Well according to hansen anyway lmao

Terry is our best then Cahill.

Hansen is a fud of the highest order, too many high challenges to his head.

No, but he just might be a better striker than Torres.

Oh yes better than Luiz.Luiz should R.B

Oh yes better than Luiz.Luiz should R.B

No, he shouldn't. He played left back at Benfica and was utterly hopeless. Some of his weaker displays in the middle for us look good by comparison.

He's a center back, not a defensive mid or a fullback. If you don't believe he's the answer in the middle for us, that's fine, but that's where he belongs.

Oh yes better than Luiz.Luiz should R.B

That's what I was thinking maybe CB ain't for Luiz

I wouldn't go that far but he's not as bad as people on here make out either.

We're blessed with 4 good CBs all having different qualities and some maybe a bit to learn, with the right players ahead of them both Defensive midfield and Tracking back they can all be quality, I think we have a team here still getting used to a style of play and players still getting their heads round it and it will get better.

I don't fear the annual dip in form and feel things will improve, my only real worry is up front and that can be papered over when Mata and Hazard are causing havoc.

Seeing as Ivanovic has hardly played as CB these last couple of seasons I don't think it's right to compare him to JT, Luiz and Cahill.

One has to base his performance in that position on the way he played today, and one game does not tell the whole truth. If so, then Boularouz was a world class RB, Romeu an outstanding midfielder, Ivanovic a goalscoring machine and Torres.....well, a Torres.

I would not mind seeing Ivan play a few more games as CB though. He did well there today and Azpilicueta really has shown that he should be our first pick as RB at the moment.

No, he shouldn't. He played left back at Benfica and was utterly hopeless. Some of his weaker displays in the middle for us look good by comparison.

He's a center back, not a defensive mid or a fullback. If you don't believe he's the answer in the middle for us, that's fine, but that's where he belongs.

I assume you are reffering to the Porto game when he was facing Hulk and about 10 other players all on his own? If not then I have no idea where you got the idea from that he was "utterly hopeless". He played LB for the majority of the 09 and 10 season and was class, his crossing and passing were superb and easily muscled players off the ball. Your post makes it seem like he was Andre Santos like, which couldn't be further from the truth.

That said I don't think we need him to play at any of the fullbacks roles, we already have Ryan and Cesar who are more than good enough.

I think he is certainly more reliable than Luiz.

I'm sure I remember Hansen being pretty scathing about our CBs - Terry apart - this time last year. Something along the lines of 'not up to it'. He's always rated Terry very highly, but it's weird how much Ivan has improved as a CB without actually playing there in the past year.

I think he is certainly more reliable than Luiz.

Hasn't played CB for us in like 2/3 years and you come to this conclusion, AFTER players have been skinning him all season basically? Agenda much.

So he will be more reliable... at being outpaced by most forwards these days.

Hansen knows f**k all about football.

Ivan is our worst CB. Not bad, but not as good as the rest. A far better RB than CB.

Hasn't played CB for us in like 2/3 years and you come to this conclusion, AFTER players have been skinning him all season basically? Agenda much.

So he will be more reliable... at being outpaced by most forwards these days.

There is another thing to say that Ivan is poor as a cb and another to suggest he hasnt played there for 2/3 years.

Ivanovic played over 20 games as a cb last season, especially under AVB and in the last games of the premier league when Luiz and Cahill were injured. I think he played in the FA Cup final too.

He also played many games under Carlo in his second season when we had Carvalho sold.

Edited November 4, 201213 yr by eldakar

Terry

Cahill

Ivanovic

Luiz

In that order

Terry

Luiz (when his head is in the right place)

Cahill

Ivan

Luiz (when he dicks about & goes all harlem globetrotters)

There is another thing to say that Ivan is poor as a cb and another to suggest he hasnt played there for 2/3 years.

Ivanovic played over 20 games as a cb last season, especially under AVB and in the last games of the premier league when Luiz and Cahill were injured. I think he played in the FA Cup final too.

He also played many games under Carlo in his second season when we had Carvalho sold.

Yeah I probably exaggerated but in the past 2 years I'm certain he played mainly as a RB and when fit luiz and/or cahill was preferred ahead of him. I'm just getting bored of the hyperbolic nonsense when it comes to talking about luiz these days. RdM seems to think he is a lot better than some make up and prefers him as a counterfoil to terry in defense.

I would not mind seeing Ivan play a few more games as CB though. He did well there today and Azpilicueta really has shown that he should be our first pick as RB at the moment.

What he did that good in those 2 games to really deserve to be first choice at rb? I don't think he was bad, but he wasn't that good too, I think he was quiet. He also missed few headers in man u game which Ivan would probably scored.

What he did that good in those 2 games to really deserve to be first choice at rb? I don't think he was bad, but he wasn't that good too, I think he was quiet. He also missed few headers in man u game which Ivan would probably scored.

would ivan even manage to get at the end of those crosses? he is considerably slower than azpi

other teams envy us for having such versatile defenders.

I assume you are reffering to the Porto game when he was facing Hulk and about 10 other players all on his own? If not then I have no idea where you got the idea from that he was "utterly hopeless". He played LB for the majority of the 09 and 10 season and was class, his crossing and passing were superb and easily muscled players off the ball. Your post makes it seem like he was Andre Santos like, which couldn't be further from the truth.

That said I don't think we need him to play at any of the fullbacks roles, we already have Ryan and Cesar who are more than good enough.

Luiz certainly wasn't facing Hulk and "10 other players all on his own". His responsibility in that match was to stop Hulk and Belluschi, not Hulk and every other player including Porto's goalkeeper. He failed, miserably. It'd rank as one of the single worst defensive performances I've ever seen in a match between two high calibre European clubs.

Terry

Cahill

Ivanovic

Luiz

In that order

Funny how our manager doesn't see it that way.

Come on, if we are to win the title we need a new CB. Ivan is not playing well.

Luiz certainly wasn't facing Hulk and "10 other players all on his own". His responsibility in that match was to stop Hulk and Belluschi, not Hulk and every other player including Porto's goalkeeper. He failed, miserably. It'd rank as one of the single worst defensive performances I've ever seen in a match between two high calibre European clubs.

The point was that he didn't get any help (and actually I remember a few times when it was him v 3 players as the whole team shifted towards the right to exploit Luiz on the break). Any left back in the world would be made to hopeless in those circumstances, Cole is currently suffering the same fate but no one in their right mind would call him a poor LB.

Not only is that one match against two of the best players in the league at the time, which isn't nearly enough to call him utterly hopeless at LB, you also fail to mention how poor the rest of the defence was. Also it's funny how people always go on about Luiz in that game but seem to have selective memory when it comes to Coentrao who was by far the worst player on the pitch. Compared to Coentrao he was solid. All in all, Luiz was actually Benfica's best defender, albeit the best from a bad bunch but still.

What he did that good in those 2 games to really deserve to be first choice at rb? I don't think he was bad, but he wasn't that good too, I think he was quiet. He also missed few headers in man u game which Ivan would probably scored.

Well the important part was that he didn't get beaten easily, made it hard to get past or get a cross in. I would like him to make more direct forward runs though. I only recall him missed one header which was at a slight angle and he was off balance.