21. Ben Chilwell

[OhForAGreavsie 5,776]

11 hours ago, Stats said:

The biggest compliment I can give him is that when he joined, I think there was a huge fanbase who was so against the signing. I was one of a few, I say gladly now who was delighted about the signing. He was ridiculed by a lot of people who thought it was waste of money and were angry money was not spent on Reguilon. Well he has proved a fantastic signing and has proved the majority wrong. He will be missed for sure!

I was worried about the signing because the LCFC fans did not believe in him and were delighted at the fee they received.

I have been worried about Ben's output in a Chelsea shirt because I've seen the same unproductive displays that we all have.

Just a matter of weeks ago there was discontent here, and among Chelsea's coaches, about how Chilly was contributing. For a while he was our backup so querying Ben's output has not been a fringe opinion.

For you, having always had a positive take on Ben, it is completely logical to see the current positive impression he is making as nothing more than what you expected all along. Fair enough. For more sceptical people like me however it will take sustained contributions to move us from where we have been to where you are. Personally, I need more evidence before I can conclude that it is Ben's basic quality which is making the system work and not the system which is making the most of Ben's recent, and therefore temporary, form.

Edited November 25, 2021 by OhForAGreavsie

[OhForAGreavsie 5,776]

6 hours ago, Vesper said:

one other recall option

Levi Colwill

left footed CB who also plays LB (deffo not a regular at LB though)

great size (1.87m) and pacey

 

[Magic Lamps 11,473]

17 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

We recalled Ake when forced to didn't we? 

Ake was a proven PL pro. Maatsen has only played in the cc. Albeit decent he has hardly set the world alight. 

[Vesper 27,435]

18 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Ake was a proven PL pro. Maatsen has only played in the cc. Albeit decent he has hardly set the world alight. 

do you think we should move in January for Borna Sosa?

Stuttgart are shit and going nowhere

[Magic Lamps 11,473]

11 hours ago, Vesper said:

Azpi at LWC is capitualation

I say NO NO NO to recalling Emerson

recall Maatsen perhaps (and Maatsen has had a decent growth spurt and is now up to around 5 feet 8 inched tall, so not a dwarf anymore)

 

or use Saul there plus Alonso

AC Milan will never sell the only truly great left-footed LB out there who is even remotely available (Theo) in January

Spinnazzola (one of only two great right footed LB's along with Cancelo) is too much of risk to buy in January, as he is still not close to being fully recovered from that Achilles rupture, look how long it took CHO and RLC to fully recover (way over a year for each, especially RLC)

only other option I would be ok with exploring is Borna Sosa

 

I know Borna sosa. He is a quite similar to Alonso. He is decent in the air, gets forward a lot and has a good eye for a pass and esp crosses. also a good free kick taker. He is not very strong in spite of his height and also not exactly fast (not as slow as alonso tho and moves the ball at a higher pace, can even dribble a bit). Arguably a slightly better crosser than Alonso as well but  not quite the same level technically overall. He would not add anything new which is why i would give him a pass. Not a bad player tho. Just don't think he is the level required. I read Villa are in for him which would suit him better. Maybe if he made another step in his developmnt there he could be a long term candidate.

Edited November 25, 2021 by Magic Lamps

[Vesper 27,435]

12 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

I know Borna sosa. He is a quite similar to Alonso. He is decent in the air, gets forward a lot and has a good eye for a pass and esp crosses. also a good free kick taker. He is not very strong in spite of his height and also not exactly fast (not as slow as alonso tho and moves the ball at a higher pace, can even dribble a bit). Arguably a slightly better crosser than Alonso as well but  not quite the same level technically overall. He would not add anything new which is why i would give him a pass. Not a bad player tho. Just don't think he is the level required. I read Villa are in for him which would suit him better. Maybe if he made another step in his developmnt there he could be a long term candidate.

yes, he is like an Alonso clone but pacier

what about another LB I have floated in the past? Ramy Bensebaini

we are really running gout of options here

after Theo the drop is insane in terms of actually available ones, and like I said, zero chance Theo leaves AC Milan in Jabauary

 

here is a wild card I would like your opinion on too, and another Bundesliga (ex Bundesliga in this case), player

Abdou Diallo

I think he would be potentially a great but, BUT, will PSG sell him in January?

I think they MIGHT (for high price) as they have FOUR 'starting quality' (for most teams for sure) left backs on their roster

Nuno Mendes      
Abdou Diallo 
Juan Bernat   
Layvin Kurzawa  

 

Diallo is also VERY experienced (more so in a way) as a CB

again great size (1.87m) pace and obviously is left footed

 

 

 

[Magic Lamps 11,473]

22 hours ago, Vesper said:

yes, he is like an Alonso clone but pacier

what about another LB I have floated in the past? Ramy Bensebaini

we are really running gout of options here

after Theo the drop is insane in terms of actually available ones, and like I said, zero chance Theo leaves AC Milan in Jabauary

 

here is a wild card I would like your opinion on too, and another Bundesliga (ex Bundesliga in this case), player

Abdou Diallo

I think he would be potentially a great but, BUT, will PSG sell him in January?

I think they MIGHT (for high price) as they have FOUR 'starting quality' (for most teams for sure) left backs on their roster

Nuno Mendes      
Abdou Diallo 
Juan Bernat   
Layvin Kurzawa  

 

Diallo is also VERY experienced (more so in a way) as a CB

again great size (1.87m) pace and obviously is left footed

 

 

 

Bensebaini has impressed me recently. I was not a fan of his over the years but he has been near pefect in the matches I scouted him in this season (Dortmund and Bayern twice). Was absolutely instrumental in all of them. Especially his finish for the goal that effectively kicked Bayern out of the cup was exquisitely taken and he got into good positions all game. Admittedly he is also not very fast but still quicker than alonso. My  concern is his terrible injury record in the past 2 years (also suffered from bad Covid infection). Nothing too bad otherwise but a concerning accumulation of different muscle injuries and kept him out for quite some important games

For Diallo I remember him very well from his time at Dortmund. Was an absolute beast for them at CB and kept that fragile defence more or less intact, esp in that Favre season where they made quite a decent title challenge (2018/19).  He was much less impressive as left back, probably bc those absolute donkeys toprak and zagadou would then made a complete mess of everything in the middle. I expect him to look much better with decent cbs next to him. Not sure he is much of a wing back tho. Is a more conservative LB when employed there and not that adventurous. Has only played there for PSG bc Bernat is injured and Nuno mendes is still raw. Diallo is more similar to Azpi than Chilwell, his best position would probably be LCB. His pace and technical proficiency are sufficient for a LWB, he is just not much of an attacker mentally.  Doubt PSG would sell atm as they don't trust Kurzawa and Mendes yet.

Kurzawa is probably the player they would gift wrap for us but he appears to have attitude problems and I have not seen him play enough for ages (9mins this season and the 1300 mins last season were mostly vs shit opposition). He also is 29 by now. time flies.

Edited November 26, 2021 by Magic Lamps

[Vesper 27,435]

1 hour ago, Magic Lamps said:

Bensebaini has impressed me recently. I was not a fan of his over the years but he has been near pefect in the matches he saw of him this season (Dortmund and Bayern twice). Was absolutely instrumental in all of them. Especially. His finish for the goal that effectively kicked Bayern out of the cup was exquisitely taken and he got into good positions all game. Admittedly he is also not very fast but still quicker than alonso. My  concern is his terrible injury record in the past 2 years (also suffered from bad Covid infection). Nothing too bad otherwise only an accumulation of different muscle injuries and kept him out for quite some important games

For Diallo I remember him very well from his time at Dortmund. Was an absolute beast for them at CB and kept that fragile defence more or less intact, esp in that Favre season where they made quite a decent title challenge (2018/19).  He was much less impressive as left back, probably bc those absolute donkey toprak and zagadou would then made a complete mess of everything in the middle. I expect him to look much better with decent cbs next to him. Not sure he is much of a wing back tho. Is a more conservative LB when employed there and not that adventurous. Has only played there for PSG bc Bernat is injured and Nuno mendes is still raw. Diallo is more similar to Azpi than Chilwell, his best position would probably be LCB. His pace and technical proficiency are sufficient for a LWB, he is just not much of an attacker mentally.  Doubt PSG would sell atm as they don't trust Kurzawa and Mendes yet.

Kurzawa is probably the player they would gift wrap for us but he appears to have attitude problems and I have not seen him play enough for ages (9mins this season and the 1300 mins last season were mostly vs shit opposition). He also is 29 by now. time flies.

Mendes is the real deal, in 2, 3, 4 years he is going to easily be a top 5 LB on planet

well, it is looking like we roll with what we have and I REALLY think we should give Saul a test run at LWB, I think before we panic and recall the youngster Maatsen

I have a bit more faith in Alonso (surprisingly as I have bashed him on occasion over the years) than some on here, BUT (a huge but) he always runs out of steam when he is played game after game

 

we need to make a move in the summer for Theo (hard pull), Chiesa (hard pull., 2nd option would be Mikel Oyarzabal, 3rd probably Hirving Lozano), Maxence Lacroix (especially if Rudiger bounces, which looks around 70-75% likely atm) with Skriniar 2nd option (and a must IF AC bounces as well), Aurélien Tchouaméni, and Christopher Nkunku (Florian Wirtz 2nd option, Carlos Soler 3rd) Ridle Baku would be the best RWB option (and plays winger too) with Matty Cash as 2nd choice

dream down the road signings would be Jude Bellingham and Barella (hard pull, but he is as close to what Kante is as is out there)

as usual, many on my wish list are Serie A and hard to pull, but I only puck who I think are the best even remotely possible players

 

 

 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Superblue 6,333]

I guess we'll have a bit more clarity on the situation hopefully at Tuchel's presser today.

[Mário César 825]

3 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

I guess we'll have a bit more clarity on the situation hopefully at Tuchel's presser today.

What time is tuchel press?

[Jase 43,479]

Tuchel just said what Matt Law reported about Chilwell.

He has a partial injury on his ACL and will decide in 6 weeks if he needs to have surgery. 

Tuchel also said Chilwell has had a positive reaction to his first treatment. 

[Mário César 825]

Tuchel said that Chilwell can play after six weeks if the treatment go well

[MoroccanBlue 5,219]

Best case scenario would of been a grade 1 sprain but this is still fairly good news. 

 

[OneMoSalah 8,619]

Would imagine it will probably require/be best bet to get the surgery so wouldnt be overly hopeful for him being back in 6 weeks and training yet alone available for selection. I don’t get how someone could, even with a partial injury as opposed to a more severe injury to their ACL, be back and training/playing in 6 weeks.

Seems very optimistic and unrealistic. 

Shame as he was playing the best football he has played in our shirt but its just unfortunate these things happen.

[Strike 6,991]

Alonso will take over for December but I'm not in favour of trying Callum there. Callum has found his groove as an attacker and is starting ahead of Pulisic, Werner on merit. It has to be Saul or Azpi to cover Alonso for December before we take a call on Maatsen, Emerson or signing someone. 

Spinazzola in the summer would have been an ideal fix here before his own injury.

[MoroccanBlue 5,219]

14 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

 I don’t get how someone could, even with a partial injury as opposed to a more severe injury to their ACL, be back and training/playing in 6 weeks.

Seems very optimistic and unrealistic. 

 

It's all based on the severity of the tear and if the knee can be stabilized. 

Experts way in their judgment but I am assuming their initial thought is that the tear isn't significant enough to have surgery and the best initial solution is to strengthen the muscles around the knee for greater stability. 

All in All, we are fortunate of this news and we are even more fortunate this happened on Chilwell's right leg. 

[ulvhedin 474]

21 hours ago, Vesper said:

we need to make a move in the summer for Theo (hard pull)

 

Why would we splash huge money on LB when we have Chilwell? Not to mention none of Ben and Theo would like to be a backup, it's not FM