Filipe Luís

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Ouch thats harsh on Bertrand.

A youth player of ours who was in the premier league team of the season. Was he the finished article? Of course not, but he was definitely capable when called upon and could have grew into the role. Just casting him out as not good enough, while spending out the ass on other players who aren't good enough, is simply poor club policy. If the youth academy can't produce squad players, then it really is useless. Not a single youth player stands the slightest chance in hell in this current setup.

Helped us do this as well, which I'll always be grateful for:

[Tomo 21,751]

Bertrand never had a bad game for us. He rarely got starts and when he came in done very well. That season when we won the UCL, he came in to rotate for Cole against Arsenal in a 0-0 draw at the Emirates and got MOTM. In his few appearances here he performed very well. I would love to hear people's reasons why they think he is not good enough for us. He is very good defensively. Maybe Azpi is better than him defensively but that is probably because he does not venture forward as much and is less likely to get exposed. Going forward, Bertrand is probably the best offensively full back/LB in the league.

Luis now, is good defensively. Was exploited a few times when he played for us but majority of games done well. Decent going forward, but does not excel in this apartment however I don't see the qualities most LB have over Bertrand. Like I was saying, he is probably the best attacking LB in the league yet he still does his job defensively. There is no coincidence that he was part of the team who had the best defensive record in the league last season.

If you mean bad game as in looked all over the place then not many, but when he was getting regular games in 12/13 it became clear he was never going to be better than a squad player here, he didn't seem to want that so he left, fair enough.

He does have one huge weakness, he lets crosses into the box time after time (we scored vs Saints from a cross his side aswell), I remember that Everton League Cup game at Goodison under AVB and the crosses he allowed in that game (including for the Everton goal) must be a record. Ivanovic gets mullered for this side to his game yet Bertrand who's 10 times worse at it gets a free pass, I'm guessing because it doesn't fit in with the myth that he is a complete solid defender who we royally fuked up selling.

[xPetrCechx 13,570]

First contacts between Chelsea and Atletico for Filipe Luis, who are working on a loan deal. The Brazilian could return (via @DiMarzio) #CFC

#Atletico's loan proposal is likely to be rebuffed by Chelsea who want to recoup the bulk of the £16m they paid last summer (Mail) #CFC

Alderweireld was offered as part of initial talks between #CFC & #Atletico, but he is now joining #THFC for £11.5m after a medical (Mail)

[Stats 7,135]

If you mean bad game as in looked all over the place then not many, but when he was getting regular games in 12/13 it became clear he was never going to be better than a squad player here, he didn't seem to want that so he left, fair enough.

He does have one huge weakness, he lets crosses into the box time after time (we scored vs Saints from a cross his side aswell), I remember that Everton League Cup game at Goodison under AVB and the crosses he allowed in that game (including for the Everton goal) must be a record.

Then he may have had a lot to learn but he was only 23 without much games. It is clear that after playing regular football he has become one of the best LB in the league. In the match we played against them at the Bridge, I personally thought he had a good game and remember Azpi being caught out a couple of times but luckily we were never punished but sometimes we just could not handle the threat of their plays down the flank and he was their key asset and many times they exploited that area. Even if he does have the slightest defensive issues, he is probably the most effective full back in terms of being effective going forward and defending. I have always been impressed by him and as much as I appreciate having Azpi here if I had the choice I would never have sold Bertrand and had him as our first choice LB as he is homegrown, fantastic going forward and like I was saying, overall I think a very good defender. I reckon him and Hazard would be a dream link up when attacking.

[The Skipper 20,609]

PS: What the hell is "superior composure in tight spaces"?!

If you know you know.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Here's a wacky idea that apparently no one has thought of yet:

What if the reason we don't move Azpi back to RB and start Luis at LB is because Luis is no where near as good as either Azpi or Iva?!

Even compared to Iva with all his brain-farts, his inability to stop crosses and his often non-existing sense of tracking back, Iva is still a more solid and reliable defender who is difficult to beat 1vs1 and is a major asset on set-pieces.

Iva also offers A LOT more when he goes forward. Actually, apart from his ability to cross from deep, I've found that Luis's attacking abilities are mostly imagined. I often find that even Azpi in a couple of forward runs per game can do more damage than 10 runs Luis does.

So yeah...I think that Iva and Azpi start because they are our best two fullbacks...Too obvious to be true?

Behave - Ivanovic should've been either moved to striker or dropped from RB a long time ago. To suggest he's one of our 'best' fullbacks is an odd one from you Chou

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Behave - Ivanovic should've been either moved to striker or dropped from RB a long time ago. To suggest he's one of our 'best' fullbacks is an odd one from you Chou

It's not that hard to be one of our best fullbacks. We only have 3 of them. So basically he just needs to offer more than Luis, which I think he does...

If you know you know.

Oh, you and your dirty mind

[LDN Blue 7,903]

It's not that hard to be one of our best fullbacks. We only have 3 of them. So basically he just needs to offer more than Luis, which I think he does...

Oh. Well don't type in a misleading way - But I still think that neither Luis or Azpi would concede near as many goals as Ivanovic does in a full-back position. I don't believe that for a second, especially because we know how reliable Luis can be.

[Jase 43,479]

If you mean bad game as in looked all over the place then not many, but when he was getting regular games in 12/13 it became clear he was never going to be better than a squad player here, he didn't seem to want that so he left, fair enough.

He does have one huge weakness, he lets crosses into the box time after time (we scored vs Saints from a cross his side aswell), I remember that Everton League Cup game at Goodison under AVB and the crosses he allowed in that game (including for the Everton goal) must be a record. Ivanovic gets mullered for this side to his game yet Bertrand who's 10 times worse at it gets a free pass, I'm guessing because it doesn't fit in with the myth that he is a complete solid defender who we royally fuked up selling.

A tad easy to blame Bertrand for the goal Southampton conceded at the Bridge when questions could easily be asked of Tadic as well. IIRC, he was playing in front of Bertrand that day but was no where to mark his full back and ensure nothing comes into the area that easily.

[Jase 43,479]

Then he may have had a lot to learn but he was only 23 without much games. It is clear that after playing regular football he has become one of the best LB in the league. In the match we played against them at the Bridge, I personally thought he had a good game and remember Azpi being caught out a couple of times but luckily we were never punished but sometimes we just could not handle the threat of their plays down the flank and he was their key asset and many times they exploited that area. Even if he does have the slightest defensive issues, he is probably the most effective full back in terms of being effective going forward and defending. I have always been impressed by him and as much as I appreciate having Azpi here if I had the choice I would never have sold Bertrand and had him as our first choice LB as he is homegrown, fantastic going forward and like I was saying, overall I think a very good defender. I reckon him and Hazard would be a dream link up when attacking.

If people do not rate Bertrand, that is fine but I have not seen a proper reason as to why they don't rate him. If anything, the reasons have been somewhat superficial - he allows crosses to come into the box, he looks average to me, he did nothing impressive/played only so-so, he makes too many Ramires-esque passes etc. No one seem able to pin point which part of his game makes him a really average (or even bad) player even though he's always got the job done whenever he's played for us.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Oh. Well don't type in a misleading way - But I still think that neither Luis or Azpi would concede near as many goals as Ivanovic does in a full-back position. I don't believe that for a second, especially because we know how reliable Luis can be.

Iva is always targeted by opposition teams because his positioning and because he plays on the side of the weakest link in our defense: Cahill. Opposition always try to go down our right side when they can. Luis wasn't a starter for us and he got overpowered regularly when he played. If he were a starter he would no doubt be targeted by the opposition as well. Imagine Luis coming up against someone physical like Moses for example. He'd brush him out of the way every time.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Iva is always targeted by opposition teams because his positioning and because he plays on the side of the weakest link in our defense: Cahill. Opposition always try to go down our right side when they can. Luis wasn't a starter for us and he got overpowered regularly when he played. If he were a starter he would no doubt be targeted by the opposition as well. Imagine Luis coming up against someone physical like Moses for example. He'd brush him out of the way every time.

Ah yeah but you have to remember how sporadic his appearances have been. I mean there's a reason he was called integral to the Atletico team that won the La Liga right?.. Ivanovic has had an unjustifiable run and been exploited time and time again. He hasn't learned from those mistakes either. Azpilicueta switching to the right flank will help out with Cahill well, until he's replaced. Luis and Terry may have a successful partnership on the left if he was allowed a run of games perhaps.