Juan Cuadrado

[manpe 10,861]

Like many here I hadn't really watched him play carefully before. And it's hard to trust people in this forum considering most just look at youtube and/or whoscored and form an opinion.

So instead, I downloaded full matches of Colombia during the world cup and watched them with my eyes solely focused on Cuadrado.

Here's what I think of him:

1. Dribbling - easily the 2nd best dribbler in our team now after Hazard, he can definitely beat a man or more. His dribbling style differs from Hazard as he relies on his quick first dribble, body feints, change of direction and then pace to get by his man. He utilizes a lot of feints when on the ball to get the defender off balance and if successful, utilizes his pace to just blow by them.
2. Pace - lots of pace, and he knows how to use it.
3. Close ball control - better than Schurrle, but not as good as Hazard or Willian. I'd say similar to Oscar, maybe slightly worse. His close ball control in tight spaces is a bit hit and miss, some come off, but he tends to lose possession often due to difficulty keeping the ball under pressure.
4. Passing - his general short passing is nothing special, whenever he gets the ball, his first thought is to take on his man and if he's not confident of getting by him, just a safe pass back or sideways (Hazard does this a lot too)
5. Crossing - good crosser, has great shape on his crosses, reminds me of Filipe's crosses similar how he whips em in
6. Corners/Set-pieces - he's got great corners and set-piece delivery, not as good as Cesc, but definitely better than Willian.
7. Free-kicks - has a very powerful shot, I see him take over the similar types of free-kicks Andre took at times, long distance straight on.
8. Vision - i don't feel comfortable judging this yet, I haven't watched enough to say good or bad here
9. Off-ball movement - good movement, looks to play 1-2s often and is a willing runner on the flanks, doesn't get into the box as much as Oscar or Schurrle but definitely more than Willian
10. Strength - not very strong, goes down too easily for the PL. He gets fouled a lot, but he's going to suffer like Hazard where he'll get those calls in Europe but not in the PL. He'll lose a lot of possession where he'll get slightly fouled, he'll go down and get no call. He'll need to get stronger and stay on his feet cause I see this as his biggest weakness. Hazard, Willian know how to ride a challenge and keep going, Cuadrado isn't on that level. He'll need to learn how to ride challenges and keep going.
11. Shooting - powerful shot, that's all I'm comfortable with right now. Haven't seen enough to say good or bad.
12. Defending - he's very much willing to track his man all the back but he isn't the best 1 on 1 defender, so unlike Willian he'll need Ivan to stay home for cover. But then again, if he's facing fullbacks more often, his main job would be to stop the cross, which he is good at. Overall, much better than Schurrle but not even on the same planet as Willian (no other AM is really).

If there's something I missed, let me know and I can speak to it as well.

Overall, definitely an upgrade on Schurrle imo. Very direct, much more than anyone else in the team. His first thought is always to beat him man and just run into the box to take a shot or get an assist. When he's on, he'll be very dangerous against everyone. We just need to get him 1 on 1 as much as possible because under pressure he is very much prone to losing the ball.

TalkChelsea official scout.

[WNDS 502]

Like many here I hadn't really watched him play carefully before. And it's hard to trust people in this forum considering most just look at youtube and/or whoscored and form an opinion.

So instead, I downloaded full matches of Colombia during the world cup and watched them with my eyes solely focused on Cuadrado.

Here's what I think of him:

1. Dribbling - easily the 2nd best dribbler in our team now after Hazard, he can definitely beat a man or more. His dribbling style differs from Hazard as he relies on his quick first dribble, body feints, change of direction and then pace to get by his man. He utilizes a lot of feints when on the ball to get the defender off balance and if successful, utilizes his pace to just blow by them.
2. Pace - lots of pace, and he knows how to use it.
3. Close ball control - better than Schurrle, but not as good as Hazard or Willian. I'd say similar to Oscar, maybe slightly worse. His close ball control in tight spaces is a bit hit and miss, some come off, but he tends to lose possession often due to difficulty keeping the ball under pressure.
4. Passing - his general short passing is nothing special, whenever he gets the ball, his first thought is to take on his man and if he's not confident of getting by him, just a safe pass back or sideways (Hazard does this a lot too)
5. Crossing - good crosser, has great shape on his crosses, reminds me of Filipe's crosses similar how he whips em in
6. Corners/Set-pieces - he's got great corners and set-piece delivery, not as good as Cesc, but definitely better than Willian.
7. Free-kicks - has a very powerful shot, I see him take over the similar types of free-kicks Andre took at times, long distance straight on.
8. Vision - i don't feel comfortable judging this yet, I haven't watched enough to say good or bad here
9. Off-ball movement - good movement, looks to play 1-2s often and is a willing runner on the flanks, doesn't get into the box as much as Oscar or Schurrle but definitely more than Willian
10. Strength - not very strong, goes down too easily for the PL. He gets fouled a lot, but he's going to suffer like Hazard where he'll get those calls in Europe but not in the PL. He'll lose a lot of possession where he'll get slightly fouled, he'll go down and get no call. He'll need to get stronger and stay on his feet cause I see this as his biggest weakness. Hazard, Willian know how to ride a challenge and keep going, Cuadrado isn't on that level. He'll need to learn how to ride challenges and keep going.
11. Shooting - powerful shot, that's all I'm comfortable with right now. Haven't seen enough to say good or bad.
12. Defending - he's very much willing to track his man all the back but he isn't the best 1 on 1 defender, so unlike Willian he'll need Ivan to stay home for cover. But then again, if he's facing fullbacks more often, his main job would be to stop the cross, which he is good at. Overall, much better than Schurrle but not even on the same planet as Willian (no other AM is really).

If there's something I missed, let me know and I can speak to it as well.

Overall, definitely an upgrade on Schurrle imo. Very direct, much more than anyone else in the team. His first thought is always to beat him man and just run into the box to take a shot or get an assist. When he's on, he'll be very dangerous against everyone. We just need to get him 1 on 1 as much as possible because under pressure he is very much prone to losing the ball.

I'd been meaning to make a post like this for some time, but you've beaten me to it. It's great that you have though, because this is pretty much as complete, detailed, and accurate a summary of Cuadrado's qualities, strengths and weaknesses as anyone could provide. The Cuadrado-Willian comparisons are particularly spot-on; Cuadrado is faster and better at dribbling/crossing/shooting, whilst Willian is stronger and better at defending/ball control/short passing.

[Hkibou 622]

Like many here I hadn't really watched him play carefully before. And it's hard to trust people in this forum considering most just look at youtube and/or whoscored and form an opinion.

So instead, I downloaded full matches of Colombia during the world cup and watched them with my eyes solely focused on Cuadrado.

Here's what I think of him:

• Dribbling - easily the 2nd best dribbler in our team now after Hazard, he can definitely beat a man or more. His dribbling style differs from Hazard as he relies on his quick first dribble, body feints, change of direction and then pace to get by his man. He utilizes a lot of feints when on the ball to get the defender off balance and if successful, utilizes his pace to just blow by them.
• Pace - lots of pace, and he knows how to use it.
• Close ball control - better than Schurrle, but not as good as Hazard or Willian. I'd say similar to Oscar, maybe slightly worse. His close ball control in tight spaces is a bit hit and miss, some come off, but he tends to lose possession often due to difficulty keeping the ball under pressure.
• Passing - his general short passing is nothing special, whenever he gets the ball, his first thought is to take on his man and if he's not confident of getting by him, just a safe pass back or sideways (Hazard does this a lot too)
• Crossing - good crosser, has great shape on his crosses, reminds me of Filipe's crosses similar how he whips em in
• Corners/Set-pieces - he's got great corners and set-piece delivery, not as good as Cesc, but definitely better than Willian.
• Free-kicks - has a very powerful shot, I see him take over the similar types of free-kicks Andre took at times, long distance straight on.
• Vision - i don't feel comfortable judging this yet, I haven't watched enough to say good or bad here
• Off-ball movement - good movement, looks to play 1-2s often and is a willing runner on the flanks, doesn't get into the box as much as Oscar or Schurrle but definitely more than Willian
• Strength - not very strong, goes down too easily for the PL. He gets fouled a lot, but he's going to suffer like Hazard where he'll get those calls in Europe but not in the PL. He'll lose a lot of possession where he'll get slightly fouled, he'll go down and get no call. He'll need to get stronger and stay on his feet cause I see this as his biggest weakness. Hazard, Willian know how to ride a challenge and keep going, Cuadrado isn't on that level. He'll need to learn how to ride challenges and keep going.
• Shooting - powerful shot, that's all I'm comfortable with right now. Haven't seen enough to say good or bad.
• Defending - he's very much willing to track his man all the back but he isn't the best 1 on 1 defender, so unlike Willian he'll need Ivan to stay home for cover. But then again, if he's facing fullbacks more often, his main job would be to stop the cross, which he is good at. Overall, much better than Schurrle but not even on the same planet as Willian (no other AM is really).

If there's something I missed, let me know and I can speak to it as well.

Overall, definitely an upgrade on Schurrle imo. Very direct, much more than anyone else in the team. His first thought is always to beat him man and just run into the box to take a shot or get an assist. When he's on, he'll be very dangerous against everyone. We just need to get him 1 on 1 as much as possible because under pressure he is very much prone to losing the ball.

Good initiative, thank you. It is refreshing to see people wanting to actually know what they're talking about before talking. Last time I've checked, it takes millions to put up a properly running recruiting cell, and dozens of highly qualified people working full-time on the scouting. Even then, failure is still a probability for each new recruit.

Knowing that, I really don't get how people feel they know enough to make a judgement of what player he is and will be, based on the few youtube videos and statistics they have seen.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Like many here I hadn't really watched him play carefully before. And it's hard to trust people in this forum considering most just look at youtube and/or whoscored and form an opinion.

So instead, I downloaded full matches of Colombia during the world cup and watched them with my eyes solely focused on Cuadrado.

Here's what I think of him:

• Dribbling - easily the 2nd best dribbler in our team now after Hazard, he can definitely beat a man or more. His dribbling style differs from Hazard as he relies on his quick first dribble, body feints, change of direction and then pace to get by his man. He utilizes a lot of feints when on the ball to get the defender off balance and if successful, utilizes his pace to just blow by them.
• Pace - lots of pace, and he knows how to use it.
• Close ball control - better than Schurrle, but not as good as Hazard or Willian. I'd say similar to Oscar, maybe slightly worse. His close ball control in tight spaces is a bit hit and miss, some come off, but he tends to lose possession often due to difficulty keeping the ball under pressure.
• Passing - his general short passing is nothing special, whenever he gets the ball, his first thought is to take on his man and if he's not confident of getting by him, just a safe pass back or sideways (Hazard does this a lot too)
• Crossing - good crosser, has great shape on his crosses, reminds me of Filipe's crosses similar how he whips em in
• Corners/Set-pieces - he's got great corners and set-piece delivery, not as good as Cesc, but definitely better than Willian.
• Free-kicks - has a very powerful shot, I see him take over the similar types of free-kicks Andre took at times, long distance straight on.
• Vision - i don't feel comfortable judging this yet, I haven't watched enough to say good or bad here
• Off-ball movement - good movement, looks to play 1-2s often and is a willing runner on the flanks, doesn't get into the box as much as Oscar or Schurrle but definitely more than Willian
• Strength - not very strong, goes down too easily for the PL. He gets fouled a lot, but he's going to suffer like Hazard where he'll get those calls in Europe but not in the PL. He'll lose a lot of possession where he'll get slightly fouled, he'll go down and get no call. He'll need to get stronger and stay on his feet cause I see this as his biggest weakness. Hazard, Willian know how to ride a challenge and keep going, Cuadrado isn't on that level. He'll need to learn how to ride challenges and keep going.
• Shooting - powerful shot, that's all I'm comfortable with right now. Haven't seen enough to say good or bad.
• Defending - he's very much willing to track his man all the back but he isn't the best 1 on 1 defender, so unlike Willian he'll need Ivan to stay home for cover. But then again, if he's facing fullbacks more often, his main job would be to stop the cross, which he is good at. Overall, much better than Schurrle but not even on the same planet as Willian (no other AM is really).

If there's something I missed, let me know and I can speak to it as well.

Overall, definitely an upgrade on Schurrle imo. Very direct, much more than anyone else in the team. His first thought is always to beat him man and just run into the box to take a shot or get an assist. When he's on, he'll be very dangerous against everyone. We just need to get him 1 on 1 as much as possible because under pressure he is very much prone to losing the ball.

Nice analysis, you got it spot on as I also viewed him. He is much more direct than Willian so he's nothing like him in that aspect.

He falls down like hazard used to when he first came to the Epl. His first touch is a little bit better than Oscars, and he mostly tries to win a foul under pressure since he isn't very strong.

What is your opinion on his decision making? Schurlle level, Willian level, Oscar level or hazard level????

[Henrique 9,133]

JT is gone?! Damn! I did not see that one coming!

Funny thing, I honestly still don't know what your opinion about Cuadrado is, but I do find your usual blind condescending attitude entertaining

Just take some minutes in this topic and you will know my opinion about Cuadrado quickly.

I find your overall opinion about football quite depressing.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Like many here I hadn't really watched him play carefully before. And it's hard to trust people in this forum considering most just look at youtube and/or whoscored and form an opinion.

So instead, I downloaded full matches of Colombia during the world cup and watched them with my eyes solely focused on Cuadrado.

Here's what I think of him:

1. Dribbling - easily the 2nd best dribbler in our team now after Hazard, he can definitely beat a man or more. His dribbling style differs from Hazard as he relies on his quick first dribble, body feints, change of direction and then pace to get by his man. He utilizes a lot of feints when on the ball to get the defender off balance and if successful, utilizes his pace to just blow by them.
2. Pace - lots of pace, and he knows how to use it.
3. Close ball control - better than Schurrle, but not as good as Hazard or Willian. I'd say similar to Oscar, maybe slightly worse. His close ball control in tight spaces is a bit hit and miss, some come off, but he tends to lose possession often due to difficulty keeping the ball under pressure.
4. Passing - his general short passing is nothing special, whenever he gets the ball, his first thought is to take on his man and if he's not confident of getting by him, just a safe pass back or sideways (Hazard does this a lot too)
5. Crossing - good crosser, has great shape on his crosses, reminds me of Filipe's crosses similar how he whips em in
6. Corners/Set-pieces - he's got great corners and set-piece delivery, not as good as Cesc, but definitely better than Willian.
7. Free-kicks - has a very powerful shot, I see him take over the similar types of free-kicks Andre took at times, long distance straight on.
8. Vision - i don't feel comfortable judging this yet, I haven't watched enough to say good or bad here
9. Off-ball movement - good movement, looks to play 1-2s often and is a willing runner on the flanks, doesn't get into the box as much as Oscar or Schurrle but definitely more than Willian
10. Strength - not very strong, goes down too easily for the PL. He gets fouled a lot, but he's going to suffer like Hazard where he'll get those calls in Europe but not in the PL. He'll lose a lot of possession where he'll get slightly fouled, he'll go down and get no call. He'll need to get stronger and stay on his feet cause I see this as his biggest weakness. Hazard, Willian know how to ride a challenge and keep going, Cuadrado isn't on that level. He'll need to learn how to ride challenges and keep going.
11. Shooting - powerful shot, that's all I'm comfortable with right now. Haven't seen enough to say good or bad.
12. Defending - he's very much willing to track his man all the back but he isn't the best 1 on 1 defender, so unlike Willian he'll need Ivan to stay home for cover. But then again, if he's facing fullbacks more often, his main job would be to stop the cross, which he is good at. Overall, much better than Schurrle but not even on the same planet as Willian (no other AM is really).

If there's something I missed, let me know and I can speak to it as well.

Overall, definitely an upgrade on Schurrle imo. Very direct, much more than anyone else in the team. His first thought is always to beat him man and just run into the box to take a shot or get an assist. When he's on, he'll be very dangerous against everyone. We just need to get him 1 on 1 as much as possible because under pressure he is very much prone to losing the ball.

Great insight. Serie A bores the hell out of me now! Besides seeing him in the WC (I "supported" Colombia as soon as England went out), I've seen him play four or five matches at most, but I was impressed with what I saw.

[Special Juan 27,424]

Cuadrado; Big Oppurtunity

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/02/cuadrado--big-opportunity.html

[stroey 2,525]

The making of Chelsea’s Juan Cuadrado: from struggle and trauma to triumph

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/feb/06/chelsea-juan-cuadrado-trauma-triumph-colombia

[Irakozium257 350]

I gotta a confession to make, I hope u guys won't judge me for it. I hope it doesn't make u wanna burn me at the stake, I hope u don't call for my head. I just wanna say that it was hard to come to the conclusion of having to confess, but okay here it goes..... I'm so stoked to use him in FIFA!!!!!! He's exactly what you need when playing against wingers and defenders, such as Bale, Carvajal, Clichy, Neymar, Marcelo, Lahm, etc... Any FIFA player that knows when the update's due?

[yuvala 2,167]

I gotta a confession to make, I hope u guys won't judge me for it. I hope it doesn't make u wanna burn me at the stake, I hope u don't call for my head. I just wanna say that it was hard to come to the conclusion of having to confess, but okay here it goes..... I'm so stoked to use him in FIFA!!!!!! He's exactly what you need when playing against wingers and defenders, such as Bale, Carvajal, Clichy, Neymar, Marcelo, Lahm, etc... Any FIFA player that knows when the update's due?

[pHaRaOn 2,131]

Juan Cuadrado sends a video message to the children in his foundation:

Hello Panitas I am sending this video to you from England. I wanted to share this first video with all of you. Now thanks to God I am fulfilling a dream and I am here in a great club and this motivates me to work more and harder and I wanted to share that with all. And also I want to say keep advancing day by day, with God everything is possible, work hard, work with the confidence and the faith that your dreams will come true. Also remember Panitas to respect your parents and listen to your mom and dad. It’s also important to do well with your studies. I’m sending a big hug and a big greeting; many blessings and I wanted to share my happiness with everyone — my Parceritos and my Panitas of the foundation. A big hug and God bless! Take care and always work hard for your dreams!

note: parceritos and panitas are affectionate regional terms used in Colombia. A roughly translated English equivalent might be “buddies”

Strikes me as a great guy.

[Zakadinho 84]

Cuadrado will take shul and salahs place if you know what i mean.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

I think he will play some part tomorrow, coming from the bench.

[Styles 9,790]

Juan Cuadrado sends a video message to the children in his foundation:

Hello Panitas I am sending this video to you from England. I wanted to share this first video with all of you. Now thanks to God I am fulfilling a dream and I am here in a great club and this motivates me to work more and harder and I wanted to share that with all. And also I want to say keep advancing day by day, with God everything is possible, work hard, work with the confidence and the faith that your dreams will come true. Also remember Panitas to respect your parents and listen to your mom and dad. It’s also important to do well with your studies. I’m sending a big hug and a big greeting; many blessings and I wanted to share my happiness with everyone — my Parceritos and my Panitas of the foundation. A big hug and God bless! Take care and always work hard for your dreams!

note: parceritos and panitas are affectionate regional terms used in Colombia. A roughly translated English equivalent might be “buddies”

Strikes me as a great guy.

Legend.

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

This guybimpresses me with his attitude. He just strikes me as incredibly Hungry!!!! Perfect age to have played football enough football and appreciate being at the top. He's done the dirty work, the loans and played in a league which is a shadow of its former self. Now he's at a top 5 European club and seems to want to grab the chance with both hands.

[mufilika 101]

Another underrated aspect of his game is his movement off the ball.

yes indeed. Among other things, this is one of the big differences btn him and Willian. Cuadrado's off the ball movement is not as good as Schurlle's but certainly much better than Willian's. Willian and Cuadrado are similar but also quite different.

Willian's off the ball movement is almost non existent, and for me that is his biggest weakness when on the wing. He will pass the ball and stand, instead of making runs in behind the defenders. I love Willian but that aspect of his game is very infuriating. It takes the potency out of our attack.

The other infuriating thing about Willian's game is the one trick pony dribble. I feel like slapping myself whenever he does it. He does a body fake and goes to the right. I think every single Premier league defender must know this; you almost always see the defenders position themselves in a one vs one with him knowing that he is gonna do a body fake and go to right.

I shout at my tv saying don't do it, AND HE DOES IT EVERY SINGLE FUCKIN TIME. IT"S SOOO INFURIATING. I love Willian but that is frustrating as fuck.

[LAM09 6,744]

Hoping he starts tomorrow!

[DH1988 1,273]

Well no better game than Villa to make your potential debut against, space and space and space galore as the game goes on.

Looking forward to it.