Juan Cuadrado, exactly why did we sign him?

[icecoolguy22]

I ask myself the same question every weekend after his cameo off ( or on) the bench. I guess we only got a few games left, and Jose will play his best 11 while possible ( and Juan isn't part of that). If we do wrap up the title with a few games to go, let's see how much Jose rates him. I remember Ivanoic didn't play a single season in his first half season, so there's hope for Juan. The problem is Ivanoic was a low key signing at the time, not the 25M major signing.

 

[Jonty]

Because novelty wig sales at the Bridge had plummeted since Luiz left.

 

[Uxanga]

Andre had a difficult few months and was sold. An awful decision, especially after the World Cup.

Next season, he'll be top class again and we'll be regretting selling him.

Agree with you, and I guess Jose would have kept Andre, but Wolfsburg were ready to pay an insane amount of money for him, so it was a no-brainer. 

Schürrle hasn't done wonders in the Bundesliga thus far so he probably wouldn't have helped us a lot. But I still think that he would have been an asset especially in games against PSG, United etc.

I am very disappointed with Cuadrado and with hindsight I wouldn't have bought. But as some other pointed out, he might have been helpfulf if Willian or Oscar had sustained an injury. So, most probably he was always meant to be a makeshift option in the case injuries hit us hard.

 

[Crem]

Once we seal the title I expect Cuadrado to get a few starts and then we will be better placed to cast him out (or not).

 

[Chelsbear]

I can only think something happened between Schurrle and Jose or that Wolfsburg were going to look at other options if Schurrle didn’t move in the winter window.

Salah made sense in that he was terrible every time he played (although that wasn’t much).

The faith Jose has shown in Cuadrado makes it mind boggling as to spending the best part of £30 million on a guy you aint going to use for half a season.

Considering we have spent £70 odd million on our right hand side and still don’t seem to have a winger capable of scoring and stetting up on a consistent basis is pretty poor given options like Sanchez were available.

I’m not sure I’d want Jose picking another player for that position tbh, he is struggling badly in that area of the park.

 

[DaRick]

At first glance, Cuadrado seemed like an excellent signing and a prototypical Mou transfer. At Fiorentina, he was fearless and direct, a fine crosser, a goal threat who was unafraid to shoot from distance, hard working, fast and an excellent dribbler. 

However, he is more lightweight than I had realised. In a less physical, more tactical league like Serie A it doesn't matter so much, but here it does. To his credit, he has tried to bulk up but in his initial appearances he's been too easy to bully.

Also for the reasons I've already outlined, Serie A has a different football culture to the Premier League and so Cuadrado hasn't found it easy to adapt - something he's admitted.

Schurrle would probably have done a bit better (though his form for Wolfsburg hasn't been sparkling), but Salah very much strikes me as the sort of player whom a system needs to be built around. That was never going to happen at Chelsea.

I expect Cuadrado to improve next season once he's familiarised himself with the PL. 

 

[1905.]

Hindsight's good, isn't it?

 

[Thacker]

I can only think something happened between Schurrle and Jose or that Wolfsburg were going to look at other options if Schurrle didn’t move in the winter window.

Salah made sense in that he was terrible every time he played (although that wasn’t much).

The faith Jose has shown in Cuadrado makes it mind boggling as to spending the best part of £30 million on a guy you aint going to use for half a season.

Considering we have spent £70 odd million on our right hand side and still don’t seem to have a winger capable of scoring and stetting up on a consistent basis is pretty poor given options like Sanchez were available.

I’m not sure I’d want Jose picking another player for that position tbh, he is struggling badly in that area of the park.

Honestly think Schuerrle was dealing with depression from all of Jose's tiptoeing around his form and illness. Probably best that we did what was best for his wellbeing, if that was the case. I still have faith that Cuadrado can get to Willian's level and provide some goals though.