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. 

 

Spot on.  He played well yesterday but still struggles when he is forced to defend one on one with no help.  Still our 4th choice.  I did think Terry had one of the best games I have seen him play in a long time.  The Terry/Cahill pairing is pretty solid when they are not required to cover lots of space with no help.  Ivan and Luiz are more mobile.  

I would rather we have Cahill than anyone else, he is solid enough, as brave as a lion and can come up with a goal when needed. He can improve as any player should aim to but he would walk into the starting line up of most teams in the league in my humble opinion.

If we play like this the way we've played these 3 competitive matches we are going to see Cahill at his best. Simple, defensive minded style. Takes the marching orders from JT and plays mistake-free football.

He's been very good.

I think we can officially archive this thread.

Personally I have always rated him but he is rapidly becoming one of Jose's untouchables.

Absolutely outstanding the last few matches, perhaps down to José allowing him and jt to build a partnership.

Awesome today

Great performance. Seemed confident and solid at the back. Performance like this will make give alot of confidence to the team.

 

He even managed to evade a hungry Suarez, top performance.

Cahill, cracking performance today. Took out Suarez as well, love it.

 

He even managed to evade a hungry Suarez, top performance.

thought terry was a brave man putting his arms near suarez for that 'penalty' shout

Someone earlier this season said on here Cahill is poor against the top sides,not a chance always rated Cahill great signing.

Good game today and a fantastic cross for Etoos 2nd

Brilliant game from Gary today. Motm to Eto'o but he was second best. He is very solid at the back and contributed in 2 of our 3 goals!!

Not a gambler but very tempted to put a tenner on him being next Chelsea/England captain. AVB knew what he was doing when he picked him out.

He's improved immeasurably since he signed, starting to form an excellent partnership with Terry.

Cahill is someone I consider to be a proper no nonsense defender. Forming a great partnership with JT.

I feel a lot more relaxed with him rather than Luiz.

Off topic, as far as Luiz is concerned I really think his days may be numbered at Chelsea, depending on how Matic fits in.

I thought his display today against Man U was well below average.

I have been a very big critic of Cahill and I still think he has limitations which will prevent him entering the Terry/Campbell/Staam bracket. But he has upped his game this year and is firmly in the Keown/Carragher/Alex bracket which is suffice when in a good enough team.

I'm happy because he is a good lad and England need him more than most players due to his replacement being Chris Smalling.

I still think Luiz is the better defender and will prove it at the World Cup with a string of fine displays to win the tournament.

However the situation draws parallels with the Mata situation- square pegs in round holes and all that.

Off topic, as far as Luiz is concerned I really think his days may be numbered at Chelsea, depending on how Matic fits in.

I thought his display today against Man U was well below average.

 

You mean his days in midfield.

 

Strangely enough, the player that is "mikels replacement" and the sign of luiz' end was on the pitch at the same time as both.

 

Hopefully it's the end of Luiz in midfield and puts him back in CB rotation. Honestly am bored of the abuse Luiz takes for not being good in a completely different position to what he has been in his whole life. People were clamoring for it but now it's back to hating it.

Another good performance from Cahill.

 

 

 

Mourinho's rebuilding plans will see Luiz go in the summer clearout along with Torres and, unfortunately, Mata.

I've always been a pretty harsh critic of Cahill, he always made too many mistakes which led to the need for his last ditch tackles. But this season he's been really progressing and now looks to be a terrific centre half. Good news for us.

He starts playing well when he gets a run of games...it's not a surprise. When the team chops and changes, he loses momentum.

He starts playing well when he gets a run of games...it's not a surprise. When the team chops and changes, he loses momentum.

I think it helps that theres a pretty stable partnership with Terry also, not Terry, then Luiz, then Ivanovic etc. They are building a really good CB pairing between them.

As the person who created this thread I'm delighted to be able to say that Cahill certainly is improving .

I'm loving the Terry and Cahill partnership right now, i think they suit each other perfectly.

Let's just hope we can keep it together, rumours in the papers that JTs gonna turn down the new 1 year contract.