231 is when you have a very good no 10 otherwise not many team play that way. Pool played 4231 at times but Firmino is so good defensively that it does not matter. 

 

[Clockwork 1,794]

16 hours ago, Jason said:

He might well be but until then, we have a midfield hole to fill...what are we gonna do? Buy someone? Use someone from academy to fill in till then?

Buy someone obviously, i am quite bearish on Mason Mount honestly. Not impressed by his overall skillset. Kovacic and Barkley are not going to cut it, they were not good enough this season, and more will be expected of them without Hazard next season. 

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

[Superblue 6,370]

1 hour ago, communicate said:

Please stop with this 4231 and 433. It won't fix anything. The only time people still play 4231 is when you have a very good no 10 otherwise not many team play that way. Pool played 4231 at times but Firmino is so good defensively that it does not matter. 

 

I'm not saying it will fix anything but based on this season, things have been far from smooth and for me, we don't get enough people in the box especially from midfield. The only time we really have is in recent weeks with RLC playing. The idea of having someone pushed further up the pitch may help with this because without Hazard next season and without a striker capable of scoring on a regular basis we're going to need all the help we can get scoring goals next year.

[communicate 2,703]

Just now, Superblue_1986 said:

I'm not saying it will fix anything but based on this season, things have been far from smooth and for me, we don't get enough people in the box especially from midfield. The only time we really have is in recent weeks with RLC playing. The idea of having someone pushed further up the pitch may help with this because without Hazard next season and without a striker capable of scoring on a regular basis we're going to need all the help we can get scoring goals next year.

Our left cm and right cm are free to attack the box. I don't think that is the problem.

[Superblue 6,370]

2 minutes ago, communicate said:

Our left cm and right cm are free to attack the box. I don't think that is the problem.

It is a problem when they don't though. Perhaps it's the concern of getting caught on the counter attack but we look toothless at times when a ball is crossed in or cut back and the only player we have in the box is Giroud or Higuain. 

It was already an issue losing Hazard, our one regular goalscorer this last season. Losing RLC too for potentially a substantial period of next season is a huge problem, as currently he's the only other player in our team I'd label as a genuine and potentially regular goal threat.

[communicate 2,703]

30 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

It is a problem when they don't though. Perhaps it's the concern of getting caught on the counter attack but we look toothless at times when a ball is crossed in or cut back and the only player we have in the box is Giroud or Higuain. 

It was already an issue losing Hazard, our one regular goalscorer this last season. Losing RLC too for potentially a substantial period of next season is a huge problem, as currently he's the only other player in our team I'd label as a genuine and potentially regular goal threat.

Who is going to play that no 10 role?

[MoroccanBlue 5,302]

43 minutes ago, communicate said:

Who is going to play that no 10 role?

Kovacic. And if Sarri think's he can do it and urges the club to sign him, he can fuck off. 

[!Hazard! 3,394]

Attacking possession-based 4-2-3-1 (like this season's Ajax) only works when you've got good fullbacks overlapping and creating overloads in attacking third. With 4-3-3 you always have two wingers, striker and two midfielders attacking the box (in addition to overlapping fullbacks) where as in 4-2-3-1 you have one player less attacking the box and it also places more attacking responsibility to the central attacking midfielder so that player needs to be on top of his game or else the system falls apart. In Chelsea's case 4-2-3-1 would probably be the preferred tactic considering Kante is not exactly the most attacking-minded player in the first place but this tactic cannot be utilized as long as we don't have a right back who can provide width and proper attacking threat. On the left-hand side Alonso is seemingly very attacking when looking at this positioning but generally he's also very ineffective around the box.

Give us Chilwell and Reece James (if he really is good enough offensively) and we'll look like a team reborn

[bigbluewillie 1,859]

What now worries me is we now face the Arse without 4 of our best 5 players.

Fuck Fuck Fuck..no Kante, no Rudiger, no CHO and now no Rubey.

What a fucking disaster 

We can look forward to a midfield of Jorginho, Kovacic, Barkley...OMG 

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Depending on how serious his injury is, we should have him back for the 2nd half of the season. Hopefully we can make a deep run into the FA Cup and give him game time then. 

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Coming back strong from an injury is something I've had to do all my life and I'll do it again.

 

Thats the spirit Ruben

[Superblue 6,370]

Matt Law reporting RLC has agreed a new 5 year contract and Chelsea are planning on CHO and James to sign similar length contracts shortly.

Hugely positive for both club and player. If he can come back from this injury he has the potential to become THE dominant midfielder in the premier league with his mix of power, pace and skill, not to mention a vital goal threat from deep.