"It’s time Chelsea axe outdated Azpilicueta for James"

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/10211681/chelsea-cesar-azpilicueta-reece-james/

Not sure if I agree with this as Dave's been immense lately. But James does need a few game.

Absolutely woeful today. Only Alonso was worse.

Beaten time and again, gave away free kick for goal 1, played goal 2 onside,  made little effort to get back to help on goal 4. Almost cost us our second goal by tapping in what was already going in when he was so near to bring offside. Really poor.

Our second goal did not look like it was going in without his touch.

He's been a good player for us for years, but since last season he has looked uncomfortable in a more offensive system. He struggles to make any dangerous crosses, and he's looking inferior defensively too compared to previous seasons.

I think he and Alonso both thrive in a system which make them look good, rather than their ability to adapt to any system. For me, a top player can play in any system.

I think some fans are being incredibly harsh on Azpi, yes he is not operating at his usual ridiculously high standards but he is far away from being an average full back. I think his usual high standards are being used against him to point fingers at every error he makes, every full back will give away free kicks at certain times but you have to be selective as to when to make that challenge and when to stand back. He made a few bad calls last night and gave away unnecessary free kicks but I wouldnt put that against him as he really shone as a leader last night. You could clearly see him trying to keep everyones heads up when we were 4-1 down and really got the crowd going too, with all the youth we are incredibly lucky to have a experienced figure out there who is Chelsea through & through.

19 minutes ago, enigma said:

He's been a good player for us for years, but since last season he has looked uncomfortable in a more offensive system. He struggles to make any dangerous crosses, and he's looking inferior defensively too compared to previous seasons.

I think he and Alonso both thrive in a system which make them look good, rather than their ability to adapt to any system. For me, a top player can play in any system.

He's played excellently at left back and as a third centre half. Right back he was never fantastic but still good. 

I think that's a bit unfair on Azpi. He was superbly consistent for a good number of years and it's only recently his defensive abilities have declined. Having said that he has been very good since James has been available for selection.

Edited November 6, 20196 yr by GhostOfDembaBa

3 hours ago, Imran_CFC said:

I think some fans are being incredibly harsh on Azpi, yes he is not operating at his usual ridiculously high standards but he is far away from being an average full back. I think his usual high standards are being used against him to point fingers at every error he makes, every full back will give away free kicks at certain times but you have to be selective as to when to make that challenge and when to stand back. He made a few bad calls last night and gave away unnecessary free kicks but I wouldnt put that against him as he really shone as a leader last night. You could clearly see him trying to keep everyones heads up when we were 4-1 down and really got the crowd going too, with all the youth we are incredibly lucky to have a experienced figure out there who is Chelsea through & through.

I think I'm one of those that are harsh on him. 

For me it's just best to solve this problem by having James to be the first choice and Azpi benched, but that would mean he can't be the captain anymore. So in my eyes he should be sold in the summer, before people stop seeing him as a legend that he is. This is what happen to Ivanovic, he's by all means a legend of the club but all that people remember about him is that he played a very bad season when he was 31-32 years old. I hope Azpili gets sold before he gets that same treatment, next season he will be 31 years old.

2 hours ago, Imran_CFC said:

I think some fans are being incredibly harsh on Azpi, yes he is not operating at his usual ridiculously high standards but he is far away from being an average full back. I think his usual high standards are being used against him to point fingers at every error he makes, every full back will give away free kicks at certain times but you have to be selective as to when to make that challenge and when to stand back. He made a few bad calls last night and gave away unnecessary free kicks but I wouldnt put that against him as he really shone as a leader last night. You could clearly see him trying to keep everyones heads up when we were 4-1 down and really got the crowd going too, with all the youth we are incredibly lucky to have a experienced figure out there who is Chelsea through & through.

He is alot closer to being an average full back, then anything else this season. I think his poor forward passing and crossing is a big problem for a team that wants to play out from the back. 

I would like to see Reece starting regularly at Right Back but I don't think that means Dave has to be benched. His versatility will ensure that he still has a big part to play this season, especially with our injuries. He looks a better option than Alonso at Left Back when Emerson isn't available, and did much better last night when he switched to the left. He actually played Left back very successfully for us under Jose when Ivan had locked down RB position. We already know he is a decent option as part of a 3-man Central defense too. 

 

14 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

This is what happen to Ivanovic, he's by all means a legend of the club but all that people remember about him is that he played a very bad season when he was 31-32 years old. I hope Azpili gets sold before he gets that same treatment, next season he will be 31 years old.

Bollocks. I remember his as Branislav the 3 goal Liverpool conquering, Napoli come back king, Europa League winning, Champion of Europe Ivanovic a Chelsea Legend. 

5 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Bollocks. I remember his as Branislav the 3 goal Liverpool conquering, Napoli come back king, Europa League winning, Champion of Europe Ivanovic a Chelsea Legend. 

Thank you for this comment, means a lot!

59 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

 This is what happen to Ivanovic, he's by all means a legend of the club but all that people remember about him is that he played a very bad season when he was 31-32 years old. I hope Azpili gets sold before he gets that same treatment, next season he will be 31 years old.

Have to disagree with this one. People used to slate him during that season but after the emotions settled, I believe that everyone saw how good Brana was for us.

I for one enjoyed the 9+ years Brana spent with us. He might not be the absolute best during that era but he was a nightmare for wingers and defenders alike.

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

I think I'm one of those that are harsh on him. 

For me it's just best to solve this problem by having James to be the first choice and Azpi benched, but that would mean he can't be the captain anymore. So in my eyes he should be sold in the summer, before people stop seeing him as a legend that he is. This is what happen to Ivanovic, he's by all means a legend of the club but all that people remember about him is that he played a very bad season when he was 31-32 years old. I hope Azpili gets sold before he gets that same treatment, next season he will be 31 years old.

I reckon the difference between the 2 scenarios would have to be the Management, Mourinho was adamant on playing Ivanovic when it was clear his legs were gone and he was struggling mentally after a few incredibly poor games. I remember posting at the time that all Ivanovic needed was to be taken out of the firing line and dropped for his own good but Mourinho wanted to make a point to the board by playing him.

I dont think Lampard would put Azpi through the same sort of ordeal and this assumption is based upon how he got rid of Luiz at the start of the season and him substituting Alonso at half time last night. I trust Lampard to make the call of dropping Azpi when he thinks that his appearances are starting to hinder the team. I think one very important reason Lampard starts him is to add experience to the backline, with Tomori and Zouma we have a very inexperienced CB pairing and if we take out Azpi and put in Reece James that would mean the defence loses significant amount of experience and direction, when push comes to shove you look to experience to get you through as at the moment we tend to get rattled defensively very easily. 

Edited November 6, 20196 yr by Imran_CFC

I love Dave. It’s as simple as that. His passion and leadership is second to none in this squad. Today’s Reese was phenomenal. Im really startIng to worry for Dave at this point. He’s had ups and downs this season. I can remember the exact number but this was only the second match in 140something PL matches he hasn’t started/played. Simply amazing Dave! 🥰🥰🥰

Having a shocking season unfortunately. We are in desperate, desperate need of an upgrade here.
Fullbacks are so, so important in the modern game and Azpi is done at this level unfortunately. He more or less gave the ball away every time it got near him today.

Not much of a Captain either for me. Kovacic should get the armband.
He's the real leader of this team.

12 hours ago, Sindre said:

Having a shocking season unfortunately. We are in desperate, desperate need of an upgrade here.
Fullbacks are so, so important in the modern game and Azpi is done at this level unfortunately. He more or less gave the ball away every time it got near him today.

Not much of a Captain either for me. Kovacic should get the armband.
He's the real leader of this team.

This makes me quite sad. I'm hoping fervently he's picking himself up.

So what is the take away from Azpi playing LB? That our own two LB are not good enough to play there? 

Kind of a joke if you ask me. 

 

Reminds me of Ivanovic. Fantastic player, top servant for the club but when he lost his touch, my god it was painful watching him. I’m hoping we move quicker this time to arrest Azpi’s downfall here. It’ll be nice if we could phrase him out kindly, rather than watch him get ripped to shreds week in week out abit like Ivanovic.

He shouldn't be a starter right now. Backup to James and Emerson until we buy.

I'm afraid past his best,and has never been captain material 

Hard to argue with. I actually was one of those that favoured moving him to left back to drop Emerson and make way for James. Thought it would make us more solid. Obviously wrong. Now I’m torn between whether he should be dropped completely or moved to centre half until we fix that via reinforcements and/or rudiger coming back. Would he do a worse job there than Christensen or Zouma? I realise this is a bit desperate, but sadly that is the state of affairs with our defence right now.

Also it is possible we are jumping the gun. He hasn’t been bad all season, and has put in some solid performances, eg Ajax both legs. Could still just be temporary loss of form rather than ‘the end’. He’s only 30 right? Maybe we should keep the faith for now?

He should be sharing game time with Reece,just covering Reece the occasional game giving him a rest.

On 08/12/2019 at 16:22, Dean said:

Also it is possible we are jumping the gun. He hasn’t been bad all season, and has put in some solid performances, eg Ajax both legs. Could still just be temporary loss of form rather than ‘the end’. He’s only 30 right? Maybe we should keep the faith for now?

The game against Everton was his worst in a while and he was playing well at LB before that game. So yes, I think people are jumping the gun a bit.

I don't think he's declined, i just don't think he's suitable to play attacking football.

He always looked great under Mourinho and Conte when he was tasked with defending, under Sarri and Lamps he looks poor because he's asked to get forward and contribute at the other end of the pitch, which he has never been great at.