Mateo Kovacic

[Stats 6,988]

4 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

17 minutes ago, Stats said:

He was coming from Real Madrid and is young. It was a high but understandable price, especially with the ban too. And like I have always insisted, he was not awful last season. He done things well but was frustrating due to his lack of productivity in the final third.

Do you honestly think he would have been signed had the ban not been in effect?

Probably. Because the market is so inflated and getting a player who is better than him would cost nearly double the price in this day and age of football. But, yes I think Lamps would have given the go ahead either way.

[LAM09 6,569]

4 minutes ago, Stats said:

Probably. Because the market is so inflated and getting a player who is better than him would cost nearly double the price in this day and age of football. But, yes I think Lamps would have given the go ahead either way.

Fair enough. Nice to see a straight answer, even though I disagree. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,216]

Lampard stayed he wanted him 

[Tomo 21,685]

42 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

The ban gave us no choice, any sane fan would understand that. But his showings last season were so inconsistent that we surely would not have signed him without the ban. Now it does look a masterstroke with all the injuries. 40m was an absolute steal given how young he still is. Even if he does not add another dimension to his game like producing output as a technical DM together with Jorginho they can control most games pretty much like the Modric-Kroos connection. 

His class was clear last year but we played him in a position final 3rd end product is needed which led to people being frustrated with him because he can't produce on that part of the game at even an average level.

For me it was pretty clear he would thrive if played in a more appropriate position for his qualities, as has shown.

[Clockwork 1,770]

Watching jorginho and Kovacic the last two games have been a pleasure; Kovacic looking like Iniesta with his dribbling and cut through passes. 

[Special Juan 27,111]

That turn and drag v Burnley was simply sublime.

[manpe 10,857]

On 27/10/2019 at 5:34 PM, Tomo said:

His class was clear last year but we played him in a position final 3rd end product is needed which led to people being frustrated with him because he can't produce on that part of the game at even an average level.

For me it was pretty clear he would thrive if played in a more appropriate position for his qualities, as has shown.

It does look like Sarri's 4-3-3 didn't suit him. That, plus he's had time to adapt and obviously Frank is a brilliant coach who improves his players. 

[Atomiswave 6,072]

I found him crap last season, he was way off thanks to tactics and motivation. Comparing this Kova to last season is gigantic. 40m? Thats a fucking steal imo.....Frank has totally ascended him and still not at his peak years either. Him and Jorgo has been a revelation so far under Lamps and with Kante back soon we can and will dominate any midfield.

[Clockwork 1,770]

1 hour ago, manpe said:

It does look like Sarri's 4-3-3 didn't suit him. That, plus he's had time to adapt and obviously Frank is a brilliant coach who improves his players. 

Who knew playing a midfielder with obvious issues with his end product would not do well in a advanced midfield position. 

[Vesper 27,413]

10 minutes ago, Clockwork said:

Who knew playing a midfielder with obvious issues with his end product would not do well in a advanced midfield position. 

[Jase 43,479]

2 hours ago, manpe said:

It does look like Sarri's 4-3-3 didn't suit him. That, plus he's had time to adapt and obviously Frank is a brilliant coach who improves his players. 

Let's face it, Sarri's system was just painfully restrictive. Players can only do A, B, C but can't do D, E, F. Under Lampard, the players seem to have the license to express themselves and we're also playing a lot quicker than before, hence we're seeing the players enjoying themselves out there (although some times too much!). 

[Tomo 21,685]

23 minutes ago, Jason said:

Let's face it, Sarri's system was just painfully restrictive. Players can only do A, B, C but can't do D, E, F. Under Lampard, the players seem to have the license to express themselves and we're also playing a lot quicker than before, hence we're seeing the players enjoying themselves out there (although some times too much!). 

I don't want to get in the Sarri debate cycle again but I feel we had to play a bit of restrictive game at the start of this process (of changing the style) just to get the basics right and build on it. Sarri tried to go all in on the aesthetics initially and we ended up with that mess of a game against Arsenal.

While Lampard has done extraordinarily well so far, I think he was given a much solider foundation for his footy than if he took over from Conte.

Looking back us and Sarri were the perfect marriage of convience, we got a man/fall guy to start the process of changing our style of play while he got his buffer to Juve.

[Jase 43,479]

3 minutes ago, Tomo said:

I don't want to get in the Sarri debate cycle again but I feel we had to play a bit of restrictive game at the start of this process (of changing the style) just to get the basics right and build on it. Sarri tried to go all in on the aesthetics initially and we ended up with that mess of a game against Arsenal.

While Lampard has done extraordinarily well so far, I think he was given a much solider foundation for his footy than if he took over from Conte.

Looking back us and Sarri were the perfect marriage of convience, we got a man/fall guy to start the process of changing our style of play while he got his buffer to Juve.

But did it have to be so restrictive till the point our football was dreadful, boring to watch? Was only when Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi came in that we got slightly more entertaining because they provided something different from all the silly, endless passing. 

[Tomo 21,685]

24 minutes ago, Jason said:

But did it have to be so restrictive till the point our football was dreadful, boring to watch? Was only when Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi came in that we got slightly more entertaining because they provided something different from all the silly, endless passing. 

Maybe it did go a bit too far one way at one point, but ultimately we got through that period and are now a really good attacking/possession based team and it's really good to see.

[killer1257 3,282]

Was in my opinion one of the worst players yesterday. He lost the ball way too many times

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[Ryan Fong 2,776]

Have to bump our little magician up, what a player! If he can work on his shooting he is going to be unstoppable. I’m so looking forward to his first Chelsea goal.

[killer1257 3,282]

Have to bump our little magician up, what a player! If he can work on his shooting he is going to be unstoppable. I’m so looking forward to his first Chelsea goal.

He was one of the reasons why we conceded a goal tonight

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[Vesper 27,413]

2 minutes ago, Ryan Fong said:

Have to bump our little magician up, what a player! If he can work on his shooting he is going to be unstoppable. I’m so looking forward to his first Chelsea goal.

yes! I sooooo wanted him to score today!

super player overall, so calm on the ball, and superb footie IQ