Filipe Luís

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Hard to agree with that. Why did Jose spend £20m on Luis when Azpi was doing the defensive job perfectly?

IMO Luis is bought to provide a new dimension to the left flank and compliment Hazard. We hardly saw any link up play between Hazard and Azpi last season. It was almost as if he was own his own and double marked every time he got the ball on the left flank. Luis is a perfectly balanced signing and I don't think Jose is going to ask him to bring down his attacking game.

I think you guys are in for a big surprise. Azpi got forward when he was tactically deployed to do so. Luis while at Atletico wasn't deployed like most modern FB's who seem to play as wingers, he was used to win the ball back and provide an option on the flank.

I could be wrong but I don't think we're gonna see much variation in our play going forward from our FB's the evolution in going to occur in the centre of the pitch.

Luis is very similar to Azpi in his ability to win back the ball in dangerous counter attacking areas, why wouldn't Jose want him to play LB while Azpi returns to his natural position?

The lack of link up play from Hazard and Azpi is more tactical than it is an inability to do so. Jose likes a tight back 4 has always preferred that to FB's playing as wingers

[Barbara 15,149]

Just hope we get a solid 3-4 seasons out of him at his very best for this price. It's going to be strange seeing someone who's not Cole donning number 3

if he decides to play with #3 at all. In Brazil the number LB traditionally wears is 6, and it's available, so if he wants to play as he would in Brazil he'll go for that one.

[Barbara 15,149]

Not necessarily. Sure, against the bigger teams who are more threatening on the attack, Filipe Luis won't venture forward as much, but against teams that sit deep against us, he'll definitely be providing Hazard with options going forward. That's the beauty of a "dual threat" fullback if you will.

He wasn't just bought for his main function to just be providing sufficient cover for Hazard. If we want to get the best out of Hazard we need to open up spaces for him and have willing runners that will overlap/make intelligent runs for him, and not just leave him isolated to face 2/3 players on his own. Luis will definitely help in that regards too.

Absolutely.

If Mourinho's main concern was offering cover to Hazard's advances, he wouldn't have gone for a Brazilian LB of all possible.

No matter how less impressive in the attack he is compared to other Brazilians, he's still a Brazilian FB and as I said here in Brazil (and he played plenty of time still in Brazil) FB are rated more about their offensive game rather than their defensive game. We still play a lot through the flanks, it's our style and while we've incorporated wings (we were the ones who invented them in the first place in the 70's), even the smallest side here will have a FB bombing forward, it's how we play the game.

If Mourinho wanted to offer only defensive stability in the left flank he had two options 1) keep Azpili there (he's a beast defending) or 2) in case he wanted to restore Azpili to his original position he would have gone to the same profile for a LB (and there were a few available, even if not as good as Luís), not for Luís.

All that said, I do think Luís is better defending rather than attacking and overlapping, although of course he isn't shy in the latter.

[Hybrid Angel 2,130]

Luis is a very balanced LB in the terms of attacking and defending. If Jose was not going to let him attack a lot, he would have just kept Dave there who does the defensive work amazingly well but lacks quality going forward because he is a right-footed player.

I don't think Jose would mind Filipe going forward more than Dave as long as he does his defensive work perfectly which he did at Atletico. Same thing applies to whoever plays on the right.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

if he decides to play with #3 at all. In Brazil the number LB traditionally wears is 6, and it's available, so if he wants to play as he would in Brazil he'll go for that one.

I hope he does wear 3, I know it's superficial but it seems traditional. If anything, Matic should be granted no6

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

I hope he does wear 3, I know it's superficial but it seems traditional. If anything, Matic should be granted no6

Romeu no. 6

[Sidzeret 2,257]

I hope he does wear 3, I know it's superficial but it seems traditional. If anything, Matic should be granted no6

Him 3, Costa 19, Fabregas 4, Pogba 6 if he comes( Romeu will be out on loan, anyway)

Matic should keep the #21 shirt and make it legendary like Pirlo's. Also, I think he should grow a beard.

[Term-X 7,891]

Romeu no. 6

When KDB went on loan and came back.. he lost his number, so I doubt that's set in stone.

[Jype 6,398]

Arsenal: replaced Sagna, who refused to sign an extension, with a 29-year-old Debuchy who based on the last couple of seasons is certainly is not better than Sagna. Transfer fee £12m

Chelsea: replaced Cole, who the club didn't consider good enough for an extension, with a 29-year-old Luis who has been one of the best left-backs in the in the last couple of seasons. Transfer fee £16m, if reports are to be believed.

Not bad Chelsea, not bad at all.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

Arsenal: replaced Sagna, who refused to sign an extension, with a 29-year-old Debuchy who based on the last couple of seasons is certainly is not better than Sagna. Transfer fee £12m

Chelsea: replaced Cole, who the club didn't consider good enough for an extension, with a 29-year-old Luis who has been one of the best left-backs in the in the last couple of seasons. Transfer fee £16m, if reports are to be believed.

Not bad Chelsea, not bad at all.

I think Debuchy is a decent signing. Sagna was a disloyal cunt who wanted to leave but I can't understand why the shirt-barbecuing Arsenal fans were at peace with his departure. Debuchy is a typical Wenger signing and I fear he'll do well there.

Besides Wenger, uncharacteristically, is having a good transfer window.(must be all the booze from Brazil) I really hope the Khedira deal stalling is for real.

[Jype 6,398]

I think Debuchy is a decent signing. Sagna was a disloyal cunt who wanted to leave but I can't understand why the shirt-barbecuing Arsenal fans were at peace with his departure. Debuchy is a typical Wenger signing and I fear he'll do well there.

Besides Wenger, uncharacteristically, is having a good transfer window.(must be all the booze from Brazil) I really hope the Khedira deal stalling is for real.

I wasn't saying Debuchy is not a good signing, in fact I think he'll do well for them and was a much better signing than that Serge Aurier kid would have been. Anyone would find it hard to impress in the shambles of a team that is Newcastle United and before going there Debuchy while at Lille was actually along with Azpilicueta my preferred choice for our RB two years ago so I know he's a good player. I just find it funny that pretty much no one is questioning the amount Arsenal paid for him despite the fact he's also 29 before the season starts and has not been in good form for ages now but then a lot of opposition fans are saying our capture of Luis, who was consistently one of Atletico's best players in the last two seasons when they won a bunch of trophies, will be a flop due to his age and the price we paid for him which was actually not that much more than what Arsenal paid for Debuchy. I know we should never be surprised at fickle football fans having double standards but this one's really something.

[sdrcfc 461]

Arsenal: replaced Sagna, who refused to sign an extension, with a 29-year-old Debuchy who based on the last couple of seasons is certainly is not better than Sagna. Transfer fee £12m

Chelsea: replaced Cole, who the club didn't consider good enough for an extension, with a 29-year-old Luis who has been one of the best left-backs in the in the last couple of seasons. Transfer fee £16m, if reports are to be believed.

Not bad Chelsea, not bad at all.

A few years back when Debuchy was at Lille (circa '10), people thought of him as the best RB in the world.

Then he blew his any potential he had and signed for Newcastle.

Arsenal have been a lot more positive than in recent time with this transfer window though, they've brought a world-class player in Sanchez for cheap.

[Jype 6,398]

A few years back when Debuchy was at Lille (circa '10), people thought of him as the best RB in the world.

Read my post above yours. He was good at Lille and there was a time when I even considered him a good option for us but he's been quite bad for a couple of years now and at 29 he still cost Arsenal £12m, at least twice as much than where he was valued a few years ago when he was still younger and in much better form. Maybe his bad form is because of the teams he's played for: Lille without Cabaye, Hazard etc. and especially without manager Rudi Garcia was not a good squad anymore and we all know the state Newcastle have been in for the last couple of years but what if there's more to the story than that? No way to know for sure and that's why I find it funny that people are thinking Arsenal somehow got a bargain for £12m whereas we overspent by getting Luis for £16m.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

When KDB went on loan and came back.. he lost his number, so I doubt that's set in stone.

Yup, but most likely he will retain the number if he is in the squad for upcoming season. I don't see any competitor yet. If not, he still could choose decent set of numbers like no 5 or 8 though. Imagine if he choose no 8...

[The Skipper 20,593]

Yup, but most likely he will retain the number if he is in the squad for upcoming season. I don't see any competitor yet. If not, he still could choose decent set of numbers like no 5 or 8 though. Imagine if he choose no 8...

The player doesn't have the final decision in regards to what number they're going to wear...

[bluesman2610 1,341]

I think you guys are in for a big surprise. Azpi got forward when he was tactically deployed to do so. Luis while at Atletico wasn't deployed like most modern FB's who seem to play as wingers, he was used to win the ball back and provide an option on the flank.

I could be wrong but I don't think we're gonna see much variation in our play going forward from our FB's the evolution in going to occur in the centre of the pitch.

Luis is very similar to Azpi in his ability to win back the ball in dangerous counter attacking areas, why wouldn't Jose want him to play LB while Azpi returns to his natural position?

The lack of link up play from Hazard and Azpi is more tactical than it is an inability to do so. Jose likes a tight back 4 has always preferred that to FB's playing as wingers

I disagree with the last part you wrote citing the Wycombe game as indication of how our first team full backs will be playing and also how we played last year as Iva the main attacking full back.. We didn't bomb both players forward always kept a back 3 and sometimes 4 with one of holding mid players dropping in for cover... For the first goal we scored in preseason Piazon had tucked inside allowing Romeu to play a ball over the top into channel for Ake the FB to run on to.. I think we will see a more attacking style but we brought in players who also don't neglect the defensive side of play to keep our defense strong..

[Viper22 2,418]

A few years back when Debuchy was at Lille (circa '10), people thought of him as the best RB in the world.

Then he blew his any potential he had and signed for Newcastle.

Arsenal have been a lot more positive than in recent time with this transfer window though, they've brought a world-class player in Sanchez for cheap.

Not to nitpick as I agree with the rest of what you said, but £35M isn't cheap. It's about average. We paid that for Hazard and you wouldn't say that was cheap would you? And Hazard is a better player than Sanchez, or at least as good. £27M for Fabregas is cheap, £35M isn't.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

The player doesn't have the final decision in regards to what number they're going to wear...

Yes, but most likely the club will say yes, right? What is the club reason to reject it? Benayoun get 10, Boulahrouz get 9.