Juan Cuadrado

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

My early conclusions on Cuadrado and the whole AMs saga in January..

There is one connection between Cuadrado, Schurlle and Salah that i think no one can ignore - the ball control / technical abilities / close control of all three are... how to say.... not great. Not ideal for a big team who wants to control possession, wants to move the ball quick, wants to keep the ball and link up in tight spaces. Its also something that they cant improve drastically.

One of the things im sure of right now after the season we had so far, is that Chelsea cant play with a AM like those 3 in their first line up. A big team who wants to be top 4 in the world today, needs to push to have the maximum players who can play the ball quick, can handle ball pressure and all the other things i wrote which are basically the same thing - great technical abilities. Thats football today, look at Bayern, Barcelona and Real - almost 100% of their first eleven are players who can play the ball, even the defenders. And off course its important mostly in midfield. Thats one of the two reasons to why Mourinho likes Willian more than any other AM (after Hazard, and the other reason is off course the work rate), his contribution in the final third is underwhelming, but his technical abilities are great, and way better than those players i mentioned, and even Oscar's.

Some members are angry Salah is gone and doing so well, but like i said he couldnt succeed here. Fiorentina suits his pace and dribble, cause they play on counter attacks with very few players up, so he looks like a little Maradona there trying to do it all and running around. Have him back in Chelsea and it will be the same - he would look like someone who just started playing football. I think Cuadrado is more talented than Salah and Schurrle, so maybe he could at least develop to be a good back up player, unlike Salah and Schurrle (this season).

And last... Douglas Costa. The player everyone here didnt want so bad, in a bizzare way i must say, cause none of them watched him more than a few.

I'll tell you what, now im completely sure the notorious D.Costa was the first name on Jose's list last January, not Cuadrado. And its for the same old reason again - great technical abilities, which he got. And im also sure Costa would have played if he was the player we got and not Cuadrado, he would have played a lot more than a few bench appearances. He speaks the same 'football language' Cesc, Hazard and Willian speaks, and instead we got another AM who speaks different language.

Now while im not saying we should try to sign D.Costa again in the summer, im saying we lack another player who speaks that language. Hopefully we would get him, and hopefully it would be a player who's more decisive and smart on the ball like Cesc/Hazard, rather than another Willian, but the 'great technical abilities' is a MUST and the most important issue.

And about Cuadrado again, he should stay and fight for his place, but the maximum imo is that he'll be a good super sub for a year or two until he feels he needs more game time.

I'm pretty sure his ball control was the reason why we wanted him...to help Hazard on the other flank...

[nadavTKL 1,787]

I'm pretty sure his ball control was the reason why we wanted him...to help Hazard on the other flank...

Im pretty sure it wasnt the reason. Everyone who watched Cuadrado in Italy or Colombia 2-3 times can tell you his ball control is far far away from Hazard's and even Willian's. Imo the reason we got him was his explosiveness and pace on the right wing.

[zolayes 14,489]

Im pretty sure it wasnt the reason. Everyone who watched Cuadrado in Italy or Colombia 2-3 times can tell you his ball control is far far away from Hazard's and even Willian's. Imo the reason we got him was his explosiveness and pace on the right wing.

Im pretty sure it wasnt the reason. Everyone who watched Cuadrado in Italy or Colombia 2-3 times can tell you his ball control is far far away from Hazard's and even Willian's. Imo the reason we got him was his explosiveness and pace on the right wing.

Im not convinced that he is better than Willian or Salah .. I DO hope Im wrong

[nyikolajevics 2,692]

im completely sure the notorious D.Costa was the first name on Jose's list last January, not Cuadrado.

Why did we not sign him then? We played more than 30 million Euros for Cuadrado. Do you think Shakhtar would reject so much money for a player that wants to leave? Or we were willing to pay more money for Cuadrado who was the second name on the list?

I agree with most things you write but this doesn't seem right.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Falcao was fine when he was first starting he had 3 goals and 2 assists in 5 games then LVG benched him for no reason and he never was the same again.

For players moving to england and adapting to a new game regular playing time is a major issue. More so for Falcao who was recovering from a injury.

Did you watch Colombia's friendly against Bahrein? What about Cuadrado's performance?

[nadavTKL 1,787]

Why did we not sign him then? We played more than 30 million Euros for Cuadrado. Do you think Shakhtar would reject so much money for a player that wants to leave? Or we were willing to pay more money for Cuadrado who was the second name on the list?

I agree with most things you write but this doesn't seem right.

Shaktar are as stubborn as Porto. Costa said a few days ago that his realese clause is around 50m euros.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Cuadrado has very good technique. He's just not perfect at keeping the ball under pressure but he tries to win a lot of fouls if he knows he'll lose the ball.

That's what has not worked for him so far, especially in England where referees have a problem with Chelsea. Even Neymar will look worse than Willian because he can't keep the ball under pressure and will prefer to fall.

Give cuadrado 3-4 straight starts and he'll get used to what is required easily imo.

[nyikolajevics 2,692]

Shaktar are as stubborn as Porto. Costa said a few days ago that his realese clause is around 50m euros.

Release clauses like that mean nothing, no club will ever play 50 million for a player from the Ukranian league. Maybe they wanted Costa to stay in order to beat Bayern They would be lucky if they got like 25 million for him, still a lot of money.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

Release clauses like that mean nothing, no club will ever play 50 million for a player from the Ukranian league. Maybe they wanted Costa to stay in order to beat Bayern They would be lucky if they got like 25 million for him, still a lot of money.

You can see it does mean something in Shaktar. Willian went for 35m euros after many summers of rumors about a switch, Fernandinho also went for the same price in the age of 28. I guess if Costa gets his switch in the next 2 years it would be for at least 40m.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

Disappointed to see him subbed at halftime. Don't see him starting this weekend.

[Stats 7,142]

Disappointed to see him subbed at halftime. Don't see him starting this weekend.

It probably was always planned. He played 83 minutes in their game on Thursday against Bahrain which is nearly the whole game so it would have been agreed before the match started I assume for him to play 45. That being said he probably could have scored a hattrick for Colombia and would most likely be on the bench anyway against Stoke. Would like to see Mourinho give him a start though.

[Fernando 6,585]

Waste of money if he's going to be on the bench. We sold a young guy to fund this move.

Yet now this guy will have little resale value.

[empire of emotions 247]

i feel sorry for him. awesome player but playing without confidence. it's definitely no joke. and now unlucky too.

i hope he will be better next season when he adjusts to england and gain confidence.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

Think unless something changes dramatically his career is gonna be another Salah or Schurrle for us ah well Sterling in summer will be OK.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Have to admit, the way going on must be unexpected for Jose.