Ian Maatsen

[NikkiCFC 7,950]

Didn't expect him to play this season but now I think we'll see him a couple more times. Looks promising. Still very young. 

[killer1257 3,282]

7 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Didn't expect him to play this season but now I think we'll see him a couple more times. Looks promising. Still very young. 

He should be on the bench due to the fact that Emerson is injured for the next couple of weeks

[1905didierblue 748]

4 hours ago, killer1257 said:

He should be on the bench due to the fact that Emerson is injured for the next couple of weeks

I think too early. Reece, Andreas (if zouma and tomori play), Kovacic, CHO, Bats, Pulisic, willy.

So I dont think there is a place for him at the moment.

[killer1257 3,282]

I think too early. Reece, Andreas (if zouma and tomori play), Kovacic, CHO, Bats, Pulisic, willy.
So I dont think there is a place for him at the moment.

So who should be the BU for Alonso? James?

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk

[NikkiCFC 7,950]

1 hour ago, killer1257 said:

So who should be the BU for Alonso? James?

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk
 

We usually have one full back at the bench. Azpi can play both sides. Actually when everyone is fit I don't even see a place for Alonso on the bench. 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

15 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Didn't expect him to play this season but now I think we'll see him a couple more times. Looks promising. Still very young. 

I thought he might start last night because I didn't think Frank would risk playing Marcos given Emerson's injury.

[NikkiCFC 7,950]

 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

3 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

 

No he isn't. Less consistent. In my opinion of course.

I did not see last night's game, was at Kingsmeadow watching CFCW reach the semi-final of their League Cup. That said, one performance could not negate the less consistent assessment. 

[Vesper 28,802]

5 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

No he isn't. Less consistent. In my opinion of course.

I did not see last night's game, was at Kingsmeadow watching CFCW reach the semi-final of their League Cup. That said, one performance could not negate the less consistent assessment. 

And he is so short, not Lamptey short, but damn near. I do not rate him at Reece level at all, unfortunately. I also have soured on Chilwell, eapecially at the insane £80m Leicester will demand. He has regressed so much over the past 2 months.

[NikkiCFC 7,950]

51 minutes ago, Vesper said:

 He has regressed so much over the past 2 months.

Maybe in purpose because he wants transfer 🤔 and Leicester now enquired about Shaw. 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

And he is so short, not Lamptey short, but damn near. I do not rate him at Reece level at all, unfortunately. I also have soured on Chilwell, eapecially at the insane £80m Leicester will demand. He has regressed so much over the past 2 months.

I agree re Ian, but I never like the he's regressed way of looking at a player. In my case I prefer to say something like, "I've had to reconsider my assessment."

[NikkiCFC 7,950]

2 hours ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

No he isn't. Less consistent. In my opinion of course.

I did not see last night's game, was at Kingsmeadow watching CFCW reach the semi-final of their League Cup. That said, one performance could not negate the less consistent assessment. 

I agree with you. Definitely not on James level (no one is from youth) but don't write him off yet. You didn't believe in Gallagher and look at him now. 

[Vesper 28,802]

49 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

I agree re Ian, but I never like the he's regressed way of looking at a player. In my case I prefer to say something like, "I've had to reconsider my assessment."

Fair point

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

5 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

I agree with you. Definitely not on James level (no one is from youth) but don't write him off yet. You didn't believe in Gallagher and look at him now. 

Well, Connor has proved nothing yet re his Chelsea prospects. Don't worry though, I won't forget to remind people that I was wrong when Connor makes it here.

I'm not writing Ian off at all. I'm just rejecting the idea that he's on the same level as Reece, a player you will recall I was describing as our best youth prospect nearly two years ago.

[Jase 43,479]

New contract...

 

[Yeboii 1,844]

41 minutes ago, Jason said:

New contract...

 

Wonderful!

[Jase 43,479]

Official confirmation now...

 

[Vesper 28,802]

What Ian Maatsen’s new deal tells us about the future of Chelsea’s left-backs

https://theathletic.com/1666825/2020/03/10/what-ian-maatsens-new-deal-tells-us-about-the-future-of-chelseas-left-backs/

At the end of a week lit up by Billy Gilmour, another exciting talent from the academy has given Chelsea cause to celebrate.

Ian Maatsen, signed from PSV Eindhoven in July 2018, marked his 18th birthday on Tuesday by signing a new contract until the summer of 2024 – and sources have told The Athletic that the club have an option to extend his stay for a further year.

The agreement is partly an indication of the faith Maatsen has in Frank Lampard’s youth movement, which has already yielded senior debuts for him and seven other Cobham graduates since August. But it is also a reflection of the Dutchman’s optimism that he will get a chance to compete for significant first-team minutes as early as next season.

Maatsen was due to enter the final year of his contract this summer and could have chosen to go the same route as Tariq Lamptey, who ran down his first professional deal at Stamford Bridge in order to increase his leverage before eventually opting to join Brighton & Hove Albion in January rather than take Chelsea’s offer.

Lamptey left primarily because he couldn’t see a route to the starting XI at right-back past club captain Cesar Azpilicueta and Reece James, who is expected to take the 30-year-old Spaniard’s spot sooner or later. The landscape that confronts Maatsen over at left-back is nowhere near as intimidating.

Many around Chelsea believe neither of Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri are in Lampard’s plans beyond the rest of this season. Each has endured prolonged spells out of the team at the expense of the other, while Azpilicueta has been deployed at left-back ahead of both at times in order to make space for James on the right.

Alonso has returned to prominence in in recent weeks, with three goals in two matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth giving fresh impetus to Chelsea’s stuttering top-four chase, while Emerson has struggled with injury. But neither has been consistent enough to earn Lampard’s trust in a defence that has only rarely achieved stability this season.

Sources told The Athletic in December that Leicester and England left-back Ben Chilwell is Chelsea’s No 1 target to fill the position, though there was always an acceptance that any deal to sign him would have to wait until the end of the season. Porto star Alex Telles has also been widely circulated as an enticing – and cheaper – alternative.

But regardless of who Chelsea end up going for, there is a distinct possibility that their summer transfer dealings will leave an opening in the squad for an understudy at left-back. If this proves the case, Maatsen would prefer to stay on to challenge the man who comes in rather than take one of what are expected to be a wide range of potential loan options.

Keeping him around next season would also benefit Chelsea beyond what he can offer them on the pitch: one more year on the books at Stamford Bridge would see Maatsen qualify as a ‘home-grown’ player by both Premier League and Champions League squad rules, making him more valuable and giving the club more flexibility in recruitment elsewhere in the coming years.

Maatsen has not featured for the first team since making his senior debut as a substitute in the 7-1 rout of Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup in September, though he was included in the group Lampard took to Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier in the same month, watching the team’s 5-2 win at Molineux in the Premier League from the stands. He has also trained regularly with the seniors at Cobham.

His skill set is a good fit for Lampard’s style. Much like James on the opposite side of the pitch, Maatsen is a modern, attack-minded full-back who is technically accomplished enough to thrive in central midfield, where he played for the duration of Holland’s run to the semi-finals in last year’s Under-17 World Cup in Brazil.

Speaking to The Athletic after the Dutch were eliminated by Mexico in a match that went to extra time, he said: “At Chelsea I play different positions and it’s good for my experience, but I focus on left-back and the left side. I have to improve there a lot more. If I get a chance from [the manager], I will take it with two hands, impress him and show him what I can do.”

Chelsea have some big decisions to make with the left-back position this summer, but Maatsen’s decision to renew is a positive start.

At the very least, Lampard can now factor in a player with a viable chance to become a good long-term option into his squad planning.