"Weak link" is harsh but I do think he is the most prone to making a mistake out of our defense. 

 

My personal pet peeve is that he backs off a lot when defenders are running at him which invites attackers into more dangerous areas of the pitch. 

Weak link in our current team isnt that bad. I think its fair to say he hasnt been at the same level as JT or Dave or Brana this season. He is a good player but not quite as good as the 3 above.

Love the bloke. Love his attitude, determination and physicality. Would throw himself in front of a bus to stop a shot on goal. Would make Le Arse a far better defensive unit just by putting a red shirt on.

 

IMO was our best defender last season. Yes, even better than Dave. Perhaps not hitting the same fabulous heights this season but if he is our weak link by God we must be one helluva team. Kompany is the only other centre-back in europe I would even consider swapping him for.

 

Has played an awful lot of football over the past 18 months and perhaps needs some extra recovery time.

Happy birthday to Cahill!

Defensively speaking I think Ivanovic is probably our weak link, but I think that is due to team strategy (as he is relied upon to provide width in the opposition half far more than Azpilicueta is) rather than individual weakness in positioning.

 

Undoubtedly Cahill is off form, but there is no reason to believe he won't recover. JT + Gazza forever!

Defensively speaking I think Ivanovic is probably our weak link, but I think that is due to team strategy (as he is relied upon to provide width in the opposition half far more than Azpilicueta is) rather than individual weakness in positioning.

 

Undoubtedly Cahill is off form, but there is no reason to believe he won't recover. JT + Gazza forever!

 

I agree, most of our goals have come from Ivanovic's side this season, i don't really see how Cahill is the weak link. He's just a little off form in the last month or 2, this happens to all players at some point.

Gosh he gave me goosebumps. He was pretty solid last season but this season he looks like shadow of himself....

 

I wonder what will happen to our defence when Terry leaves. This guy without Terry looks shaky and exposed, let alone him leading the line of our defence next season.. And up to that we are linked with Gerard Pique lol. If we go with Pique and Cahill pairing next summer.... then I can only pray for our defence. It will be no better than of Liverpool or United (central pairing).

 

He's looked shaky in most of the games he has played this season.. he looks heavily exposed when we play high line football even against low table sides.

This is really worrying.

 

I hope he improves and I think Mourinho can do it. Let's hope he'll be better!

Called it. The guy isn't made to play high line football. Everytime we play high line football away from home he's utter liability.

Awful performance along with Ivan everything was coming down their side.

Utterly awful.

Looks physically shot. Zouma to start next two games please.

Zouma must start ahead of Cahill. It must be disheartening to sit on the bench and watch this monstrosity of a performance before your own very eyes.

I'd like to see Zouma get a run too. If it was just today I'd be happy to call it a one off but he's regularly been off the pace this season.

 

I'm confident he'll get back to his best but Zouma is in our squad for a reason, play him.

I think the title of this thread needs to change.

Lmao, the thread title does it no justice right now.

 

Listen I do like Cahill, I think he's a top class defender but right now he is really down the sh*t pan, doesn't deserve to start after that performance.

All the youngsters who post on these boards and think that Man U and

Liverpool are our most hated rivals are gonna get an education tonight.

If Tottenham were ever, ever, god forbid, to have a run of any sort of success, the sheer c**tery of their fans would horrify them.

I've never particularly rated him. A good, honest player but never a top player, and not good enough for the level we aspire to. He won't be starting for Chelsea next season.

This season isn't going well for him, putting him on bench for few games will fix solve his form.

Been struggling for form in the last month, and was terrible today. He wasn't helped by matic and fabregas not closing the midfield down though.

Think he needs an extended break, maybe the fact that he has no competition this season, has made him complacent. Last seaosn he had david Luiz challenging for a starting spot, and he seemed to rise to the challenge.

I think it would benefit the defence in the long run if there was more competition for places. Maybe give zouma some starts to keep them on their toes.

The problem is at RB, less so CB -- Cahill has to cover for Ivanovic's **** positioning and him being too slow to track back. 

 

The solution really is to drop Ivanovic (or play him at CB in place of Cahill) so we have two competent fullbacks not an inverted fullback and a CB there.

 

To add, there are no top teams that have no proper fullbacks playing on their correct foot besides Chelsea.

 

Not so much about Cahill but whatever. 

Edited January 1, 201511 yr by MANoWAR

Was poor today his worst performance for us but he wasn't the only one, maybe he needs a rest he has been an everpresent in the premier league this season afterall and Zouma has been top class whenever he has stepped in.

The problem is at RB, less so CB -- Cahill has to cover for Ivanovic's **** positioning and him being too slow to track back. 

 

The solution really is to drop Ivanovic (or play him at CB in place of Cahill) so we have two competent fullbacks not an inverted fullback and a CB there. There are no top teams that have no proper fullbacks playing on their correct foot besides Chelsea.

 

Ivanovic is a right-footed full-back.

Modern day full backs are asked to tuck in to the C B to plug gaps around the area. Wide players track back out wide to either slow down or give full back time to get out wide. Teams now prefer to defend the cross and stay compact, because stats show crosses can be over hit, hit first man, headed away, keeper catches or hit out of play for goal kick. Goal ratio is quite low.

I think the title of this thread needs to change.

 

I think you need to f**k off to whatever City or Utd or Arsenal board you came from.

Agree with Davey Babey. Cahill is really average, a great pro but average. It's a shame that David Luiz never got his act together, because on paper he was the perfect partner for Terry.

With Terry and Cahill at the back and Ivanovic at right (which I think is a horrible tactical decision) we are very vulnerable to teams who run at and counter us like Tottenham did today.

If you're going to take the game to the opposition like we do in 80% of our games, you need one pretty quick centre back. Well so I see it.

I feel we get away with a tactical deficiencies because of talent. But we'll never win the champions league taking the game to opposition. Sitting tight and choosing our moments is the only way we'll beat the best with the current back line.

Sorry to go off on a tangent. Simply Cahill is below average for the level we want to get to.

I thought he looked ill or something.  Something wasnt right about him today and it certainly showed on the pitch.  That Rose goal should of been cleared by him if he didn't do a lil skip and then stop once Kane had taken his shot.  At this level, you just cant afford that.  You have to play until the whistle or the ball bulges the net, Tottenham players did and they got the rewards.