Ricardo Rodriguez

[BlueLyon 9,359]

I think its more pride....

Young kids all hear barca fans being proud of Xavi, iniesta, puyol, valdes all coming up from their academy, etc. However, in the EPL, thats not the case. EPL is run by foreign talent. The top players are mostly foreign players for the league.

Maybe your too young to remember barca before that period, with Ronaldinho, messi, eto, motta, deco, edmilson, van bommel, etc....

"I remember Barça played eleven or twelve years ago with eleven outsiders. This goes in phases. It's not like they can boast playing eleven home-grown players now. That's the message they're trying to put across at the moment, but a few years back they barely had any home-grown players. They started with Puyol and Xavi." - Iker Casillas

Lets see how many make it from Barca now.....

On a side note, I completely understand the whole English concept. However, my point was if their was a huge gap in talent from those two and transfer fees it might be better too look closely into Rodriguez than..

Also, we already have Cahill, and Chabs is suppose to be this uber CM for the future.

True about that barca side, but still, I would be very sad to see no english players in first 11 in Chelsea in 2015 or so...

[The Skipper 20,609]

I can understand taking in Shaw due to being English, etc, however, not that hes better or will better... How is Gibbs and Walker doing?

Gibbs was never as good as Luke Shaw at his age.

Walker was promising but Walker doesn't have Luke Shaw's finesse, and again wasn't as good as Shaw was at his age.

[peter_amb 54]

Who's to say Rodriguez won't cost £20m+? This isn't a club who needs to sell...

[Melanicus 5,208]

On his day, Ricardo is the best left back in the world. I don't see any reason, why he shouldn't be our main target for left back position? Shaw is okay, but he is nowhere near Rodriguez.

Imagine that left side of Rodriguez and Hazard, we would destroy opposition's right side completely.

[dkim2 73]

Would you rather have Gibbs than Marcelo because he is English? Talent gap between Rodriguez and Shaw are just too wide. I would take Rodriguez who's much better and will solve one of our problems (fullback giving width in attacking option) I would not worry too much about our lack of English talent. Out of 15 promising British talents listed by DailyMail, 3 of them are Chelsea players: Chalobah, Izzy Brown, RLC. We also have Kane, Swift, Baker, and Bamford who just scored debut goal in strong championship side. Chelsea youth is better than ever and we will at least have some players breaking into our squad within few years.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Would you rather have Gibbs than Marcelo because he is English?

Luke Shaw is the English left-back we've been linked with.

We actually went to the trouble of colour coding them so there's no confusion, although if you see a white one with a dodgy barnet then that's actually Baines.

[dkim2 73]

Shaw is not technically gifted and it does not improve much by aging. I don't see him being world beater 5 yrs later. Could be more of Aly Cissokho or David Santon who showed flashes of awesomeness when they were young but have not improved their game much.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Shaw is not technically gifted and it does not improve much by aging. I don't see him being world beater 5 yrs later. Could be more of Aly Cissokho or David Santon who showed flashes of awesomeness when they were young but have not improved their game much.

Sorry, but kids who aren't technically gifted don't hold down Premier League starting spots at the age of 17.

[dkim2 73]

Santon showed promises in 5 consecutive league winning Inter Milan side when he was 17 but still he wasn't technically gifted, which hindered his growth. Maybe your standard for "technically gifted" is far inferior than my standard. What I mean by "technically gifted" is a player whose technique can be potentially matched up with Baines, Marcelo, Alba, Alaba and etc, who can dribble past defenders, and very strong at holding on to balls, can provide quality pass and cross consistently, which is obviously not the case for Luke Shaw.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Santon showed promises in 5 consecutive league winning Inter Milan side when he was 17 but still he wasn't technically gifted, which hindered his growth. Maybe your standard for "technically gifted" is far inferior than my standard. What I mean by "technically gifted" is a player whose technique can be potentially matched up with Baines, Marcelo, Alba, Alaba and etc, who can dribble past defenders, and very strong at holding on to balls, can provide quality pass and cross consistently, which is obviously not the case for Luke Shaw.

Were you following Wigan's matches when they were in the old second division then?

[dkim2 73]

I am not being sarcastic but have you? If a player is not technically gifted when they are young, it is close to impossible to improve much by aging and experience. Barkley is one of the better if not the best English talent who holds his own on strong Everton team. Can we expect him to be as technically gifted as Spanish players? Highly unlikely, or, it is impossible.

[LondonPride1905 236]

Loving how people actually started to jack - off over a few comments for this guy, rather than Luke Shaw. Half of those people, don't watch neither, but just see that somebody has posted a long, analysing post about Rodriguez and how he is better than Shaw with millions of years. The fact that Shaw comes in a starter at 17 years, at a team which has the financial potential to buy players on his position if needed, should prove you enough. He is 18. He is not Roberto Carlos and Ashley Cole all in 1.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Santon showed promises in 5 consecutive league winning Inter Milan side when he was 17 but still he wasn't technically gifted, which hindered his growth. Maybe your standard for "technically gifted" is far inferior than my standard. What I mean by "technically gifted" is a player whose technique can be potentially matched up with Baines, Marcelo, Alba, Alaba and etc, who can dribble past defenders, and very strong at holding on to balls, can provide quality pass and cross consistently, which is obviously not the case for Luke Shaw.

You obviously haven't watched Shaw if you've never seen him glide past players (he's even done it versus us on numerous occasions).

Luke Shaw is a technical, attacking fullback, that's what he's known for. If you don't think that's the case then you should go watch him more often.

[Ze Mario 638]

i'd love to have one of them (either shaw and rodriguez) in our squad. but there is a gap between their ability. and rodriguez is step ahead of shaw.

and people have to stop bragging about shaw being starter at age 17. roberto carlos bloomed at the age 19, does that mean shaw better than carlos?

dont think so

the only reasonable reason is the fact about lack of english core in our squad.

me personally choose ricardo over shaw

Gibbs was never as good as Luke Shaw at his age.

Walker was promising but Walker doesn't have Luke Shaw's finesse, and again wasn't as good as Shaw was at his age.

[LondonPride1905 236]

i'd love to have one of them (either shaw and rodriguez) in our squad. but there is a gap between their ability. and rodriguez is step ahead of shaw.

and people have to stop bragging about shaw being starter at age 17. roberto carlos bloomed at the age 19, does that mean shaw better than carlos?

dont think so

the only reasonable reason is the fact about lack of english core in our squad.

me personally choose ricardo over shaw

You never know if he is going to be better or not? Do you see in the future? Carlos has finished his career , Shaw is starting it. For all we know, he can go on to be the best left - back in English history or blow - out with a big injury, but asking an 18 year old player, if he is better than Carlos, is like asking if Lukaku is bettter than Pele, just because he made his debut at 16 years.

[Ze Mario 638]

You never know if he is going to be better or not? Do you see in the future? Carlos has finished his career , Shaw is starting it. For all we know, he can go on to be the best left - back in English history or blow - out with a big injury, but asking an 18 year old player, if he is better than Carlos, is like asking if Lukaku is bettter than Pele, just because he made his debut at 16 years.

exactly

and the logic goes to the opposite side too. will he become awesome player as expected?

but you have to admit rodriguez currently better than him. and he's young too so that a plus

well, debating about ricardo and shaw can go on and on. like i said, i just want to make point that bragging about shaw became starter at age 17 doesnt mean that hes better option than ricardo

same goes to wilfried zaha, he became key member of palace at the age 17, and he helped bring palace promoted too. look where he is now. oh yeah right forget about moyes

[AswinR 96]

I was watching bundesliga highlights of late........

ricardo rodriguez is a very good player but i wouldnt pay 20 mils for the guy and not buy shaw!!

shaw is way better than him and a chelsea fan....dont see why we even need to ponder over whom to buy....

shaw 1st choice LB and PVA 2nd choice next season imo

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Why can't we have both? Luke Shaw is young and Rodriguez is nearing his prime years. Also lets not forget Shaw isn't tested at a very high level, he is looking good for Southampton but is he good enough for Europe?

Rodriguez is without a doubt the better LB but I like the fact that Shaw is homegrown and a Chelsea supporter... I say grab both and allow them to duke it out for minutes

[The only place to be 11,313]

Why can't we have both? Luke Shaw is young and Rodriguez is nearing his prime years. Also lets not forget Shaw isn't tested at a very high level, he is looking good for Southampton but is he good enough for Europe?

Rodriguez is without a doubt the better LB but I like the fact that Shaw is homegrown and a Chelsea supporter... I say grab both and allow them to duke it out for minutes

So we spend £45 million-odd on left-backs who are pretty much the same age?

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

So we spend £45 million-odd on left-backs who are pretty much the same age?

We don't know how much it will cost. But given the fact that Cole is out of contract and Azpilicueta is playing out of position I'd say that is an area where investment is necessary. £45M sounds like a lot I'd £35m for the two sounds more realistic. No way Luke Shaw goes for stupid money, he has potential but it still needs to be realized. The numbers being thrown around for him are INSANE and I doubt its realistic.