Mateo Kovacic

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

Kovacic is the only one out of the 4 midfielders (Kovacic, Kante, Barkley, RLC) that can play both midfield spots (not counting our DLP).  If anything, he's kind of the most important piece because he can be on the bench and sub for anyone (probably including Jorginho), or start in either of the 2 advanced midfield spots and the other 3 rotate around him.

[Magic Lamps 11,446]

43 minutes ago, Sideshow Luiz said:

Kovacic is the only one out of the 4 midfielders (Kovacic, Kante, Barkley, RLC) that can play both midfield spots (not counting our DLP).  If anything, he's kind of the most important piece because he can be on the bench and sub for anyone (probably including Jorginho), or start in either of the 2 advanced midfield spots and the other 3 rotate around him.

I think he can play all 3 and he is also able to play on the wing if necessary. But IMO Barkley and RLC both can play there too (apart from DLP) so that really should not be it. Kovacic came in with great form and immediately looked undisputed starter, esp with Barkley struggling for form initially. But now both, Barkley and RLC have delivered in impressive fashion and I can see why they are playing with the form they are in, no midfielder in this squad can rest on his laurels with the competition we have there. I still think Kovacic is the most talented naturally. But RLC and BArkley have quite decent technique plus are physical monsters with height, strength and pace. Now they are also scroing goals. You can see why they are playing. 

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

1 hour ago, Magic Lamps said:

I think he can play all 3 and he is also able to play on the wing if necessary. But IMO Barkley and RLC both can play there too (apart from DLP) so that really should not be it. Kovacic came in with great form and immediately looked undisputed starter, esp with Barkley struggling for form initially. But now both, Barkley and RLC have delivered in impressive fashion and I can see why they are playing with the form they are in, no midfielder in this squad can rest on his laurels with the competition we have there. I still think Kovacic is the most talented naturally. But RLC and BArkley have quite decent technique plus are physical monsters with height, strength and pace. Now they are also scroing goals. You can see why they are playing. 

I totally get why they are playing (I'm less convinced that any of them are useful on the wing).  But, part of why they are playing right now is our schedule.  Against top sides, it still has to be Kovacic and Kante, IMO.  Against parked busses, I'd go with Barkley and Kovacic right now.  Somewhere in the middle is the Barkley + Kante pairing.  

We'll see what RLC's defensive contribution is like by the end of the season, but as of now, having these 4 makes our midfield very versatile.  Cesc may well be gone next summer, so we're looking at these 4 plus Jorginho to take up the 3 starting positions and 2 bench spots which is great, IMO.

[Vesper 27,282]

24 minutes ago, Vybzkartel said:

People are getting carried away with Barkley and RLC's form Kovacic is still our best starting mid in that 8 position in most games. He links the midfield and attack well, breaks the lines well, passes well, retains the ball and overall is a better defender. Its good Ross and Ruben are pushing him but lets not get carried away. Im seeing a lot of bin Kovacic and dont sign him on a permanent deal when in actual fact we need to, just a year ago we had Bakayoko and Drinkwater starting games and peple have the audacity to question us signing a quality young mid like Kova??

Strawman argument. I have not seen one post questioning us signing Kovacic.

I also think the real argument is not Kovacic v Barkley/RLC but Kovacic v Kante.

 

[manpe 10,855]

6 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Strawman argument. I have not seen one post questioning us signing Kovacic.

I also think the real argument is not Kovacic v Barkley/RLC but Kovacic v Kante.

 

I think he means social media-sphere, not posts on here. I'm not sure, I don't follow these retarded twitter fools. But anyway, nobody should question signing him, when you have an opportunity to sign a player of his quality, you do it and bin somebody inferior. He would walk into almost any top team in the world, Barkley or RLC wouldn't. And I'm encouraged, the fact that he's on loan with us and gets accustomed to the team (by the sounds it he's loving it here) makes us the most likely to get him. He is the type we should be aiming at if we want to get back to the level we once were, not Drinkwater or Bakayoko or even RLC (who won't make it at Chelsea).

[OneMoSalah 8,611]

I think if Hazard resigns then signing Kovacic should be the next logical step along with recruiting a top striker and another CB in January or the summer. 

He really is a key part of the team, he may not always play with Ruben/Ross also available but he can play Kantes position as well as that more advanced role. Also his current age and the fact hes still got a lot of growing to do is even more attractive in terms of signing him.

Having 5 or 6 top MF options is excellent and we've lacked this for a while, Jorginho, Cesc, Kante, Ross, Ruben and Kova is the competitive MF options we need to keep everybody on their toes. No need to keep the likes of Bakayoko and Drinkwater either if we get this deal done. Hope Sarri and him push to get this move done for the summer.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

I keep forgetting that we even have Drinkwater.

[Vesper 27,282]

34 minutes ago, manpe said:

I think he means social media-sphere, not posts on here. I'm not sure, I don't follow these retarded twitter fools. But anyway, nobody should question signing him, when you have an opportunity to sign a player of his quality, you do it and bin somebody inferior. He would walk into almost any top team in the world, Barkley or RLC wouldn't. And I'm encouraged, the fact that he's on loan with us and gets accustomed to the team (by the sounds it he's loving it here) makes us the most likely to get him. He is the type we should be aiming at if we want to get back to the level we once were, not Drinkwater or Bakayoko or even RLC (who won't make it at Chelsea).

I am 80 to 90% convinced our strongest MF  for Sarriball is

Jorginho at DH DMF 

Kovacic at CMF B to B Hybrid role

Barkley at AMF

We lose too much fluidity and overall offensive conceptualisation when Kante is in there.

Only way I see to get all four on pitch at same time is to try something like the 3-1-3-3 we came up with, with Azpi as the 3rd CB, Kante in back of Jorginho as pure floating destroyer, and turtle Alonso on the bench.

Or, lolol, sell Hazard (if he refuses ro renew)  buy Icardi AND Dybala and play a 4 4 2.

[Vesper 27,282]

1 hour ago, Sideshow Luiz said:

I keep forgetting that we even have Drinkwater.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

46 minutes ago, Vesper said:

I am 80 to 90% convinced our strongest MF  for Sarriball is

Jorginho at DH DMF 

Kovacic at CMF B to B Hybrid role

Barkley at AMF

We lose too much fluidity and overall offensive conceptualisation when Kante is in there.

Only way I see to get all four on pitch at same time is to try something like the 3-1-3-3 we came up with, with Azpi as the 3rd CB, Kante in back of Jorginho as pure floating destroyer, and turtle Alonso on the bench.

Or, lolol, sell Hazard (if he refuses ro renew)  buy Icardi AND Dybala and play a 4 4 2.

I think it depends on the opposition.  I think that midfield isn't defensively solid enough against a team like City or Liverpool.  In matches like that, it's Kovacic and Kante, for me.  Right tools for the right job.  Nice to have a hammer and a screwdriver in the tool box.

[Vesper 27,282]

17 minutes ago, Sideshow Luiz said:

I think it depends on the opposition.  I think that midfield isn't defensively solid enough against a team like City or Liverpool.  In matches like that, it's Kovacic and Kante, for me.  Right tools for the right job.  Nice to have a hammer and a screwdriver in the tool box.

I can see your point. Especially if we have a healthy Eden.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

3 hours ago, Vesper said:

I can see your point. Especially if we have a healthy Eden.

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally on board with Kovacic + Barkley against teams that want to sit back.  Kante's ability to win the ball back becomes less important when we have 70% of the possession.

[Vybzkartel 284]

20 hours ago, Vesper said:

Strawman argument. I have not seen one post questioning us signing Kovacic.

I also think the real argument is not Kovacic v Barkley/RLC but Kovacic v Kante.

 

Go on twitter or any other Chelsea forum people are saying Kova should be binned because Ross and RLC is playing well. Its still a minority but its growing by the day. 

[Vybzkartel 284]

14 hours ago, Sideshow Luiz said:

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally on board with Kovacic + Barkley against teams that want to sit back.  Kante's ability to win the ball back becomes less important when we have 70% of the possession.

Kante's offensive out put has been great do not underestimate his influence. He has at least 4-5 pre assists this season. Against Burnely he was arguably our MoM from an offensive out put. look at most of our goals and attacking moves they had him as a pre assist or playing in the final assist. 

[!Hazard! 3,394]

1 hour ago, Vybzkartel said:

Kante's offensive out put has been great do not underestimate his influence. He has at least 4-5 pre assists this season. Against Burnely he was arguably our MoM from an offensive out put. look at most of our goals and attacking moves they had him as a pre assist or playing in the final assist. 

Kante definitely showed signs of improvement in that Burnley game but I still agree that Kovacic might be a better option for that role in certain games against smaller teams. His ability to carry the ball is Hazard-esque and with that he can create space for the other attackers. He's more creative and better passer than Kante as well in my opinion and probably is more likely to score the odd goal once in a while.

[Vesper 27,282]

2 hours ago, Vybzkartel said:

Go on twitter or any other Chelsea forum people are saying Kova should be binned because Ross and RLC is playing well. Its still a minority but its growing by the day. 

Oh, I thought you meant on here, lol.

Those nobs on Twitter and FB, IG, etc can sod off. They obviously have no clue about football overall, as Kovacic plays a different game from Barkley especially. RLC I can see TRYING (not sure succeeding) to play in similar spatial/kinetic models as Kova, but Barkley, no. I watch what Kante does NOW, and that role si PERFECT for Kovavcic, just perfect. I SUPER rate Kovavcic, massive fucking loss if we do not get him perm. I will cry (maybe, lol, my wife for SURE, as she has wanted him since Inter days and she cries much more than I do anyway!! LOLOL) if he goes.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

3 hours ago, Vybzkartel said:

Kante's offensive out put has been great do not underestimate his influence. He has at least 4-5 pre assists this season. Against Burnely he was arguably our MoM from an offensive out put. look at most of our goals and attacking moves they had him as a pre assist or playing in the final assist. 

It's gotten better, and I certainly don't think he's at his peak yet, in this role.  He has the technical ability and the brain to be able to.  He's not as good as Kovacic in an attacking sense, though.  Like I've said, different tools for different jobs.  the way things are balanced right now, I like it, it's a swiss army midfield.

[Vesper 27,282]

If we lose Kova

these are the acceptable (to us, us being my wife and myself) replacements (and no, these are not AMF's as that is Barkley/RLC to me, OR (huge statement of intent ) Kai Havertz, who atm I would take instantly over Bailey if we could only have ONE Bayer Leverkusen player). We also think Sandro Tonali (Neves will be too pricey) is an absolute must , MUST MUST buy in the Jorginho role, as his backup and hopefully eventually replacement.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic will be too expensive, (as would Saul and Koke and Marco Verratti), so

 

Frenkie de Jong   Ajax

Tanguy Ndombélé   Lyon

Adrien Rabiot  PSG

Piotr Zielinski  Poison Dwarves

Miralem Pjanic (lower down, as he turns 29 in February, and not thrilled with buying 30 (or soon to be) something players, he also is not a true box to box'er, but my dog would he be crazy good i Sarriball (Juve are probably NOT going to sell him anyway, so put this in pipe-dream, along with Thiago Alcantara from Bayern)

Corentin Tolisso   Bayern Munich (they will never sell him though, not for under 70,80, 90 million euros, same for Leon Goreztka)

Bryan Cristante   Roma

Nicolò Barella  Cagliari

Donny van de Beek  Ajax

Amadou Haidara  RB Salzbug

Marcelo Brozovic  Inter Milan

Houssem Aouar   Lyon

Franck Kessié  AC Milan

Roberto Gagliardini   Inter Milan

Rolando Mandragora   Udinese

Matías Vecino  Inter Milan (he is far better player than I have seen in the past, I so see what Sarri liked in him)

Giovani Lo Celso (on loan to Real Betis from PSG)

Rodrigo Bentancur  Juventus

Lorenzo Pellegrini   Roma

Fabián Ruiz  Poison Dwarves

Jordan Veretout Fiorentina

Rafinha  Barcelona

Geoffrey Kondogbia  Valencia

Maximilian Eggestein   Werder Bremen

Youri Tielemans  Monaco

Dani Ceballos  Real Madrid (I hope he IS the player who they consider keeping and using over Kovacic)

Manu Trigueros  Villarreal

Mattéo Guendouzi  Arse (no way they would sell him to us though)

Karol Linetty  Sampdoria

Antonin Barak  Udinese

Christopher Nkunku  PSG

Weston McKennie  Schalke

 

On a free, I would accept, after much thought, Aaron Ramsey from the Goonas, he is a hell of a player and is homegrown. He would be high on the list.

Also, we need to make a move for the best 16yo (yes 16, lol) MF on the planet atm, Ryan Gravenberch from Ajax, and get him into our academy