Branislav Ivanovic

[DH1988 1,348]

Am I the only one that believes he is our best CB?

Terry - way past it, sorry to those that do not share the same opinion, captain or not, 04/05 + 05/06 were his best years and living off those since - tad harsh but MY opinion.

Cahill - 2nd best defender, he is young don't forget and I firmly believe he will take over as club captain in a few years. Lacks positional sense sometimes and I've said in previous posts that the worst enemy for this guy is a striker with good movement/has an issue with tracking runs, it'll come with experience.

Luiz - hot and cold, I love the guy my but gosh, you never know what your going to get

[OneMoSalah 8,885]

Well I for one thought he was much better at CB.

He is much better at CB. I remember I posted this a few months back and everyone was going crazy...

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Well I for one thought he was much better at CB.

He had a good game, but his defensive positioning isn't great overall and that is usually even a bigger problem at CB than RB. Still, it's fabulous to have someone who can step in and start at RB or CB and play at a high level at both It gives the squad real flexibility and gives RDM options.. .

[Kieran. 6,317]

His last 3 appearances at CB have been good. The FA Cup Final, Barcelona and Swansea. Before that, he was struggling a lot and we all thought he was better at RB.

[Kojo 4,676]

If Di Matteo is staying, which he probs wont anyway given our record with managers in the past, then i can see this being Ivans last season as starter.

And probably the right thing to do, he doesn't fit the system for me, and he's so wasteful, been wanting to get this out for a while now and i think it's now the right time. Going forward it's mental how much he loses the ball, and that's never a good thing, i wont ever doubt Ivans defending, he has always been a good consistent defender. But we seem to be a team who wants to play with footballer fullbacks, so if Azpic is ready for the team then maybe we should start playing him a lot more.

Though i have to say, his crosses have gotten a lot better, they used to be dreadful before but now he can whip in a decent cross into the danger area, okay not great but mostly on target.

Unless Ivan can pick up, i really can't see him lasting as a starter for much longer.

[Reddish-Blue 2,493]

If Di Matteo is staying, which he probs wont anyway given our record with managers in the past, then i can see this being Ivans last season as starter.

And probably the right thing to do, he doesn't fit the system for me, and he's so wasteful, been wanting to get this out for a while now and i think it's now the right time. Going forward it's mental how much he loses the ball, and that's never a good thing, i wont ever doubt Ivans defending, he has always been a good consistent defender. But we seem to be a team who wants to play with footballer fullbacks, so if Azpic is ready for the team then maybe we should start playing him a lot more.

Though i have to say, his crosses have gotten a lot better, they used to be dreadful before but now he can whip in a decent cross into the danger area, okay not great but mostly on target.

Unless Ivan can pick up, i really can't see him lasting as a starter for much longer.

If Azpi develops in the next 1-2 seasons, I see Ivanovic being played as a CB more often. I liked the look of Cahill-Brana at CB against Swansea, they look like a better pairing than Cahill - Luiz.

I'm not gonna hate on Cahill or Luiz..but clearly there is a lack of understanding between them, which just makes our defence look open and extremely vulnerable.

[themightyblue 443]

Thought he was much improved tonight

[Kojo 4,676]

If Azpi develops in the next 1-2 seasons, I see Ivanovic being played as a CB more often. I liked the look of Cahill-Brana at CB against Swansea, they look like a better pairing than Cahill - Luiz.

I'm not gonna hate on Cahill or Luiz..but clearly there is a lack of understanding between them, which just makes our defence look open and extremely vulnerable.

I think Luis Suarez is going to have a field day with our back 4 on sunday i really do. Everythings looking bad, should of given Terry some minutes at least just to get back on track, but it will have to do.

[DH1988 1,348]

See! I knew someone would agree brana and Cahill as our first cb pairing!

Guys, I too get frustrated with brana but let's remember he is a CB! I doubt you'd be saying the same had terry been shifted out to rb? Just an example, same thing gallas, couldn't whip a cross in, defensively solid, yet we never moaned because he popped up with a few goals and faked an injury every game for 2-5 minutes so we'd all go 'oh no!!' Then see him sprinting...

As above, he doesn't fit the system but he does a good job considering.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I was surprised to see him put in a few excellent crosses. Of course Torres made no effort what so ever to get on the end of them, but did not know we had someone who can actually cross!

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

Ivanovic

[DYC. 7,542]

Compliments to Bran for his performances in the centre in recent weeks. Making that switch in position is anything but easy but he's doing the job. Wouldn't take him out for either D. Luiz or Cahill when Terry returns, especially with the way Azpilicueta has been performing at RB. David Luiz will have to perform to get his spot again.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Another solid performance by Iva, although it looked like City were trying to exploit Luiz more.

[Milan 17,955]

Him in the centre and Azpi on the right really works! Long may it continue.

[DH1988 1,348]

Solid.