Future Chelsea Captain

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

Well if Terry, Ivanovic and Cech aren't in the team last year we need to look at who has captained former clubs and national teams in their career as well. Look Cesc has captained Arsenal, Cahill has captained Bolton, those are two out the current lot that spring to mind to me. Sure Cesc just arrived but he wasn't made captain for no reason at Arsenal. Not saying he should be but he could be considered eventually. I think Terry will play a lot next season anyway as will Ivanovic so we will be fine.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I think the next captain will be a defender aswell. Azpi, Cahill, Ivanovic, they all got what it takes, but Brana is, in my opinion, the best for this position. He's been here for 6 years already, he is combative, always determined and ready to sacrifice himself for the team (he even got bitten by an oponent, for Christ's sake ). If he leaves or gets benched, then Cahill and Azpi should be the alternatives. In this order.

I see your point but it's not as if he offered his arm to Suarez hahaha!

[LionsRoar 9]

I voted Ivanovich over Cahill because he's been with the club longer, which I feel deserves to be rewarded. Obviously Cech's been here for 300+ caps, but I've never liked giving a keeper the captain's armband for whatever reason.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

The disrespect of a club legend still on top of his game and the eagerness to crown thibaut as the number one is ridiculous. Cech has and still is a superior goalkeeper to courtois and if he becomes 2nd choice next season it will likely be for political reasons i.e a bid to secure long term future in that position rather than on merit.

Either way that number one spot has to be earned and I could give a toss about Thibaut's clean sheet record at Atleti, he will be judged on what he does in the blues uniform and Cech is obviously the proven candidate at this point.

Courtois has done all he can to earn his shot at the number one spot.

Mourinho said Courtois was coming back to Chelsea. It doesn't make any sense to bring Courtois back and then put him on the bench. If Mourinho is going to play Cech then Courtois should simply go back out on loan.

[Barbara 15,149]

Cahill seems too passive imo to be a captain. We need a louder voice... I voted for Iva though I have no idea if he'll be available for the position when the time comes.

If not, then I have no frigging idea. Cahill does look too passive so for me is a no-no. Maybe Cesc?

[iseah100 5,612]

Cahill seems too passive imo to be a captain. We need a louder voice... I voted for Iva though I have no idea if he'll be available for the position when the time comes.

If not, then I have no frigging idea. Cahill does look too passive so for me is a no-no. Maybe Cesc?

Silent, but deadly.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Cahill seems too passive imo to be a captain. We need a louder voice... I voted for Iva though I have no idea if he'll be available for the position when the time comes.

If not, then I have no frigging idea. Cahill does look too passive so for me is a no-no. Maybe Cesc?

I agree. That's why I said Cahill shouldn't be the captain. Cesc is a gobby bastard, but that's what you need from a skipper. Look at JT, for instance. The bloke doesn't shut up, even when we're 3-0 down.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Ivanovic is too much of a hot-head for me and I'm not sure he's guaranteed a start anymore. Plus we're talking about replacing JT as captain when he's only 33. Ivanovic is 30. It's hardly a long-term appointment.

Cahill is a good shout but like Barbara said, he's a bit quiet. Able, loyal lieutenant but captain...I'm not sure. Wouldn't let you down though.

Matic is a decent shout but it's too soon to know. He's only been here 6 months and was still bedding himself in but I could certainly see him grow in importance if he continues his progress.

I think it's too soon to know though. JT is captain right now and there's no reason to think he won't be that come May and possibly beyond. It's basically about waiting to see who emerges from the current lot and takes the opportunity that is going to be there. Ideally though my choice is one of the young English lads on the fringes of the squad, preferably Chalobah. I like the way he conducts himself, he plays the positions I prefer skippers to come from (defence or midfield, defensive midfield probably the perfect choice), he's Chelsea through and through and he's a quality player. A similar argument could be made for Lotfus-Cheek too, but these are both some ways down the road.

[jmarlow 458]

The disrespect of a club legend still on top of his game and the eagerness to crown thibaut as the number one is ridiculous. Cech has and still is a superior goalkeeper to courtois and if he becomes 2nd choice next season it will likely be for political reasons i.e a bid to secure long term future in that position rather than on merit.

Either way that number one spot has to be earned and I could give a toss about Thibaut's clean sheet record at Atleti, he will be judged on what he does in the blues uniform and Cech is obviously the proven candidate at this point.

Its not disrespectful at all! its the harsh reality! Courtois is clearly the better GK! and will be the number 1 next season!

your just letting your obvious bias towards Cech cloud what is so so obvious.

[Sovieticus 743]

Torres started a game once as a captain and did amazing job. I think he should be our captain.

[Madmax 9,219]

Torres started a game once as a captain and did amazing job. I think he should be our captain.

We're not worthy

[bethos1 802]

Hazard ofcourse .

[lionsden 4,689]

Its not disrespectful at all! its the harsh reality! Courtois is clearly the better GK! and will be the number 1 next season!

your just letting your obvious bias towards Cech cloud what is so so obvious.

Based on what? The hype machine? Newer and younger is better bandwagoners?. I base my opinion on what I have seen from both Keepers and Cech is the superior GK. I prefer to go off visual evidence rather than statistics and hype machine.

For one, Cech is a superior ball handler and shot stopper (He actually catches or parries shots out of danger zone unlike Thibaut)

He has superior reflexes, superior anticipation and awareness (This one along with ball handling are not even debatable in my opinion) , better judgement.

The only areas where Courtois edges Cech are agility (he's younger which makes it only normal), dealing with corners and distribution which isn't much of an achievement as Cech has one of the worst ball distribution of any goalkeeper ever.

Everything else Cech has him beat easily and it's also worth noting that despite our solid defence the Czech still gets tested far far more often and he's usually very reliable.

I don't need misleading statistics to tell me these things and those are just the tangibles.

[iseah100 5,612]

Based on what? The hype machine? Newer and younger is better bandwagoners?. I base my opinion on what I have seen from both Keepers and Cech is the superior GK. I prefer to go off visual evidence rather than statistics and hype machine.

For one, Cech is a superior ball handler and shot stopper (He actually catches or parries shots out of danger zone unlike Thibaut)

He has superior reflexes, superior anticipation and awareness (This one along with ball handling are not even debatable in my opinion) , better judgement.

The only areas where Courtois edges Cech are agility (he's younger which makes it only normal), dealing with corners and distribution which isn't much of an achievement as Cech has one of the worst ball distribution of any goalkeeper ever.

Everything else Cech has him beat easily and it's also worth noting that despite our solid defence the Czech still gets tested far far more often and he's usually very reliable.

I don't need misleading statistics to tell me these things.

Okay, Cech is miles ahead of Courtois. But Courtois is still a top 5 gk. And we have to choose whether we want 4-5 years of Cech or 12-15 years of Thibaut.

[lionsden 4,689]

Okay, Cech is miles ahead of Courtois. But Courtois is still a top 5 gk. And we have to choose whether we want 4-5 years of Cech or 12-15 years of Thibaut.

I will have 5 years of reliability, top professionalism, great leadership on and off the pitch and an extra topping of amazing personality please.

[iseah100 5,612]

I will have 5 years of reliability, top professionalism, great leadership on and off the pitch and a topping of amazing personality to boot please.

Then thank god you're not the manager. Courtois is already a top 5 gk at 21. He could be as good as Cech if not better with time. Cech is not what he was 2-3 years ago.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Then thank god you're not the manager. Courtois is already a top 5 gk at 21. He could be as good as Cech if not better with time. Cech is not what he was 2-3 years ago.

It's amazing that the people who talk about supporting youth and giving them a chance are the first to put the boot into them and unfairly criticise them. It's simply moaning for the sake of it.

Lionsden's assessment of Courtois is massively flawed. Of course he has areas of his game to work on but every player does...but he's 21 for fuck's sake and already better than Cech.

Cech has become dodgy at crosses. He's cost us goals, he's cost us points and those points could've cost us the title. Yes we lacked a striker. Yes we are a work in progress, but he fucked up against West Brom and Stoke (amongst others) yet the sainted Cech gets a free pass.

I love Cech. He's a Chelsea legend and he rivals Bonetti and Kharine (what?? he was awesome) as our best ever, but he was dropped last season because he made mistakes. Let's assess him fairly if we're going to criticise Courtois harshly - Cech looked poorer last season than he has done in a long time. Courtois just seems to be getting better. Take emotion out of the equation and look at the trends.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Guys, we already have about a dozen Cech vs Courtois threads. Can we please keep this one about the next Chelsea captain?