those were a couple of moments of madness, though, whilst Cahill has just consistently been not that good. Ivan hasn't covered himself in glory this season either, tbh, but he's been better lately when played at CB

Ivan gets off so light as a CB it's unreal, he's had some woeful performances literally passing the ball to the other team. I like Cahill, a lot like JT he'll get in the way of anything for the team. He gets far too hard a time on here.

I think Luiz has stepped up a lot this season as a CB in the absence of JT, and I don't think Cahill has been too bad either.

 

Iva has been by far the worst CB and numerous times has been at fault for conceding goals.

those were a couple of moments of madness, though, whilst Cahill has just consistently been not that good. Ivan hasn't covered himself in glory this season either, tbh, but he's been better lately when played at CB

 

Consistently not that good? I'm not a lover of stats as they never tell the full story but the first third of the season he was excellent.

 

http://www.eplindex.com/21025/david-luiz-gary-cahill-stats-comparison-chelseas-defenders.html

Edited April 13, 201313 yr by just

Yeah actually he was pretty good under RDM, but his form has dropped since then and at times he has looked a little out of his depth. I don't think he's someone to hugely worry about tbh as he's a good defender on his day and just needs some consistency, but I think it's nonsense when people compare him favourably to Luiz. Is it because he's British or stands out less?

For 2/3rds of this season Cahill has been poor by Chelsea standards yet seems to get a free ride half the time and even recently when Luiz has been far and away our best CB people are still singling him out for criticism.

 

 

As for your statistical analysis - I was going to link you to another one from WAGNH but it seems to have disappeared. Interesting stats though.

Was excellent against Benfica, man of the match performance.

Personally I think he's good against mobile attacker. His last better game was against City, where he did his very best against Aguereo. Against big stronger player, he strugged ( e.g. last week against Villa and the reading match came to mind). Solid player, and chip in with some goals.

I have likened him to Terry before, and tonight I watched the replay on Chelsea tV, and the comm for them said the same thing.  At times he can show glimpses.

 

Make no mistake, he saved us from blowing the lead 10 seconds after taking it tonight.  TOP MAN.

  

What a move for him though...relegation fodder Bolton, to CL and EL champs

That last ditch effort saved me from a premature demise.

 

Thanks Gary.

That last ditch tackle was ever so crucial....

there isnt another defender we have that would have got there, last minute against arsenal at home anyone? ive been saying it for ages. But then against Benteke did make him look rubbish.

Was brilliant last night, he must have epic concentration for the really big games, he was a hero last night and arguably contributed as much as the goal scorers.

He looks much better when the back four is sitting deeper like last night and against Munich, when we are pressing forward his sometimes looks off his game.

 

I actually said I hoped he wouldn't start last night because his games since returning from injury have for the most part been poor but I am glad he proved me wrong. 

Really was an incredible interception followed by clearance at the end, as good as scoring a goal in my book.

Great last night after a couple of poor performances against Villa and Spurs, thought he was at fault for the Benteke and Adebayor goals, just kept backing off both players.

 

Still to reach the heights of last season but he's had a few injuries and niggles so hopefully can kick on again next season.

Cahill is a good player to have. He is a squad player. I thought he'd improve this season but he really hasn't too much anyway.

 

That last ditch tackle was brilliant. He makes very good tackles at times. Tackling and corners are his strengths.

Always liked Cahill £8 million was a snip.

Cahill was very good last night in fairness. He seems to have an uncanny ability to play his A+ game when it really matters, and that's an invaluable ability to have as a footballer. The intervention at the end was Terry-esque, he did against Walcott at the Bridge too. Cahill is definitely worth persevering with. Even if he doesn't develop into a top CB, he's still an excellent squad player at the very least.

Edited May 16, 201313 yr by Celery1989

Man-handled by Benteke at Villa Park but responded immaculately against Benfica.

Edited May 17, 201313 yr by Teritus

Felt like reviving this thread, as he's had a superb start to the season.

I wouldn't have been confident of a Terry & Cahill partnership last season, but it's worked very well so far. Solid. Luiz may struggle to break back into the team after his injury.

Always looks better when we sit sitter in my opinion.

 

It's when we push up and he is backing away from defenders he looks at his weakest. 

 

Was superb last night though. 

Always looks better when we sit sitter in my opinion.

 

It's when we push up and he is backing away from defenders he looks at his weakest. 

 

Was superb last night though. 

 

To be fair, it's much easier to look good when the team plays with big numbers behind the ball.

 

When we parked the bus against Barca, even Bosingwa looked world class.

To be fair, it's much easier to look good when the team plays with big numbers behind the ball.

 

When we parked the bus against Barca, even Bosingwa looked world class.

 

I think it takes a lot of defensive discipline and positional awareness to play well even when sitting deep.

 

One of Cahill's biggest weaknesses in my opinion is when when defenders are running at him, he either doesn't close down the space well enough (Adebayor against us at home last season) or doesn't make push the attacker wide enough (Benteke goal against us away to Villa).

 

He is a good defender, however he would be my 4th choice in the middle behind JT, Luiz and Ivan. 

I think it takes a lot of defensive discipline and positional awareness to play well even when sitting deep.

 

One of Cahill's biggest weaknesses in my opinion is when when defenders are running at him, he either doesn't close down the space well enough (Adebayor against us at home last season) or doesn't make push the attacker wide enough (Benteke goal against us away to Villa).

 

He is a good defender, however he would be my 4th choice in the middle behind JT, Luiz and Ivan. 

 

Agree totally. His weaknesses aside, Cahill was very solid last night. As I've said before, he seems to be a big game player and has that knack of playing his best when it matters most. That's a pretty good for a 4th choice CB and he seems like a good bloke too.

Superb last night and becoming a valued member of the squad.