Branislav Ivanovic

[The_Flash 1,144]

the baggies lost it and in a way it was understandable ... I can imagine Jose if the situation was reversed ... I actually thought it a penalty albeit a soft one ...

I agree with most you post ,, But we didnt fail to win because of the ref

Of course we didnt, we were just **** again, but he didnt help was all I was saying

[Blue Armour 4,312]

Mourinho for some weird reason plays Ivanovic as the attacking fullback. Haha.

Thought it was strange too, considering Cesar was on the other side...Maybe its just because Cesar wasn't on his natural side...

Tell you what, I'd rather put Brana on the left instead and tell him to just stick to defending, if it means Azpilicueta can attack from his favored side..

[CHOULO19 24,332]

He had a bad game today but didnt almost everyone, what was going on with the fight at the end?

After the pen was scored, Iva wound the WBA players up by fighting for the ball and pushing a couple in the process.

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

Mourinho for some weird reason plays Ivanovic as the attacking fullback. Haha.

It's been like that since the start of the season, either Cole, Ryan or Cesar sit on the left whilst Ivanovic plays like a fucking winger on the other side like he's Robben or something.

[Phil Driver 503]

A bit harsh to expect a right back to be our creator of chances and who is there for him to cross to ? Drogba left a while ago ,our three AM's should be creating more for us Ivan is a very good defender,not an attacking defender. Crazy to expect him too create for us and I feel our AM's are escaping blame here they need to start opening up defences and scoring.

Once again we have 69% posession and our AM's should be doing a lot better with that against another low block packed defence like at Newcastle.

Every team will set up against us like that now untill we come up with the answers and that needs to be more creation from our AM's .

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

A bit harsh to expect a right back to be our creator of chances and who is there for him to cross to ? Drogba left a while ago ,our three AM's should be creating more for us Ivan is a very good defender,not an attacking defender. Crazy to expect him too create for us and I feel our AM's are escaping blame here they need to start opening up defences and scoring.

Once again we have 69% posession and our AM's should be doing a lot better with that against another low block packed defence like at Newcastle.

Every team will set up against us like that now untill we come up with the answers and that needs to be more creation from our AM's .

I'd really be interested to know how much of that 69% our AM's actually had the ball. I think most of that 69% was between our goalkeeper,defense and our 2 holding players.

I already said this in the match thread but the amount of trouble we had to get the ball out our own half was just ridiculous.

We're not expecting Ivanovic to be our main creator but he is supposed to provide width by making runs and your right there is noone to cross it to... so why is he then ?

Only way a cross is going to work is by reaching the goalline inside the 18 yard box so he can either hit it hard between the goalkeeper and the defense or pull it back for an oncoming midfielder.

[The Mak 4,459]

A bit harsh to expect a right back to be our creator of chances and who is there for him to cross to ? Drogba left a while ago ,our three AM's should be creating more for us Ivan is a very good defender,not an attacking defender.

Tell that to Mourinho.

[The only place to be 11,313]

As I said earlier, Ivanovic started the season as one of our best players but he's been off the pace in recent games and Azpi probably deserves a shot in his preferred position. Unfortunately I'm not sure West Ham away is the game for that.

He fights for this club 100% of the time though so maybe he'll get a run out at centre-half if we move Azpi to the right.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Ivanovic defends really well, but he stinks whenever he has to attack!

[yuvala 2,167]

Ivanovic defends really well, but he stinks whenever he has to attack!

Though sometimes he fails to make crucial blocks of crosses.

He is a good defender though, should be CB!

[Blue Armour 4,312]

Though sometimes he fails to make crucial blocks of crosses.

He is a good defender though, should be CB!

I don't think you would want that again...like Cahill, he also has a tendency to keep backing away from the strikers until its too late. He's better defending from a wide position

[robsblubot 3,530]

Ivanovic is a good CB and a good *defensive* RB. Expecting him to beat his marker and delivering a great cross is unrealistic to say the least. However, playing him should allow more freedom to someone like David Luiz and/or a winger in front of him.

Things aren't quite working atm though.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

Though sometimes he fails to make crucial blocks of crosses.

He is a good defender though, should be CB!

Especially against teams like West Ham where they rely on high crosses and physical attributes to topple over opponent's defence.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

The only player that gives us width, unfortunately there is absolutely no one to cross to.

Take a look at the 09/10 season when he got into the Team of the year at RB position. But remember, back then we had Drogba and Anelka who could actually win aerial duels and head the ball into the goal.

[Reddish-Blue 2,356]

The only player that gives us width, unfortunately there is absolutely no one to cross to.

Take a look at the 09/10 season when he got into the Team of the year at RB position. But remember, back then we had Drogba and Anelka who could actually win aerial duels and head the ball into the goal.

absolutely no one to cross to ? in recent times, all i've seen is Ivanovic try to run forward, lose the ball under little pressure..and then suddenly the opposition counter with Ramires, Willian tracking back

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

A bit harsh to expect a right back to be our creator of chances and who is there for him to cross to ? Drogba left a while ago ,our three AM's should be creating more for us Ivan is a very good defender,not an attacking defender. Crazy to expect him too create for us and I feel our AM's are escaping blame here they need to start opening up defences and scoring.

Once again we have 69% posession and our AM's should be doing a lot better with that against another low block packed defence like at Newcastle.

Every team will set up against us like that now untill we come up with the answers and that needs to be more creation from our AM's .

This is it. Ivanovic should not be such an important part of our attack. He is not a good crosser of the ball but neither really is Azplicueta who is only slightly better than Ivanovic in this regard. Also, unlike other teams, we don't have attackers who are great in the air so even good crosses are almost all won by defenders who are taller and stronger. There is also almost never anyone overlapping with him to create space or give him another outlet because whoever is on the right will always drift into the middle. We also don't have attackers making runs towards the goal. Instead, we have a whole bunch of players standing static in attacking areas waiting to be picked out by perfect passes. Spending about 250 million pounds on attackers in the last 3 years, and you're expecting the RB and central midfield to provide your offense?

[Jase 43,479]

The only player that gives us width, unfortunately there is absolutely no one to cross to.

Take a look at the 09/10 season when he got into the Team of the year at RB position. But remember, back then we had Drogba and Anelka who could actually win aerial duels and head the ball into the goal.

I wouldn't say Ivanovic is the only player that gives us width but rather, the only played that is allowed to provide us width. Whoever plays at LB for us, unless it's Bertrand, doesn't do it anyway and opposition usually make sure no time and space is given to our wide players and hence they are more than happy to give someone time and space knowing even with that, he can't cross or even pass to save his own life!

[The only place to be 11,313]

This is it. Ivanovic should not be such an important part of our attack. He is not a good crosser of the ball but neither really is Azplicueta who is only slightly better than Ivanovic in this regard. Also, unlike other teams, we don't have attackers who are great in the air so even good crosses are almost all won by defenders who are taller and stronger. There is also almost never anyone overlapping with him to create space or give him another outlet because whoever is on the right will always drift into the middle. We also don't have attackers making runs towards the goal. Instead, we have a whole bunch of players standing static in attacking areas waiting to be picked out by perfect passes. Spending about 250 million pounds on attackers in the last 3 years, and you're expecting the RB and central midfield to provide your offense?

Exactly. Whilst the attack is static and teams put 10 men behind the ball then maybe having an extra man in the box at set-pieces is a better bet than a marginally better crosser of the ball to aim for.....well no-one.

Ivanovic's hustle almost led to a goal on Saturday too. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he has more attacking contributions in terms of goals and assists this season than most other fullbacks.