True Blue23

From matchday 3 on Zouma played the full 90 in every league game under Mourinho bar one vs Southampton (13 starts, 2 of which came at right back, the rest at centre back) and in every Champions Legue group game (1 as right back, the rest at centre back) with the exception of a tie against Maccabi Tel Aviv. In the Hiddinks first game he was benched for Cahill, but then started every league match up to his injury. Cahill on the other hand started 8 of the premier league games after that 3:0 loss to Man City on matchday 2. 3 of which Terry was unavailable for and 2 he started because Zouma played at right back. So he was far from undroppable. Mourinho didn't drop him in the 2014/2015 season, but there was no reason to.

Actually it was Mournho who dropped him at the very start of the disaster that was the 2015/2016 season (third game I think). Hiddink in his first game played Cahill over Zouma than went back to what Mourinho had done before him and played Zouma for the next few games until he tore his ACL.

I don't think Luiz would be great as a permanent midfielder, because he's just not that great in tight spaces. He tends to dilly dally on the ball and carelessly lose it. His passing also is much better when he's afforded time and space. Also there's absolutely no reason for Fabregas not to play if we play 3 midfielders. You would really start with one centre back and two defensive midfielders in a three man midfield?

Yes he's lightning quick, has wonderful ball control and is a great dribbler. So were Boga and Musonda and both have only shown flashes so far at senior level. But what excites me most about him is that he seems to combine vision, decision making, good passing and work rate (aspects where Boga never excelled), with real end product (something Musonda wasn't even great at at youth level). This, however is only based on the very few occasions I've watched him. I don't follow youth football as actively as I used to anymore, so I try not to get ahead of myself.

He was injured.

Well there are thousands and thousands of top level footballers, they are young, rich and drive nice cars. Obviously there are a few stories every season. But I doubt the percentage of incidents is significantly higher than it is with average people. It's just that nobody in the media cares if a random person is caught drinking and driving...

According to Schalke Fans on transfermarkt.de he's limited technically, and excels in his physical attributes and fighting spirit. They think that Baba's ceiling is higher and that a club like Schalke is the limit for Kolasinac. At a bigger club he wouldn't be more than a squad player. We can't do a lot wrong with his contract running out, but I would prefer to finish the season with Ake and Kenedy as cover and then sign proper competition for Alonso in summer, if our 2 youngsters don't seem up to the job.

Kenedy and Pedro can cover for WB

I think his biggest problem is going to be his height. With Azpilicueta, who is undroppable at this point in time, we already have a short centre back. Ake is good in the air for his height, but you can't compare him to Cahill or Zouma. Also we already have a pretty short team in general, so giving up even more height could kill us at setpieces. As long as Azpi is a regular in this defence at CB, sadly I deem it unlikely that Ake will be a starter as well. Which is a shame, because he looks like a cracking young player.

Tibo's better and won't settle for only playing half of the games.

I'm also not Kenedy's biggest fan, definitely not as an out and out attacker but it's apples and oranges. There's no way Musonda could play wingback, and with Aina and Iva both possibly leaving, that's an area we need some depth in. And if he develops well, he could make a good wingback. For me it's the position he's best suited for.

Against Peterborough we played our usual 3-4-3, with Willian on the right and RLC on the left.

He's great technically, but does he have the physical tools to succeed? He looks so tiny... Also how's his pace?

Very good technically and physically, but has zero football intelligence. That's the reason why he isn't even a nailed on starter for Boro.

Ter Stegen is not even close to Courtois. My roommate is a barca fan and he complains about him all the time. He would even prefer to have Bravo back, than continuing with ter Stegen.