Mateo Kovacic

[Superblue 6,370]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

I think for now when we're just playing two of Jorginho, Kovacic and Kante then the former two should get the nod.

They have been operating at a world class level this last month and it has to be rewarded. As incredible as Kante is it will send the complete wrong message if we bench Kovacic immediately.

I actually think all three should be used against City and try to solidify that midfield. We've been very competitive in two games against Liverpool this season using all three and I think at present in the big games we have more chance of getting a result being a little more pragmatic, especially against Liverpool and City.

Moving forward though I would tend to agree. Against the majority of teams in the league, I actually think we may be better set up with Kova and Jorginho to help us dominate games. The two have literally taken the piss out of everybody we've played in the league over the last month. I felt certainly in the first half yesterday, we really missed Jorginho.

[Tomo 21,733]

6 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

I actually think all three should be used against City and try to solidify that midfield. We've been very competitive in two games against Liverpool this season using all three and I think at present in the big games we have more chance of getting a result being a little more pragmatic, especially against Liverpool and City.

Moving forward though I would tend to agree. Against the majority of teams in the league, I actually think we may be better set up with Kova and Jorginho to help us dominate games. The two have literally taken the piss out of everybody we've played in the league over the last month. I felt certainly in the first half yesterday, we really missed Jorginho.

I agree we should be using that midfield three at City, but unless Kante has an beyond incredible game (or Kova has an absolute stinker) I feel it should be Jorginho/Kova against West Ham the following week.

Way I see it is if Kova gets took straight out of the team now he may lose some of his motivation, it will send a clear message that he's only backup no matter what he does and not only that it will also contradict everything Frank has been saying about selecting on merit.

[Superblue 6,370]

Just now, Tomo said:

I agree we should be using that midfield three at City, but unless Kante has an beyond incredible game (or Kova has an absolute stinker) I feel it should be Jorginho/Kova against West Ham the following week.

Way I see it is if Kova gets took straight out of the team now he may lose some of his motivation, it will send a clear message that he's only backup no matter what he does and not only that, contradict everything Frank has been saying about selecting on merit.

Yeah agree. Don't we have Valencia in between though?

Also with the injury problems Kante has had this season, we should no longer be slogging him like we have in the past.

The biggest thing to take from all of this though is we no longer should worry about being without Kante for the odd game. Take Rudiger, Luiz, Kante and Hazard out of last year's team and I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have coped (we'd have struggled just without Hazard). This season we have ironically flourished.

[Jase 43,479]

3 minutes ago, Tomo said:

I agree we should be using that midfield three at City, but unless Kante has an beyond incredible game (or Kova has an absolute stinker) I feel it should be Jorginho/Kova against West Ham the following week.

Way I see it is if Kova gets took straight out of the team now he may lose some of his motivation, it will send a clear message that he's only backup no matter what he does and not only that it will also contradict everything Frank has been saying about selecting on merit.

But on the other hand, if we leave out Kante, it'll send out the message that he's only useful against the big teams. Jorginho & Kovacic are our two midfield passers. We need to carefully manage and rotate them, especially with the amount of games coming up after the international break. 

[1905didierblue 748]

11 hours ago, Tomo said:

Yeah eventually it will head into that, I'm thinking more very short term.

In that case, all 3 for both the games after the break, city and Valencia. Need to be compact. 

[Jase 43,479]

KOVACIC: 'CHELSEA IS COMING IN THE BEST MOMENT OF MY CAREER'

[MoroccanBlue 5,293]

Honestly wish he'd improve his finishing. He'd be a world beater with Lampard's finishing. 

[Vesper 28,729]

22 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Honestly wish he'd improve his finishing. He'd be a world beater with Lampard's finishing. 

if he was HALFWAY to Lamps in finishing (Lamps is top 5 all-time n terms of a sniper MF) he would be a £100m player

[the wes 7,212]

On 16/11/2019 at 7:01 PM, MoroccanBlue said:

Honestly wish he'd improve his finishing. He'd be a world beater with Lampard's finishing. 

You can't teach an old dog new tricks I don't think we will never get to see Mateo score double figures it's just not in his style 

[the wes 7,212]

 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[killer1257 3,282]

He lost the ball way too much and he needs to improve. The difference level between KDB and Kova is way too high. He is more Defensive than Kante and Kante has to play the offensive Part of our midfield

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk

[MoroccanBlue 5,293]

23 minutes ago, killer1257 said:

He lost the ball way too much and he needs to improve. The difference level between KDB and Kova is way too high. He is more Defensive than Kante and Kante has to play the offensive Part of our midfield

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk
 

Kova made KDB look like a mug at times to be honest. I rate Kova highly but both he and Jorginho need to be more disciplined. They seem to become complacent with their passing, which in turn results in us being countered. 

A lot of our issues is our mentality. 

[Artandur 939]

 

 

[the wes 7,212]

Finally he scored a goal  he was unlucky not to score another one 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,890]

When it comes to the quality element of our team, Kova is at the very heart of it. He may only have signed a few months ago but extend his contract now please Blues.

[Special Juan 27,420]

He has really given Lampard a problem with his form and also given Mount some thinking to do.

He is un droppable right now.

[Superblue 6,370]

13 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

He has really given Lampard a problem with his form and also given Mount some thinking to do.

He is un droppable right now.

I don't think it's given Mount some thinking to do because although the last two games have been away at better opposition, I think we've missed the attributes that Mount possesses and brings to the team (particularly his willingness to press and his ability to link the midfield and the attack).

I actually think Kova has given Jorginho and Kante more to think about because at present if we revert back to a midfield two (which I think we should in our next run of games), for me it's Kova + 1.

It felt like this same situation a few weeks ago though where it seemed to be Jorginho + 1 and Kova has raised his game further as a result. That level of competition with three midfielders who I don't think would look out of place in any of the top teams is very healthy for us and I think can only help with making sure they all continue to play at the levels expected of them.