César 'Dave' Azpilicueta

[Scott Harris]

I admire his ability to remain calm on the pitch and during interviews after all of these VAR calls that have gone against him. There probably isn't a player in football right now that has been screwed over by VAR more than him. 

The first one was against Norwich. He should have had a penalty, but nothing was given. I didn't even hear anything about VAR checking it at the time.

The second one was against Liverpool where he had a goal ruled out for offside. Rules state that VAR shouldn't have got involved.

The third one was against Ajax where his winning goal brushed Abraham's hand and was disallowed (no surprise that it's in Europe that we see a bit of consistency with VAR)

The fourth one was against United after VAR says he pushed a player in the build up to our equaliser.....VAR somehow failed to notice that it was Azpilicueta's momentum that took him into the United player from a push by Fred.

The fifth one was today against Tottenham after Lo Celso stamps on him and VAR says no red card.

 

I have seen some bullsh*t decisions go against us in recent years, but this really shouldn't be acceptable with VAR in place.

[Slojo]

1 minute ago, Scott Harris said:

I admire his ability to remain calm on the pitch and during interviews after all of these VAR calls that have gone against him. There probably isn't a player in football right now that has been screwed over by VAR more than him. 

The first one was against Norwich. He should have had a penalty, but nothing was given. I didn't even hear anything about VAR checking it at the time.

The second one was against Liverpool where he had a goal ruled out for offside. Rules state that VAR shouldn't have got involved.

The third one was against Ajax where his winning goal brushed Abraham's hand and was disallowed (no surprise that it's in Europe that we see a bit of consistency with VAR)

The fourth one was against United after VAR says he pushed a player in the build up to our equaliser.....VAR somehow failed to notice that it was Azpilicueta's momentum that took him into the United player from a push by Fred.

The fifth one was today against Tottenham after Lo Celso stamps on him and VAR says no red card.

 

I have seen some bullsh*t decisions go against us in recent years, but this really shouldn't be acceptable with VAR in place.

f**king hell you've remembered all them Scott! 

[Scott Harris]

Just now, Slojo said:

f**king hell you've remembered all them Scott! 

Don't even get me started on the rest of the players.

[IliyaKrostin]

I don't want to be harsh, but it feels like Azpi has cost us some games this season, fix if I'm wrong.

I really love his passion, his sacrifice but the errors he made had some weight in those games. 

[EdinburghBlue]

Just now, IliyaKrostin said:

I don't want to be harsh, but it feels like Azpi has cost us some games this season, fix if I'm wrong.

I really love his passion, his sacrifice but the errors he made had some weight in those games. 

Surely you’re not referring to tonight? He slipped, not much he could do about that. If anyone in our back 3 was a weak link it was Rudiger IMO & Bayern attacked that early doors and we were lucky they didn’t capitalise on it.

[Slojo]

He's not got long at top level anymore, that's just a fact, he has been declining rapidly this season. But fortunately we already have our replacement. 

[dansubrosa]

45 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Surely you’re not referring to tonight? He slipped, not much he could do about that. If anyone in our back 3 was a weak link it was Rudiger IMO & Bayern attacked that early doors and we were lucky they didn’t capitalise on it.

Don’t blame him for the slip, but he still lost his man for the first goal, and also lost a header vs Lewandowski, then couldnt keep up with Gnabry, leaving him to run into box unmarked.

He’s definitely good enough this season but I hope he becomes a squad player rather than first teamer next season.

[sonic90]

2 hours ago, IliyaKrostin said:

I don't want to be harsh, but it feels like Azpi has cost us some games this season, fix if I'm wrong.

I really love his passion, his sacrifice but the errors he made had some weight in those games. 

He's had ups and downs, before this game he recovered his form and had my trust but it depends on the tactics and formation, sure he's played in this position before but he also had Kante and Matic in front of him.
In 2015 you can put JT in another team and people will be talking about him going to the MLS instead of winning the league, so I wouldn't toss him out just yet.

[IliyaKrostin]

15 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Surely you’re not referring to tonight? He slipped, not much he could do about that. If anyone in our back 3 was a weak link it was Rudiger IMO & Bayern attacked that early doors and we were lucky they didn’t capitalise on it.

I think the two goals were in his fault.

At the first one he slipped yes, nothing he could do about that but it still was an error. And in the second one he was easily beaten in my opinion.

[mm24]

Azpilicueta is one those that apparently has to play every week but I don't actually think that he makes our defense more solid.For example he was playing on the right and we were letting in goals.He plays on the left and we let in goals.He play in the centre and we let in goals.

We were even playing the guy at left back this season even though we had two healthy left backs at one point and for me he hasn't been better than Alonso or Emerson this season.

Edited February 27, 2020 by mm24

[TrueBlueBIH]

Dave is my favorite player in the current team, however by next season when we buy a new left back he will be a squad player at best. He can can still provide great cover for various positions in this team and can do a good job when called.

[Spiller86]

7 hours ago, TrueBlueBIH said:

Dave is my favorite player in the current team, however by next season when we buy a new left back he will be a squad player at best. He can can still provide great cover for various positions in this team and can do a good job when called.

I won't write Dave off. Somehow he continues to get in the team no matter who gets bought or what system. Just a bloody hard worker. Jose was right when he talked about 11 Azpilicuetas.

[strider6004]

Needs a decent match against Bournemouth, he was poor against Bayern, a goal would be handy from a corner too.

[mm24]

On 27/02/2020 at 21:14, Spiller86 said:

I won't write Dave off. Somehow he continues to get in the team no matter who gets bought or what system. Just a bloody hard worker. Jose was right when he talked about 11 Azpilicuetas.

That's simply because we haven't bought any good defensive players since we bought him 8 years ago now.Azpi was a great player in those Jose seasons,even in that one Conte season but he looks really past it for the last 2-3 seasons.His pace is non existent,his crosses as well and he's aerial ability never was great considering he's not a  tall player.He can be a good squad player for us in the next few seasons,but I would be surprised if he keeps his place in the first team next season.That would just mean that we haven't brought in anyone lol

[Slojo]

11 hours ago, mm24 said:

That's simply because we haven't bought any good defensive players since we bought him 8 years ago now.Azpi was a great player in those Jose seasons,even in that one Conte season but he looks really past it for the last 2-3 seasons.His pace is non existent,his crosses as well and he's aerial ability never was great considering he's not a  tall player.He can be a good squad player for us in the next few seasons,but I would be surprised if he keeps his place in the first team next season.That would just mean that we haven't brought in anyone lol

Got to disagree with that, I think it's just this season we've started to see him perform badly. 

He's been a great player for years, but now he just doesn't have the pace that you need for a top fullback these days. Defensively he's still a good player, but we need more than that on the wingbacks, and he can't offer both, as soon as he starts going forward he's nowhere near as good at the back. But I've also noticed he's not playing that well in the CB position anymore when we revert to a back 3, ultimately I think it's time for him to step down now, which he has done really. If it wasn't for how badly our CB's are playing and LB's, he wouldn't even be playing. 

[Spiller86]

I thought he was one of the few to come out with credit last night. Played the critical pass into Pedro before the equaliser and should have had an assist for the winner if Alonso had not missed his header.

Edited February 29, 2020 by Spiller86

[Jangz]

2 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

I thought he was one of the few to come out with credit last night. Played the critical pass into Pedro before the equaliser and should have had an assist for the winner if Alonso had not missed his header.

Looked more assured in the CB position in the back 2 with AC then the others have looked, but that lad Tomori was awfull yesterday,

[mm24]

12 hours ago, Slojo said:

Got to disagree with that, I think it's just this season we've started to see him perform badly. 

He's been a great player for years, but now he just doesn't have the pace that you need for a top fullback these days. Defensively he's still a good player, but we need more than that on the wingbacks, and he can't offer both, as soon as he starts going forward he's nowhere near as good at the back. But I've also noticed he's not playing that well in the CB position anymore when we revert to a back 3, ultimately I think it's time for him to step down now, which he has done really. If it wasn't for how badly our CB's are playing and LB's, he wouldn't even be playing. 

Nope ,he was bad last season as well in a similar system when deployed at right back.He's unable to help our wingers when playing at rb,his crosses are mostly awful and in rare occasions he does bomb forward,he's unable to track back succesfully because his legs are gone.His last okay season was the last Conte one where he had some good crosses for Morata in the first part of the season and defensively it was the last okay season we've had .

Tbf he looked good yesterday when Frank switched to 4 at the back with him at cb.Perhaps Frank should try him there against Liverpool as well in the FA Cup.A player as slow as Azpilicueta simply cant play at rb or lb in  modern game.

Edited March 1, 2020 by mm24

[Slojo]

Can I just say that Azpilicueta has been fantastic since the season restart. 

[Backbiter]

Agreed. Has been tremendous.

[bisright1]

4 hours ago, Slojo said:

Can I just say that Azpilicueta has been fantastic since the season restart. 

Not that surprising. He's a quality player who just needed a rest. He's got years left in him if he's rotated well with James. 

[PhilH930]

Completely agree. Great professional. Works so hard, concentrates, disciplined, and an overall great defender. His level instills confidence in those around him. Keep it up Dave, clear first choice and leading by example. 

[Jangz]

On 01/03/2020 at 17:06, mm24 said:

Nope ,he was bad last season as well in a similar system when deployed at right back.He's unable to help our wingers when playing at rb,his crosses are mostly awful and in rare occasions he does bomb forward,he's unable to track back succesfully because his legs are gone.His last okay season was the last Conte one where he had some good crosses for Morata in the first part of the season and defensively it was the last okay season we've had .

Tbf he looked good yesterday when Frank switched to 4 at the back with him at cb.Perhaps Frank should try him there against Liverpool as well in the FA Cup.A player as slow as Azpilicueta simply cant play at rb or lb in  modern game.

i think you are right when it comes to his crossing ability, its not great. In these cases for him to be effective then we need him to cross early .. with Sarri and at times in the first half whenever we played slow and laborious his crossing was found wanting.. but if we can quicken up the pace then with his experience, positional sense and game intelligence he is able to contribute a lot.. there are enough and more examples of players who were never the quickest but managed to contribute significantly given a tactical set-up.

[strider6004]

It's strange about his crossing as he was finding Morata consistently a couple of seasons ago.

Re his legs going, we have just had a long break, the next couple of game should tell us more.

 

[edewaarb]

Does anyone see him moving into a CB spot as he gets older? It'd be nice to see the younger legs of Reece James take RB and have the experience and leadership of Azpi at CB