1 hour ago, Slojo said:

Is there a more adaptable and versatile player than Azpilicueta? I'm sure if you played him as a striker he would become a 20 goal a season player in no time. 

Well, we kind of need one right now, so how about we give it a go? 

People were talking that his performance aren't good this season. He switched three positions during two seasons, and in my opinion he was the top performer in every. His performance against City was outstanding, in his 300 performances i don't recall him being poor. Mr consistent and my favorite player at the club by far.

1 hour ago, TrueBlueBIH said:

People were talking that his performance aren't good this season. He switched three positions during two seasons, and in my opinion he was the top performer in every. His performance against City was outstanding, in his 300 performances i don't recall him being poor. Mr consistent and my favorite player at the club by far.

I think what it was, is that he was such a great centre back and he was in his new RB position, (which ironically was his main position) and he had a bit of a slow start. 

But it was nothing major or significant, just by his standards it didn't seem like the Azpilucueta we've been used to for all these years, however, he's definitely back to his best in that new role. 

Pep wants his team not to tackle at all. Cesar doesn't really care. 

9 hours ago, evissy said:

Pep wants his team not to tackle at all. Cesar doesn't really care. 

Now he’s making tackles. How uncouth. Cancel his contract with immediate effect. 

Funnily enough I'm fairly sure the action shown in the picture would technically constitute a block.

Last player off the pitch again after making sure he went around all corners of the ground (luckily the shed was pretty empty by then!). 

If Sarri stays i think we need an upgrade on Dave. Whether that be trying Reece or signing Hysaj, but Azpi struggles with this football.

9 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

If Sarri stays i think we need an upgrade on Dave. Whether that be trying Reece or signing Hysaj, but Azpi struggles with this football.

He’s not an attacking fullback. There’s a reason José used him at left back and why Conte didn’t fancy him in the wingback position.

Dave is an excellent defender, one of the best 1v1 defenders I’ve ever seen but asking him to bomb forward, get past his man and whip in crosses? Never going to be that player.

9 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

If Sarri stays i think we need an upgrade on Dave. Whether that be trying Reece or signing Hysaj, but Azpi struggles with this football.

Hysaj is actually worse going forward, think he has 8 assists in his career; 160 league games. Long term; Yes we need a solution, but I feel we have bigger problems on the left.

35 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

He’s not an attacking fullback. There’s a reason José used him at left back and why Conte didn’t fancy him in the wingback position.

Dave is an excellent defender, one of the best 1v1 defenders I’ve ever seen but asking him to bomb forward, get past his man and whip in crosses? Never going to be that player.

I think Dave is another player not helped by the system. It's a bit like when JT was aksed to play that suicidal high line under AVB. Doesn't play to his strengths at all. 

I do think he has done well with some of the combination play and he offers an overlap better than most. But he is not a defender who can take on someone one on one and then whip in a cross.

6 hours ago, ducavis said:

Hysaj is actually worse going forward, think he has 8 assists in his career; 160 league games. Long term; Yes we need a solution, but I feel we have bigger problems on the left.

Have you watched a lot of Hysaj or where are you pulling that notion from?  From what I've seen, he's much better going forward and a much better footballer than Azpi.  Quick passing and dribbling ability, good link up play with the winger and can even spray a long ball forward.  I'll admit I have not seen him play too much, my opinion is based off of a handful of matches, and some highlight videos where he looks like the best player in the world ;).

He’s not an attacking fullback. There’s a reason José used him at left back and why Conte didn’t fancy him in the wingback position.
Dave is an excellent defender, one of the best 1v1 defenders I’ve ever seen but asking him to bomb forward, get past his man and whip in crosses? Never going to be that player.

Aina has improved significantly, why can't we give him a chance?

2 minutes ago, wallosh said:

On 11/03/2019 at 04:06, ForeverCarefree said:

He’s not an attacking fullback. There’s a reason José used him at left back and why Conte didn’t fancy him in the wingback position.
Dave is an excellent defender, one of the best 1v1 defenders I’ve ever seen but asking him to bomb forward, get past his man and whip in crosses? Never going to be that player.

Aina has improved significantly, why can't we give him a chance?

"Torino are ready to take up the £9million option to sign Chelsea full back Ola Aina .

The Serie A club have a permanent deal written into Aina’s season-long loan and Torino have been hugely impressed with his progress.

Aina, 22, was loaned out after struggling to make the grade at Chelsea but has developed into a key player for Torino this season."

"Torino are ready to take up the £9million option to sign Chelsea full back Ola Aina .

The Serie A club have a permanent deal written into Aina’s season-long loan and Torino have been hugely impressed with his progress.

Aina, 22, was loaned out after struggling to make the grade at Chelsea but has developed into a key player for Torino this season."

Yeah, am aware they want to sign him permanently but after watching lots of his games this season, he appears to be the most improved of all our players on loan and is better and faster than all our fullbacks currently, is it impossible to call him back from the loan because with his incredible pace and defensive awareness, bringing him back will immediately solve our RB or LB problem.

9 hours ago, wallosh said:

9 hours ago, Wearyourblue said:

"Torino are ready to take up the £9million option to sign Chelsea full back Ola Aina .

The Serie A club have a permanent deal written into Aina’s season-long loan and Torino have been hugely impressed with his progress.

Aina, 22, was loaned out after struggling to make the grade at Chelsea but has developed into a key player for Torino this season."

Yeah, am aware they want to sign him permanently but after watching lots of his games this season, he appears to be the most improved of all our players on loan and is better and faster than all our fullbacks currently, is it impossible to call him back from the loan because with his incredible pace and defensive awareness, bringing him back will immediately solve our RB or LB problem.

It says they have a option to purchase at 9 mil... which means I don't think it's our decision, it's Torino's.

2 hours ago, Wearyourblue said:

It says they have a option to purchase at 9 mil... which means I don't think it's our decision, it's Torino's.

If true that we have no option to refuse (or to buyback at a higher price) another example of our club's incredibly myopic approach to youth integration.  We do everything at a world class level, up till the last step...then we f*ck it all up.

Torino is the club we bought Zappacosta from.....for 28 million euros

They now have a full back that's arguably better, for 9 million pounds

Aina played 3500+ minutes for Hull last season in the Championship, and then is wanted by a Top 10 Serie A club, all at 21/22 years of age.

Who the hell decided he couldn't ever make the grade? Even if we have Reece James in the same position, we couldn't have set his buy option price higher?

AND, he's supposedly signed through at Chelsea till 2021

Yet again, this makes ZERO sense

Edited March 13, 20197 yr by dustbin719

It says they have a option to purchase at 9 mil... which means I don't think it's our decision, it's Torino's.

Oh! I thought given the fact that he is still under contract with us, we can still refuse to sell him and keep him. If Torino should sign him for anything less than 25m, then it's a steal for them because after one more season with them, Juventus or the Milan clubs will get him from them for a much higher fee. Torino is currently having an incredible season and Aina is one of the standout players behind it, you only need to watch one there games to see the quality he brings to that team. It's pathetic that we are giving him away for just 10m when he is already better than our LB and RB options.

If true that we have no option to refuse (or to buyback at a higher price) another example of our club's incredibly myopic approach to youth integration.  We do everything at a world class level, up till the last step...then we f*ck it all up.
Torino is the club we bought Zappacosta from.....for 28 million euros
They now have a full back that's arguably better, for 9 million pounds
Aina played 3500+ minutes for Hull last season in the Championship, and then is wanted by a Top 10 Serie A club, all at 21/22 years of age.
Who the hell decided he couldn't ever make the grade? Even if we have Reece James in the same position, we couldn't have set his buy option price higher?
AND, he's supposedly signed through at Chelsea till 2021
Yet again, this makes ZERO sense

I actually forgot we signed Zapacosta from there. It's just like the transfer dealing we had with Milan where we signed an older past it forward from them thereby giving them the chance to get a much younger and better forward.

Form has dropped a lot since Christmas and got spun quite a few times by that young Brighton lad. Hate to see it happen but could do with an upgrade soon. Reece James? 

On 13/03/2019 at 07:19, wallosh said:

On 13/03/2019 at 02:39, Wearyourblue said:

It says they have a option to purchase at 9 mil... which means I don't think it's our decision, it's Torino's.

Oh! I thought given the fact that he is still under contract with us, we can still refuse to sell him and keep him. If Torino should sign him for anything less than 25m, then it's a steal for them because after one more season with them, Juventus or the Milan clubs will get him from them for a much higher fee. Torino is currently having an incredible season and Aina is one of the standout players behind it, you only need to watch one there games to see the quality he brings to that team. It's pathetic that we are giving him away for just 10m when he is already better than our LB and RB options.

Actually, Torino could probably buy him for £9m and then immediately sell him for £25-30m, that could feasibly happen. 

Thought Dave was great tonight, both offensively and defensively. 

Had a real upswing of form in recent weeks. 

Strange, i couldn't and haven't seen that. Looks uncomfortable past the half way line, struggles to make a quick pass and gets beaten by his man more than i've ever seen from him before.

I think he’s been better linking up with CHO and Kante down the right. Nearly everything came down that side early on in the first half to the point Eden had to come over to find the ball.