Branislav Ivanovic

[Rom2013 446]

Point me to where I said these rumours were ever likely? I didn't. Please learn to read.

Luis showed that he is incredibly calm on the ball and technically very good. His positioning was off at times, there's no doubt but that's something that he never had issues with last season and is therefore likely an adjustment/system issue.

We shouldn't talk about things we know nothing about but you're still talking about La Liga... Ok mate Forgotten this genius insight already?

Yes about la Liga for Real Madrid to have problems winning against all those teams it's not normal at all, and also the same for Barcelona. What' wrong with that? I saw the last 300 or 400 games of Barcelona and Madrid if you want to talk about the time GUardiola was in Barcelona we can talk about everything you want.

I never said the rumors were likely or not... I just said it would be more interesting to see the 2 best coaches ion the world fighting for a player that many genius here say he is really bad. You can't deny that's a lot more interesting.

[The Chels 2,502]

Yes about la Liga for Real Madrid to have problems winning against all those teams it's not normal at all, and also the same for Barcelona. What' wrong with that? I saw the last 300 or 400 games of Barcelona and Madrid if you want to talk about the time GUardiola was in Barcelona we can talk about everything you want.

I never said the rumors were likely or not... I just said it would be more interesting to see the 2 best coaches ion the world fighting for a player that many genius here say he is really bad. You can't deny that's a lot more interesting.

So it's acceptable for them to lose to Bilbao because they are a 'really good team' but not to Valencia/Sevilla? Right...

Sigh I know you never said the rumours were likely. I asked you to point out where I said they were likely (since that's what you suggested). If you're going to be sarcastic and patronising in your replies then you should probably at least keep up with what's being said.

[Blue Colored Sky 1,807]

Mourinho tries to turn Ivanovic into his new Maicon. He seems to treat Iva in the same way he treated Maicon and he tries to encourage Serb to play in Maicon's way. That's bizzare. Maicon was one of a kind, he had Ivanovic size packed in one body alongside ridiculous athletic traits, therefore he could attack up and down non stop. That was sheer power down the right side, Jose tries to emulate that with Iva, but he simply has too many flaws and is nowhere near as powerful as Maicon.

Jose clearly needs this kind of big guy on the flank, I hope there's the new Maicon somewhere in the market who combines size, physicality and athleticism. Not only for Jose's pleasure but mine as well since I simply loved prime Maicon.

RE rumours which links Ivanovic to Bayern. Wow. You know, the tiki taka philosophy is in the same way about keeping the ball and playing passing game as is about quick, high intensity pressing. Tiki-taka without pressing is dead. Why Pep would even think of buying player who can't press at all ? Why he would think of buying player who can't keep the ball under pressure ? Overall, why he would think of buying player who lacks two principle abilities for a system he plays ?

[Rom2013 446]

So it's acceptable for them to lose to Bilbao because they are a 'really good team' but not to Valencia/Sevilla? Right...

Sigh I know you never said the rumours were likely. I asked you to point out where I said they were likely (since that's what you suggested). If you're going to be sarcastic and patronising in your replies then you should probably at least keep up with what's being said.

No... it's acceptable to lose against Bilbao, or Valencia, or Sevilla, or Elche... it's not acceptable to have problems against all of them. I think it's easy to understand... and again, if you want to talk about the time Guardiola was in Barcelona we can talk.

I just said 2 things... it would be more interesting to see the 2 best coaches in the world fighting for Ivanovic,while you here say he is not good enough. And I said, or suggested, that you just thought about how likely that was in your second post and that's for me another interesting thing.

[The Chels 2,502]

Jose clearly needs this kind of big guy on the flank, I hope there's the new Maicon somewhere in the market who combines size, physicality and athleticism. Not only for Jose's pleasure but mine as well since I simply loved prime Maicon.

The Guardian recently reported that we might go for Micah Richards in the summer. Not Maicon level but better than Ivanovic (although he'd probably just be signed as a back-up). http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/05/chelsea-micah-richards-free-move-summer-manchester-city

[DYC. 7,542]

The Guardian recently reported that we might go for Micah Richards in the summer. Not Maicon level but better than Ivanovic (although he'd probably just be signed as a back-up). http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/05/chelsea-micah-richards-free-move-summer-manchester-city

Micah Richards? Seriously, go for quality or don't bother. Better than Ivanovic? Not at all. One pretty good season in his entire career and that was 4-5 years ago.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

The Guardian recently reported that we might go for Micah Richards in the summer. Not Maicon level but better than Ivanovic (although he'd probably just be signed as a back-up). http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/05/chelsea-micah-richards-free-move-summer-manchester-city

Better than Ivanovic, don't make me laugh man, Micah Richards is pure and utter shite now a days.

[The Chels 2,502]

Micah Richards? Seriously, go for quality or don't bother. Better than Ivanovic? Not at all. One pretty good season in his entire career and that was 4-5 years ago.

Better than Ivanovic, don't make me laugh man, Micah Richards is pure and utter shite now a days.

I haven't been following him but assume he can't be any worse than the defensive dross we've seen of late! Jose's apparently been interested in him for a while now so it wouldn't be such a surprising signing but doubt he'd want to come just to rot on the bench.

[LAB 1,030]

Ivanovic in a Pep team alone would be hilarious! His technique on the ball is terrible even next to Ramires, imagine how out of place he would looks next to the Bayern players

You are harsh imo. I'm not trying to say he is technical, but he is not terrible.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

You are harsh imo. I'm not trying to say he is technical, but he is not terrible.

I was joking, but seriously name players playing for top European teams with worse technique on the ball than Iva and Ramires.

[LAB 1,030]

I was joking, but seriously name players playing for top European teams with worse technique on the ball than Iva and Ramires.

Cahill ? I don't know tbh. Definitely not good enough for a Pep team, i agree on that.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Cahill ? I don't know tbh. Definitely not good enough for a Pep team, i agree on that.

Haha. I used to think Cahill had decent technique when he was at Bolton, certainly very good shooting technique. I dunno what happened here!

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

Let him go for 10-15m, pay 20-30m for Rodriguez and moves Dave to RB or just move Dave anyway and play Filipe at LB. Not worried he has not been the same since that 10-11 season anyway. Sure we will miss his goals but for a defender that is just extra anyway.

[empire of emotions 247]

does someone has a vine of ivanovic's reaction at first portugal goal?

[Stats 7,053]

"Now undisputedly the best right-back in England according to the WhoScored.com ratings, Ivanovic has dispelled any thoughts of Pablo Zabaleta holding this crown this season, with sound defensive performances sprinkled with dangerous forays forward. Dribbled past only 13 times all season while making some 69 tackles, the Serb has also helped out with four goals and four assists in the league alone".

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/9783553/premier-league-team-of-the-season-according-to-whoscoredcom-stats

He has his flaws but was going past the last few pages and the criticism is a bit OTT. There are many non-Chelsea fans who view Ivanovic as the best RB in the league. We obviously watch him more and it is expected that we scrutinize his performances more but he has been solid every season for us. He can be exposed like in the Hull game but look at how many games he has been excellent. Sanchez did not get a sniff up against him this season. 6 goals for the season is impressive and a few assists as well and he is generally a very solid defender. There is a reason why Jose keeps playing him. Could be rotated a bit to help him with fatigue but he is the best RB at the club.

[hamad138 190]

According to sportbild, Bayern has told Ivanovic they have decided not to buy him

[iseah100 5,612]

Why are Bayern such cunts?

[WNDS 502]

"Now undisputedly the best right-back in England according to the WhoScored.com ratings, Ivanovic has dispelled any thoughts of Pablo Zabaleta holding this crown this season, with sound defensive performances sprinkled with dangerous forays forward. Dribbled past only 13 times all season while making some 69 tackles, the Serb has also helped out with four goals and four assists in the league alone".

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/9783553/premier-league-team-of-the-season-according-to-whoscoredcom-stats

He has his flaws but was going past the last few pages and the criticism is a bit OTT. There are many non-Chelsea fans who view Ivanovic as the best RB in the league. We obviously watch him more and it is expected that we scrutinize his performances more but he has been solid every season for us. He can be exposed like in the Hull game but look at how many games he has been excellent. Sanchez did not get a sniff up against him this season. 6 goals for the season is impressive and a few assists as well and he is generally a very solid defender. There is a reason why Jose keeps playing him. Could be rotated a bit to help him with fatigue but he is the best RB at the club.

WhoScored's stats for defenders are almost entirely worthless because they fail to take into account some of the most important aspects of defending such as man-marking, closing down, general positioning, decision-making etc. You can see this quite clearly with Terry, who is frequently given one of the worst 'statistical ratings' of any Chelsea player in many matches, despite often being one of our best/most important players.

The article mentions that Ivanovic has only been dribbled past on 13 occasions this season, but that stat is at least partly due to Ivan's extremely frustrating tendency to stand-off his man in dangerous areas rather than attempting to make a block or a tackle. In addition to this, Ivanovic's man-marking abilities have shown an obvious decline this season, with opposition players finding it all too easy to make untracked off-the-ball runs around him. As I've already touched upon in the paragraph above, these are all failings that do not show up in statistical evaluations because they are not purely quantifiable measurements; as far as the statistical ratings are concerned Ivan is an excellent defender, but then again, so are Chris Smalling (7.34; decent, but not THAT good), Antonio Valencia (7.24; not even a genuine defender), Gael Clichy (7.43; massively inconsistent), Bacary Sagna (7.20; City fans don't particularly rate him), Federico Fazio (7.35; has had a large number of games in which he's been awful this season) etc. Meanwhile, Terry has a decent-but-unspectacular rating of 7.04, just behind Per Mertesacker's 7.07; Mertesacker who has been entirely sub-par for about half the season.