César Azpilicueta

[Jase 43,479]

8 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

Despite Lampard saying he felt they may equalise I actually don't think looking at his subs he actually thought they would. It's the only explanation in to those bizarre subs.

That's just bad game management then. Sheffield may not have bombarded us with shots but given we have been leaking stupid goals, he should have tried to be pragmatic in closing out the win. Did so at Norwich but not yesterday. It's even more baffling not to put more 'security' when Sheffield targeted our right side for the entire second half. 

[killer1257 3,282]

4 minutes ago, Jason said:

Look, I agree that Azpi isn't the future and I hope James will turn out to be the right one for us but we haven't even seen him play in anything about the Championship and people are already proclaiming him to be our savior in defence. How about we see how he does first before we start expecting to do everything that Azpi can't right, aye?

On top of that, our defensive problems isn't down to just individuals but also as a team. We have no solid, compact defensive organization as a unit. We don't press well, we don't cover space, we don't track runners. We're defending as individuals rather than as one. Having better players isn't going to solve the problems. Norwich and Sheffield United had a combined total of 7 shots on target against us and we conceded 4 goals from those.  

That is what you probably also thought about Tammy and Mount.Mount never played PL and he is performing really well. He is not the reason why we concede goals. Tammy is our best striker til npw and most Chelsea fans did really not rate him ( I rated him). Azpi can´t even pass and gets dispossed too many times. James is a rock solid passer and that is why he played a lot as a midfield player. Our Youth is performing very well and it is the experienced players that mess things up. Zouma is 25 years old with some PL experience. Azpi is the former best 1 vs 1 defender of the PL. Willian and Pulisic have to improve too because they are experienced too. Pulisic used to be a starter at Dortmund and Willian was starter for Chelsea many years.

I agree that some players like Jorginho,Pulisic or Barkley could press better, but Mount and Tammy are doing a very good job at pressing. James is also a pressing machine. We are not losing because of our Youth, we are losing because our experienced players are not good enough.

[Jase 43,479]

4 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

That is what you probably also thought about Tammy and Mount.Mount never played PL and he is performing really well. He is not the reason why we concede goals. Tammy is our best striker til npw and most Chelsea fans did really not rate him ( I rated him). Azpi can´t even pass and gets dispossed too many times. James is a rock solid passer and that is why he played a lot as a midfield player. Our Youth is performing very well and it is the experienced players that mess things up. Zouma is 25 years old with some PL experience. Azpi is the former best 1 vs 1 defender of the PL. Willian and Pulisic have to improve too because they are experienced too. Pulisic used to be a starter at Dortmund and Willian was starter for Chelsea many years.

I agree that some players like Jorginho,Pulisic or Barkley could press better, but Mount and Tammy are doing a very good job at pressing. James is also a pressing machine. We are not losing because of our Youth, we are losing because our experienced players are not good enough.

I still have my doubts whether Abraham is the right striker for us in the long run but that's another debate. He and Mount have done alright so far and just because they have done so, doesn't mean James will start off well etc.

But TBH, I don't even know why you're getting all defensive here. Not even saying James is bad and will flop and I don't think there's anything wrong to say 'let's see how he fares before jumping to conclusions'. It's not wise or fair to expect a 19-year-old to come in and become our defensive savior.

[killer1257 3,282]

Just now, Jason said:

I still have my doubts whether Abraham is the right striker for us in the long run but that's another debate. He and Mount have done alright so far and just because they have done so, doesn't mean James will start off well etc.

But TBH, I don't even know why you're getting all defensive here. Not even saying James is bad and will flop and I don't think there's anything wrong to say 'let's see how he fares before jumping to conclusions'. It's not wise or fair to expect a 19-year-old to come in and become our defensive savior.

James was a beast at Youth level. Tammy was good at youth level, but I can see huge developtment in his playing style after his loans. He really improved last season and I knew from watching him at CS, that he was ready for Chelsea because he improved in areas where he was not good at Youth level. Mount was pretty good at youth level, but even after watching him at CS, I thought he could become only a decent squad player, but I was wrong and he is better than that. I still think that RLC is better, but we have to see how RLC plays when he is back.

James has shown how good he is in two different positions. He can pass, he can cross, he can tackle, he sees passes that Azpi clearly does not see and he has decent pace. He probably is also stronger than Azpi. Azpi lost the ball 20 times and Azpi was never a gifted player at passing or crossing. Now he also lost the abilities to defend. James can´t do worse than him.

 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

4 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

James was a beast at Youth level. Tammy was good at youth level, but I can see huge developtment in his playing style after his loans. He really improved last season and I knew from watching him at CS, that he was ready for Chelsea because he improved in areas where he was not good at Youth level. Mount was pretty good at youth level, but even after watching him at CS, I thought he could become only a decent squad player, but I was wrong and he is better than that. I still think that RLC is better, but we have to see how RLC plays when he is back.

James has shown how good he is in two different positions. He can pass, he can cross, he can tackle, he sees passes that Azpi clearly does not see and he has decent pace. He probably is also stronger than Azpi. Azpi lost the ball 20 times and Azpi was never a gifted player at passing or crossing. Now he also lost the abilities to defend. James can´t do worse than him.

 

I agree. There is only performance at youth level and loans to refer to but if that is anything to go by the ranking is comfortably

James>>Mount>Abraham

But it is not only that we have been given plenty of reason to think James is good enough but simply bc of Azpis form he deserves a chance. 

 

[Tomo 21,751]

8 hours ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

Frank has remained calm with Rudi, and I hope he will be so with Reece too. If that's the case I doubt we'll see Reece come straight into the PL team.

I don't know of course, but I have the feeling that, physically, Reece is behind where Rudi was two or three weeks ago. Since then Rudi has not featured for the first team but is being eased back into action via a couple of development team appearances. It's not impossible that this plan is specific to Rudi's situation, but i suspect that it's a sign of the way Frank's regime is going to do things.

There is an uefa Youth League fixture with Valencia looming after the break. That might be a target game for Reece's first minutes before he steps up, if up is the right word, to some development team matches. It could be over a month before Reece is considered for first team selection.

Edit: I've just checked and it seems that UEFA have tightened the overage restrictions in the Youth League from what I understood them to be. In the past clubs were able to name players as old as 23 in the overage list but that has been reduced. The standard eligibility is players born on or after 1st January 2001, and the overage limit is 1st January 2000. That means Reece misses qualifying by a few days. His route back to match fitness will have to be via development team games only.

I'm 99% sure players can't play in both the CL and UYL in one season which means that route would be cut off for him regardless.

[Tomo 21,751]

4 hours ago, Jason said:

Not saying Azpi was faultless for the goals yesterday but it's getting utterly comical that people think a 19-year-old who's never played football above the Championship is gonna come in and solve our defensive problems and won't make mistakes at all. 

Has anyone actually said or even implied he will totally solve our defensive problems? I can confidently say there's not one single supporter delusional enough to believe that his inclusion alone is going to turn our defensive line into Jose 1.0 esque.

Now as you know I'm the last person to call for a youngster on a whim (even now I'm preaching the need for more balance age wise) so if I'm wanting one in its because I genuinely believe he's the best option.

Reece may have played in the Championship but he played for a club that have recently spent almost a decade mid table in the PL while getting to two cups finals winning one of them. The fact a high percentage of them consider Reece their best ever player above players that created immortal history at Wigan is testiment to how good he's been, if their was even any element of doubt they would have naturally favoured their best boys of PL level (like most Chelsea fans naturally favour the old guard against present day player's).

Do I believe James is going to walse in and everything will suddenly smell of roses? No, but i do believe he's a better option to present day Azpi and that's from what I've seen of him with my own eyes.

[Jase 43,479]

47 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Has anyone actually said or even implied he will totally solve our defensive problems? I can confidently say there's not one single supporter delusional enough to believe that his inclusion alone is going to turn our defensive line into Jose 1.0 esque.

Sure, he deserves the opportunity given Azpi's form but the way people have been going on about it certainly suggests he'll solve our issues immediately. 

[kellzfresh 7,229]

It's looking bad for him. He's lost his pace and is targeted like Ivanovic now

[kellzfresh 7,229]

 

[OhForAGreavsie 6,058]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

I'm 99% sure players can't play in both the CL and UYL in one season which means that route would be cut off for him regardless.

No that's not how it works. Eligible players can play in Youth League matches until, and unless, they feature in three Champions League games (group stage onwards) in the same season.

[Blue Armour 4,436]

Looking like Ivanovic at his worst, and when Ivanovic was at his worst, that happened in the infamous Mourinho season.

Hope Lampard can address this situation sooner rather than later. Wish we had options ready from the bench. Heck, would even take Alonso as an option at this point.

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

How is Tomori at RB? Genuine question?

[Vesper 30,090]

10 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

How is Tomori at RB? Genuine question?

he played a lot there with Hull

[robsblubot 3,595]

11 hours ago, SUNZ said:

What you're doing here is completely absolving Azpilicueta of all wrong doing and diverting the attention.

I believe Azpi has let the team down more this season than any young player. 7 or 8 goals we've conceded originated from his side, he gives away possession 20+ times per game (yesterday it was 3x more than anybody else). It is painfully clear that he is being targeted every week by the opposition - every club realise it's their best way to goal against us.

Our beloved youngsters are our own academy players and you can't name one that has let the team down more than Azpi.

If Reece James can pass the ball and tackle even fairly well he will be a HUGE upgrade on current Azpi. The good thing is he's really highly rated and could do so much more than just that and because of how Azpi has started the season James deserves the chance to be given a go at the earliest opportunity.

Yes I absolutely am. Regarding why, perhaps I wasn’t clear in my opinion. Probably my own fault.

i absolutely believe they are all letting the team down and azpi is struggling because of them, not the other way around. Had he had senior players, ready players (not prospects) around and in front of him, his life would’ve been much easier.

the mistakes youngsters make all the time are 100% ignored here. When Tammy shows too much of the football and is easily dispossessed it is ok because he’s young and scores.

Azpi was playing alongside a very green cb next to him for crying out lot!

things are just a bit more nuanced in team sports. 

Passing the ball is all about the opposition too! We don’t know what James will do in the PL yet do we? My point remains the last thing this teams needs right now is yet another 19yo especially replacing the captain and the only defender who can read the game atm.

in short, replacing azpi at this time has to the the craziest thing I’ve heard.

stats are also nuanced. Is he being dispossessed because he suddenly can’t pass, or because he has no clear targets working close to him and moving into empty spaces to pass to?  he actually made a brilliant play assisting Tammy in last game.