Branislav Ivanovic

[Jase 43,479]

No mention of his foul throw in the first half?

[Yeboii 1,844]

No mention of his foul throw in the first half?

To be honest he had nowhere to throw it and probably got caught up still deciding during the throw.

[OneMoSalah 8,661]

You mean like in the semi-final of the CL last year when he switched off for Arda Turan's goal, or when he allowed Lampard to equalise for City earlier in the season or when he lost the aerial duel with David Luiz for PSG's goal?

I understand that people like Ivanovic's personality and think that the pros outweigh the cons with him (banter > football ability, apparently) but let's not pretend like he suddenly becomes reliable when it matters most.

Every goal you concede has issues/mistakes.

For example the City goal:

-No pressure on Silva at all, he is standing with about 10 yards of space, he lofts ball over to Milner who makes run,

-Schurrle doesn't track Milner, who provides the assist, means Cahill has to come over and deal with ball, creating space for Lampard to run in to.

-Terry doesn't get closer to Cahill to cover the space which Lampard runs in to when Cahill goes to close down Milner,

-Ivanovic doesn't track Lampard's run.

Goal.

So to say he allowed Lampard to equalize is hardly fair when Schurrle could also be mentioned in 'allowing' Milner to provide the cross and Terry 'allowing' Lampard the space to run in to score.

You might look at that and go yeah well that's nit picking but so is saying someone not tracking a run, which happens game in game out for every team in every game, is a huge crime. In these big games he will make numerous tackles, blocks, win so many aerial duels, complete so many crosses, not get dribbled by so many times but no these are never mentioned because after 87 or 88 minutes he will make a simple mistake any player would make.

Also against Atletico, Hazard switches off doesn't follow Juanfran who provides the assist for Turan's goal.. but no Jose has a go at him for that and not working hard enough in defense and people jump on his back but still want to point the finger at Ivanovic because he didn't react a 10th of a second faster than Turan did to a cross which Schwartzer saved the header from? Cahill and Terry's reactions? Easy to point the finger at the guy who lost the header when he had to basically compete with 2 Atletico players for it, isn't it?

People forget when he dealt with Sanchez and Sterling with ease, had Suarez in his back pocket playing at center back when we were expected to get hammered, hardly gave Di Maria a sniff and was wrongfully sent off along with numerous opponents in numerous games.

He is the ultimate big game player for me. Wouldn't swap him for anybody.

[The Chels 2,502]

Every goal you concede has issues/mistakes.

For example the City goal:

-No pressure on Silva at all, he is standing with about 10 yards of space, he lofts ball over to Milner who makes run,

-Schurrle doesn't track Milner, who provides the assist, means Cahill has to come over and deal with ball, creating space for Lampard to run in to.

-Terry doesn't get closer to Cahill to cover the space which Lampard runs in to when Cahill goes to close down Milner,

-Ivanovic doesn't track Lampard's run.

Goal.

So to say he allowed Lampard to equalize is hardly fair when Schurrle could also be mentioned in 'allowing' Milner to provide the cross and Terry 'allowing' Lampard the space to run in to score.

You might look at that and go yeah well that's nit picking but so is saying someone not tracking a run, which happens game in game out for every team in every game, is a huge crime. In these big games he will make numerous tackles, blocks, win so many aerial duels, complete so many crosses, not get dribbled by so many times but no these are never mentioned because after 87 or 88 minutes he will make a simple mistake any player would make.

Also against Atletico, Hazard switches off doesn't follow Juanfran who provides the assist for Turan's goal.. but no Jose has a go at him for that and not working hard enough in defense and people jump on his back but still want to point the finger at Ivanovic because he didn't react a 10th of a second faster than Turan did to a cross which Schwartzer saved the header from? Cahill and Terry's reactions? Easy to point the finger at the guy who lost the header when he had to basically compete with 2 Atletico players for it, isn't it?

People forget when he dealt with Sanchez and Sterling with ease, had Suarez in his back pocket playing at center back when we were expected to get hammered, hardly gave Di Maria a sniff and was wrongfully sent off along with numerous opponents in numerous games.

He is the ultimate big game player for me. Wouldn't swap him for anybody.

Sure I agree with you that Ivanovic is not the only one responsible for those goals. The likes of Hazard, Schurrle, Cahill and Terry should also take some blame, as well as the defensive system itself for allowing David Silva and Tiago so much space.

I also fully appreciate that mistakes are part of the game and happen to all players but the problem with Ivanovic is that his mistakes happen far too often. Whether Willian is doing his defending for him or otherwise, Ivanovic's weaknesses are regularly exploited by by the opposition, including PSG, Villa, Hull, Schalke, Everton, Derby, West Ham, City, Tottenham and plenty other sides. It is understandable when the defensive qualities of full backs who are very effective going forward (e.g. Marcelo) is sometimes overlooked but Ivanovic, in spite of his occasional goals, is nowhere near good enough going forward in terms of combination play, overlaps, final delivery, decision making, etc. to warrant an untouchable status with complete attacking freedom.

In spite of the complacency, defensive limitations and regular lapses in concentration that make him the common denominator in most of our defensive calamities, perhaps I am being too harsh on him. It's not he who picks the team after all.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I'm pretty sure Mourinho thinks Ivanovic is like Maicon, and Azpi is like Zanetti.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

My MOTM yesterday. He was brilliant and didn't put a foot in wrong. He was targeted by utd and often out numbered 2 to 1 down the flank but still managed to fend them off every sing time. Made Young look like a school boy a few times.

His best performance for us this season, imo. More of this vs Arsenal, please!

[LeChuck 22]

[LAB 1,030]

What people often fail to realise is that there are matches where he is busy for enough time that some mistakes are bound to happen. Yesterday he defended for nearly 90 minutes almost non-stop. That's not easy. It's like asking an attacking player to create for 90 minutes successfully time after time.

Extremely well done yesterday and i want to add to Choulo's post that Di Maria also didn't find it easy with Brana since he came on.

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

I have more confidence in him now he's shown he can be a defensive fullback, I think now that Jose asks him to play like this when Willian's on the flank because he has enough pace to overlap Iva.

[iseah100 5,612]

What people often fail to realise is that there are matches where he is busy for enough time that some mistakes are bound to happen. Yesterday he defended for nearly 90 minutes almost non-stop. That's not easy. It's like asking an attacking player to create for 90 minutes successfully time after time.

Extremely well done yesterday and i want to add to Choulo's post that Di Maria also didn't find it easy with Brana since he came on.

But why does every significant attack from every opponent come from his side?

[LAB 1,030]

But why does every significant attack from every opponent come from his side?

He is obviously not as good as Azpi and gets picked more often. I'd prefer Azpi and Luis to be our FBs, but we tend to over criticise Ivanovic for some reason while others see him as one of the best in the league. Surely he is not that bad. This thread is sometimes worse that Oscar's. That's all I'm saying nothing more.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

But why does every significant attack from every opponent come from his side?

Yesterday? Because he was targeted by utd.

Usually? Because goes forward and does not think about the space he is leaving behind.

[iseah100 5,612]

Yesterday? Because he was targeted by utd.

Usually? Because goes forward and does not think about the space he is leaving behind.

Exactly. He deserves all the criticism he gets tbh.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Exactly. He deserves all the criticism he gets tbh.

Very true. But he also deserves all the praise for a performance like yesterday.

[Miguelito 459]

I didn't think he was that great yesterday. I thought he got beat around his corner on numerous occasions. I thought azpi on the other was just brilliant.

Obviously like you all stated before, he was targeted, but there were atleast 3 or 4 times he should have been punched in more and then the ball went between him and Cahill. Then I also remember one time when drogba was back helping him defend and someone (forget who) just blew by drogba and iva literally just walked at the corner of the 18 and didn't do anything. Should have doubled up on the attacker with the ball with drogba or run to the middle to help defend the incoming cross.

So I agree he is bound to make a mistake with being targeted and us playing the way we did, but don't think he was anywhere near motm. He was better than usual, but still not where we need our starting RB to me.

[zolayes 14,489]

I didn't think he was that great yesterday. I thought he got beat around his corner on numerous occasions. I thought azpi on the other was just brilliant.

Obviously like you all stated before, he was targeted, but there were atleast 3 or 4 times he should have been punched in more and then the ball went between him and Cahill. Then I also remember one time when drogba was back helping him defend and someone (forget who) just blew by drogba and iva literally just walked at the corner of the 18 and didn't do anything. Should have doubled up on the attacker with the ball with drogba or run to the middle to help defend the incoming cross.

So I agree he is bound to make a mistake with being targeted and us playing the way we did, but don't think he was anywhere near motm. He was better than usual, but still not where we need our starting RB to me.

they target Brana for a reason .. he is the weak link in our defence .. Sad when we could switch Azpi and play Felipe

[Jase 43,479]

He is obviously not as good as Azpi and gets picked more often. I'd prefer Azpi and Luis to be our FBs, but we tend to over criticise Ivanovic for some reason while others see him as one of the best in the league. Surely he is not that bad. This thread is sometimes worse that Oscar's. That's all I'm saying nothing more.

That's because I doubt they watch Ivanovic as often as we do and I suspect his goals play a huge part in that.

[LondonsFinest 692]

Credit where it's due. He played good when he was needed.

Still, the lack of pace killed him twice. One time the defence covered him, the other Rooney missed. I think he is loosing pace, and if we are to bring him back to CB would be better. In the end, Mourinho has a reason and I'm the last person to critise that.