Rumoured Defensive unit?

[boshman 1,073]

Tbh we don't necessarily need 8 defenders. With Iva and Azpi able to play in two different positions i can see 6 being fine.

JT, Cahill, Iva, Azpi, Luis (assuming he signs) and one of Zouma or Omerou.

[Matterz 67]

Tbh we don't necessarily need 8 defenders. With Iva and Azpi able to play in two different positions i can see 6 being fine.

JT, Cahill, Iva, Azpi, Luis (assuming he signs) and one of Zouma or Omerou.

Personally I think is cutting it very fine and playing a dangerous game. Two of them get injured and we will only have 4 defenders to pick from. I get what you saying about how versatile some of the defenders are, but still leaves us very short and brings back memories of when Jose only had 3 centre backs for one season (Terry, Carvalho and Boulahrouz) that turned out to be a nightmare, so rather safe than sorry.

Also with Luiz gone we forget that he was playing back up the whole of last season and his versatility needs to be replaced.

[boshman 1,073]

Personally I think is cutting it very fine and playing a dangerous game. Two of them get injured and we will only have 4 defenders to pick from. I get what you saying about how versatile some of the defenders are, but still leaves us very short and brings back memories of when Jose only had 3 centre backs for one season (Terry, Carvalho and Boulahrouz) that turned out to be a nightmare, so rather safe than sorry.

Also with Luiz gone we forget that he was playing back up the whole of last season and his versatility needs to be replaced.

I would have added Kalas into that group but he has obvioisly gone out on loan. Lol.

What would you suggest? I would be reluctant to buy as we already have fantastic young defenders. (Kalas, Ake, Zouma and Omerou) and buying a proven, £100,000 a week player will just block their path.

[Matterz 67]

I would have added Kalas into that group but he has obvioisly gone out on loan. Lol.

What would you suggest? I would be reluctant to buy as we already have fantastic young defenders. (Kalas, Ake, Zouma and Omerou) and buying a proven, £100,000 a week player will just block their path.

I think Omeruo will go on loan again, Ake is still a very raw talent, cant see him being relied on much, and Zouma is a bit of an unknown quantity, i would actually be surprised if he wasn't sent on loan too.

As much as I like young talent and academy players, I prefer title winning squads. So I wouldn't at all be surprised to see us go after Varane. Would leave us with Ivanovic (Chelsea's best defender IMO), Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Varane, Luis, and perhaps Zouma and Ake.

All our young players are very good, and we would all love to see them play more often, but the reality is, that you really do need to be world class to be a part of this Chelsea squad, and with the exception of Courtois, I haven't really seen that level from any of the others.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

The real question here is why is "Defensive unit" 'Rumoured'?!

[manpe 10,861]

Personally I think is cutting it very fine and playing a dangerous game. Two of them get injured and we will only have 4 defenders to pick from. I get what you saying about how versatile some of the defenders are, but still leaves us very short and brings back memories of when Jose only had 3 centre backs for one season (Terry, Carvalho and Boulahrouz) that turned out to be a nightmare, so rather safe than sorry.

Also with Luiz gone we forget that he was playing back up the whole of last season and his versatility needs to be replaced.

I agree, 6 is not enough throughout the whole season. An injury here, a suspension there, and before we know we're playing Mikel at CB. I remember Jose once talked about how he sees a balance in a squad, and I believe he said that there should be at least one direct backup for each position, so 4 centre-backs and 4 full-backs.

[boshman 1,073]

I think Omeruo will go on loan again, Ake is still a very raw talent, cant see him being relied on much, and Zouma is a bit of an unknown quantity, i would actually be surprised if he wasn't sent on loan too.

As much as I like young talent and academy players, I prefer title winning squads. So I wouldn't at all be surprised to see us go after Varane. Would leave us with Ivanovic (Chelsea's best defender IMO), Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Varane, Luis, and perhaps Zouma and Ake.

All our young players are very good, and we would all love to see them play more often, but the reality is, that you really do need to be world class to be a part of this Chelsea squad, and with the exception of Courtois, I haven't really seen that level from any of the others.

I get where you are coming from in regards to the 'title winning squads' rather than young talent and i agree to a certain extent but we have some fantastic young defenders here. Also with FFP in full force now i think we would be silly to let these boys slip away. The only way we will find out ifthese lads will cope is if they get thrown in at the deep end.

If we start off with a back 4 of;

Azpi, Cahill, JT, Luis,

Every eventuality is covered.

Azpi injured - Iva covers

JT/Cahill injured - Iva covers

Luis injured - Iva to RB, Azpi to LB

Both Azpi and a CB injured - Iva in at RB, Zouma in at CB

Both fullbacks injured - Iva and Bertrand/PVA cover

Both CB injured - Iva and Zouma cover

Anything more than 2 injuries/suspensions at one time i think will be extremely unlucky. I believe we will have adequate cover.

[mccg 1,528]

Tbh we don't necessarily need 8 defenders. With Iva and Azpi able to play in two different positions i can see 6 being fine.

JT, Cahill, Iva, Azpi, Luis (assuming he signs) and one of Zouma or Omerou.

To think 6 would be fine is verging on madness,to play possibly 50+ games with 6 defenders i doubt we will finish in the top4 imho!!!Never mind challenging for anything

[The Skipper 20,609]

To think 6 would be fine is verging on madness,to play possibly 50+ games with 6 defenders i doubt we will finish in the top4 imho!!!Never mind challenging for anything

Luis, Ake, Terry, Zouma, Ivanovic, Cahill, Azpilicueta. 7 defenders is fine.

[mccg 1,528]

Luis, Ake, Terry, Zouma, Ivanovic, Cahill, Azpilicuata. 7 defenders is fine.

God help us Terry&Cahill out for long spells or they have to play near 50 games especially Jt!

[The Skipper 20,609]

God help us Terry&Cahill out for long spells or they have to play near 50 games especially Jt!

What if they don't get injured for a long spell? The probability of both being out for a long spell is very, very low.

[Liquidator 5,176]

God help us Terry&Cahill out for long spells or they have to play near 50 games especially Jt!

The same could be said for any club. Very few have more than 3 very high quality centre backs.

We just need a back up left back