Nathan Aké

[gadget 126]

24 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

Lets put it this way. Ake sounds like hes wanting regular starting time so I don't think he will be here past the sumer otherwise.

So that means he'll be walking into our 1st xi otherwise he wants out this summer? rather than him having another half season in the first team at Bournemouth gaining more premier league experience before coming back and fighting a first team spot next season.

a back 3 of Ake Zouma Christensen looks very solid and balanced but all need to grow and gain experience 

[mccg 1,528]

Great signing , Baker and Christensen next, then we can chuck the cash to strengthen other areas

[Fernando 6,585]

Not going to be CB but LWB and who knows could play in the middle as well. 

We shall see, very interesting shot Conte is taking  here. Plus he's doing what we wanted, use loan players instead of wasting money on stop gap players.

[Leif 6,006]

25 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

My thoughts exactly about aiming our sites too low.

But we arent any of those teams you mentioned and have always had proilems attracting 9s and 10s mate.

Me I'd pay whayevers necessary to get them and not worry about bringing in the accademy. But I'd probably bankrupt the club and every Blues fan would hate me for ignoring our overhyped youth.

In reallity a good mixture would be perfect but we do need more actual tallented creative players.

All really hard decisions to make and I hope Conte gets it right.

I agree with every word of yours. I think that bringing in the youth, is like a cherry on top of the cake. It's very pretty decoration. But, we still need a strong enough sponge/foundation first. And right now, our sponge is not completely ready. It's crumbly, and while it resembles a cake, if someone were to bite into it deep, they'd see that the core is not yet good enough to be leaping ahead to adding the decoration.

Maybe this wouldn't even be a conversation though if we were looking at our other youngsters. We do have some talent that I genuinely believe are already 6.5's, ready to be made 7/10 players very quickly under Conte. Those are Jay Dasilva, Musonda, perhaps Christensen, Tammy Abraham (he was already an absolute monster for the youth teams; the fact that he's now averaging a goal every 2 games in the Championship makes me think he's capable enough to be our next Demba Ba or whatnot.), & Kalas (still only 23, and when we played him, I thought he was truly superb. It confuses me why we don't use him). 

Those are our gems. Those are all players who'd be good enough for the top 6 or so Premier League teams, right now. No other team in the top 6 would take Ake, Ruben or Chalobah. We and City would both be better with Christensen, right now. Arsenal would be better with Abraham (he's perfect for their system; just stand up top and score, don't do much else.) Kalas would be useful here or at City; but he'd truly shine at Liverpool. Musonda is more delicate so I won't say anything about him in this regard. Dasilva similar. We have youth players already good enough for the Premier League's top 6, so why do we focus on our youth players that're barely good enough for the top 6 of the npower Championship? 

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Poor bournemouth, From 3-0 up to Arsenal, to conceding 6 in a row, out of the FA cup and losing an incredible defender. The year couldn't have started much worse for them 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[The Skipper 20,609]

On 14/12/2016 at 5:56 PM, -Kaplan- said:

When you look at the physicality of Cahill, Luiz, Terry and to some extent, Azpi, does Ake really belong there? 

His best chance would come at LWB and Conte has said that 3-4-3 was not his first or second choice. He used that formation because of what he had. One would think after two transfer windows, Ake doesn't fit the mould of a Conte player. Even more so after you consider Kenedy. 

I would really consider selling for his, and our sake. Good lad just not Chelsea standard. 

He's almost tailor made for the LCB role and also provides good cover at CM imo. 

[Mufassir08 2,400]

1 minute ago, The Skipper said:

He's almost tailor made for the LCB role and also provides good cover at CM imo. 

Do you see him him displacing Cahill anytime soon? Also, don't you think that a defence of Azpi-Luiz-Ake would be weak aerially?

[Unionjack 7,531]

3 minutes ago, The Skipper said:

He's almost tailor made for the LCB role and also provides good cover at CM imo. 

Over who?

Better than Chalobah/Happy. Dont forget Happy is a very handy CM. He ruled ovr Fellaini. And another one over Chalobah - just not sure.

And Ake doesn't strike me as beig patiant so he wont hang round long on the bench.

[Kieran. 6,317]

He's a great player, stop writing him off without even seeing him play. He can play CB, CM or wingback. That's a lot of positions possibly covered by one player. 

[Tomo 21,751]

3 hours ago, Unionjack said:

Over who?

Better than Chalobah/Happy. Dont forget Happy is a very handy CM. He ruled ovr Fellaini. And another one over Chalobah - just not sure.

And Ake doesn't strike me as beig patiant so he wont hang round long on the bench.

He was given a pecific task in a one off game playing cautious tactics, doesn't mean he will make a full time CM. Infact i have a feeling Zouma will be Conte's Mata, not sure he fits this system atall.

[Last Sicarius 610]

He is like Dier or Blind(Azpi even) very versatile player. We need that kind of people. And he is still young 

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Wait, a manager that's using our resources among the youth to fill squad players instead of making fill-gap signings?! 

Exciting times indeed, good on Aké and Conte! 

[manpe 10,861]

Please use him in games then. It would really be a pisstake to take him away from a team where he plays every game just to make up the numbers.

[the wes 7,212]

Lads what's Ake crossing ability like?? You need to be good at crossing the ball playing left wing-back position