Branislav Ivanovic

[DYC. 7,542]

He's a big strong guy, but his stamina is absolutely remarkable. He just gets up and down that right flank all day long, he rarely loses possession and he's always got a goal in him. He's gotten an undue amount of flack because his crossing isn't the greatest but he's a massively important part of our team. Every goal-kick and free-kick in our half goes to him, and he very rarely loses out. That puts us in a great position to start attacks.

And that finish with his left....bit more than a swinger but that's what he does.

Agree with this except for the part of him rarely losing the ball. His passing is pretty poor and it was very poor last night. But agree with the main point of your post. I haven't really understood the constant criticism he's received. Defensive he's been rock solid throughout the season. Yes his offensive game is poor but the man is a defender, he's being asked/forced to do things he simply can't do.

I'll always have a soft spot for the big Serb. Great goal and great performance, rarely disappoints in the big games.

[AswinR 96]

Agree with this except for the part of him rarely losing the ball. His passing is pretty poor and it was very poor last night. But agree with the main point of your post. I haven't really understood the constant criticism he's received. Defensive he's been rock solid throughout the season. Yes his offensive game is poor but the man is a defender, he's being asked/forced to do things he simply can't do.

I'll always have a soft spot for the big Serb. Great goal and great performance, rarely disappoints in the big games.

i agree with you but in modern football FB are very important in the attack...their crosses and overlapping runs could be the difference...ex:west ham.... we didnt get enough good crosses in ....

remember last season a game against sunderland(i think..) ceasar gave a good cross in to torres who headed a brilliant effort in... it came pretty quick in the game and after that we had an easy game....

For a attacking team FB's are a must...some clubs even make sacrifices for that...ex:barcelona....cant understand who the hell decided alves is a defender!! but when going fwd he is very useful to them ...

FB open up a lot of space...they usually pull a defender to them and that means an extra spot to be exploited.....

But for counter attacking the FB is completly different mould... tactical and quick to move the ball is all that is expected and ivanovic is perfect...

as a defender he was never questioned...neither his aerial abilities and from now on his left foot !!

[Excalibur KTBFFH 109]

Already a Chelsea legend in my eyes.

[DYC. 7,542]

i agree with you but in modern football FB are very important in the attack...their crosses and overlapping runs could be the difference...ex:west ham.... we didnt get enough good crosses in ....

remember last season a game against sunderland(i think..) ceasar gave a good cross in to torres who headed a brilliant effort in... it came pretty quick in the game and after that we had an easy game....

For a attacking team FB's are a must...some clubs even make sacrifices for that...ex:barcelona....cant understand who the hell decided alves is a defender!! but when going fwd he is very useful to them ...

FB open up a lot of space...they usually pull a defender to them and that means an extra spot to be exploited.....

But for counter attacking the FB is completly different mould... tactical and quick to move the ball is all that is expected and ivanovic is perfect...

as a defender he was never questioned...neither his aerial abilities and from now on his left foot !!

I have underlined the importance of a good attacking fullback a couple of times so we're on the same page. Think it's very necessary a player like that is added to the squad.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

The great mystery of Ivanovic is how he is incredible in the big games, like on Monday, yet utter dirge against shit teams like West Ham.

[The Chels 2,502]

The great mystery of Ivanovic is how he is incredible in the big games, like on Monday, yet utter dirge against shit teams like West Ham.

I think it's to do with possession based football vs a (more) counter attacking system which we used on Monday. His goal was exceptional but his technical ability, which he did defy on that one occasion, is still lacking and because he only really had the opportunity to put one cross into the box which was right at Joe Hart it wasn't really as noticeable especially given the brilliant goal. Compare this to when we play against teams like West Ham and to a lesser extent probably Newcastle on Saturday, and we're likely to be once more frustrated with him and his stray crosses/passes.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Last year people were moaning about Azpi's crossing, this year it's Ivanovic. Maybe it's a problem with targets in the box to aim for.

[The Chels 2,502]

Last year people were moaning about Azpi's crossing, this year it's Ivanovic. Maybe it's a problem with targets in the box to aim for.

When the cross is miles over everyone's head and goes for an opposition throw-in, which is too often the case with Ivanovic's and Ramires' crosses, you can't attribute fault to the players in the box. Azpi's crosses I don't think are too bad at all.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Last year people were moaning about Azpi's crossing, this year it's Ivanovic. Maybe it's a problem with targets in the box to aim for.

No, I'm pretty sure that when half his crosses end up outside the stadium or go out for a throw in that it has little to do with the people in the box. Not to deny that we have an issue in terms of movement in the box, but you can't also deny that Iva seriously lacks technical ability, especially in his crossing, probably the worst in our team in that aspect.

[The only place to be 11,313]

When the cross is miles over everyone's head and goes for an opposition throw-in, which is too often the case with Ivanovic's and Ramires' crosses, you can't attribute fault to the players in the box. Azpi's crosses I don't think are too bad at all.

People were moaning about Azpi last year and I defended him the same way I'm defending Ivanovic. Azpi seemed to have an issue crossing into space, whereas he'd do okay when he had a decent target to aim for.

The problem is the lack of decent targets at the moment.

[The Chels 2,502]

People were moaning about Azpi last year and I defended him the same way I'm defending Ivanovic. Azpi seemed to have an issue crossing into space, whereas he'd do okay when he had a decent target to aim for.

The problem is the lack of decent targets at the moment.

Thing is that even when there are decent targets I don't think Ivanovic is actually capable of making the cross. In the majority of cases he sends it completely over everybody and out for a throw-in. Even if there are no targets to aim for he should at least be attempting to get it into a dangerous area where players may run into.

[Joshybizzle 109]

I'm one of those that thinks Ivanovic's crossing is more often than not, completely wayward and i couldn't for the life of me figure out why for the first part of the season we insisted on working the ball up the pitch then letting Ivan sky the cross 75% of the time!

But his attacking isn't why he's in the side (despite scoring some incredibly important goals, ala Europa League final and Man City earlier this week, considering his role in the team, how often he chips in with a vital goal is extremely impressive.

But attacking isn't why he's in the team, in the 13/14 seasons he's been used exclusively at right back and he's having a fantastic season so far and the stats speak for themselves with an average of 2.2 tackles per game, 1.2 interceptions per game and 1.2 aerial duels won per game.

But i think the most incredible stat is his ZERO errors that have led to a goal since joining us in 140+ appearances in the Premier League, to put that into perspective Cech has made 10 such errors, Terry 5 and Ashley Cole 5

Playing as a fairly unspectacular right back he's never going to be considered a club legend (a word a lot of supporters throw around) but the big guys definitely worked his way into my heart

Also, he's got a SERIOUS ghetto booty, i mean just LOOK AT IT.. IT LOOKS BACK AT YOU, also if you type 'Branislav Ivanovic' into Google its like the third most commonly searched term so i'm not the only one that's noticed!

[NiclasCFC 2,582]

I'm one of those that thinks Ivanovic's crossing is more often than not, completely wayward and i couldn't for the life of me figure out why for the first part of the season we insisted on working the ball up the pitch then letting Ivan sky the cross 75% of the time!

But his attacking isn't why he's in the side (despite scoring some incredibly important goals, ala Europa League final and Man City earlier this week, considering his role in the team, how often he chips in with a vital goal is extremely impressive.

But attacking isn't why he's in the team, in the 13/14 seasons he's been used exclusively at right back and he's having a fantastic season so far and the stats speak for themselves with an average of 2.2 tackles per game, 1.2 interceptions per game and 1.2 aerial duels won per game.

But i think the most incredible stat is his ZERO errors that have led to a goal since joining us in 140+ appearances in the Premier League, to put that into perspective Cech has made 10 such errors, Terry 5 and Ashley Cole 5

Playing as a fairly unspectacular right back he's never going to be considered a club legend (a word a lot of supporters throw around) but the big guys definitely worked his way into my heart

Also, he's got a SERIOUS ghetto booty, i mean just LOOK AT IT.. IT LOOKS BACK AT YOU, also if you type 'Branislav Ivanovic' into Google its like the third most commonly searched term so i'm not the only one that's noticed!

Great post mate, especially the last part

[Liquidator 5,176]

£9.7m we paid for him. Bargain if you ask me.

[Strike 7,217]

the number of important goals he's scored is pretty incredible for a defender. the 2 goals at Anfield, the goal against Napoli, Benfica and now City.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Stick him up front!!!

[Mufassir08 2,400]

the number of important goals he's scored is pretty incredible for a defender. the 2 goals at Anfield, the goal against Napoli, Benfica and now City.

You forgot the winner against Villa this season.

[Jase 43,479]

You forgot the winner against Villa this season.

I guess Strike was highlighting Ivanovic's goalscoring exploits in the really big game.