Does anyone think that Ivanovic will be given a new contract? Personally, I think he will get one.

 

Probably yes. Two years. Same pay as Eden.

Jose has to drop him. He's just not doing the job.

 

well this is kinda awkward

well this is kinda awkward

Why? He talks sense.

Why? He talks sense.

 

my bad, misread it for "the team need to wake up"

The Ivanovic situation is on par with the Torres Disaster. You got a striker who couldn't score an open goal, and hide from goal scoring opportunities, we were hopeless in attack with him there. Now we have a defender who let everyone and anyone ran past him, afraid to put in defensive shift, no wonder we conceded every game from his zone. I don't even want to talk about his attacking ability. At least one could argue managers were 'forced' into picking Torres because of his status. I don't think Jose has that problem with Ivanovic.

 

Its pretty simple right? You take Ivanovic out, a natural right back in Azpi to cover the gap. On the left, you have a young left back, although may not be the finished product, has pace to cover and add attacking threat from the left wing. There's really nothing to lose here given what we have got so far this season.

For Mourinho, there is a lot to lose as dropping Ivanovic would mean admitting that he has been wrong and thus caved in to popular demand. At this point, his own ego is more important than picking the better player for the role.

His insistence on selecting the likes of Ivanovic and Fabregas for every match will lead to him being dismissed this season.

If Chelsea wishes to progress, the new coach should not even sit Ivanovic on the bench and let him go after his contract expires next summer. His decline is terminal due to age and a lack of competition.

Why? He talks sense.

 

"We are not playing as badly as the results are showing" - We're out of the title race after 5 games after winning it last season with 3 to spare...... 

He's been directly at fault for a lot of the goals. He needs dropped

Let him start as center back he won't perform well again on right back.

He gets dropped and we keep a clean sheet. Who would have thought.

For Mourinho, there is a lot to lose as dropping Ivanovic would mean admitting that he has been wrong and thus caved in to popular demand. At this point, his own ego is more important than picking the better player for the role.

His insistence on selecting the likes of Ivanovic and Fabregas for every match will lead to him being dismissed this season.

If Chelsea wishes to progress, the new coach should not even sit Ivanovic on the bench and let him go after his contract expires next summer. His decline is terminal due to age and a lack of competition.

 

Bollocks.

He is not a full back.He is out of form at the moment and deserves to be benched. I see him as a centre back in the future.I wont knock the bloke when he is down as he bleeds blue.

For Mourinho, there is a lot to lose as dropping Ivanovic would mean admitting that he has been wrong and thus caved in to popular demand. At this point, his own ego is more important than picking the better player for the role.

His insistence on selecting the likes of Ivanovic and Fabregas for every match will lead to him being dismissed this season.

If Chelsea wishes to progress, the new coach should not even sit Ivanovic on the bench and let him go after his contract expires next summer. His decline is terminal due to age and a lack of competition.

Nonsense. Mourinho wants to win. He wont play him if he thinks that hurts our chances. Try again

Bollocks.

haha, summed it up concisely and accurately

Apparently José is on the lookout out for a new RB after Ivanovic's poor performances. If this is true, I can save him the trouble.

His name is Azpiliceuta and is arguably the best RB in the league. Don't worry, he's already at the club. You'll find him in the LB position.

Apparently José is on the lookout out for a new RB after Ivanovic's poor performances. If this is true, I can save him the trouble.

His name is Azpiliceuta and is arguably the best RB in the league. Don't worry, he's already at the club. You'll find him in the LB position.

 

Personally, i think we should have kept hold of Luis. Azpilicueta should have started the season at RB, Luis at LB and Ivanovic and Rahman should have been the backup's.

Personally, i think we should have kept hold of Luis. Azpilicueta should have started the season at RB, Luis at LB and Ivanovic and Rahman should have been the backup's.

This. Ivan was showing signs that he was on his way out last season, having said that we walked the league and no one saw his deterioration as being so quick (mostly though because of the rest of right side of the team not saving his arse all game) and leaving a classy player like louis on the bench wasn't an option for another year, hindsight is wonderful, rewind 3 months we had a top RB and LB, problems solved. 

Apparently José is on the lookout out for a new RB after Ivanovic's poor performances. If this is true, I can save him the trouble.

His name is Azpiliceuta and is arguably the best RB in the league. Don't worry, he's already at the club. You'll find him in the LB position.

Jose confirmed that it's not.

 

Since the start of last season there was a change in approach to Ivan's game and I think that it was probably an instruction from Jose. When he was asked to defend he was excellent and can still do it, there just needs to be a balance to his game and an acceptance that physically he might not be able to burn that flank up and down for 50-55 games like he did in the last few years. Let's not forget he was also the only one that played every minute of pre season. Give the guy the rest that he needs and if he starts on Saturday, support him as always. He's not in the same form but watch his performance in the same game last year, completely destroyed Sanchez like no full back has done last season and get some encouragement.

I'm glad I don't work for football fans - a few bad games or a loss of form and you're toast!

I've always liked Iva more as a cb, even though he has done a pretty good job out wide. He grew into the role, but there was a real tendency for him to stay infield when defending, leaving his man with far too much room. This has resurfaced again.

At the moment I think he is short of pace and knows it.

While he has never been that quick, this season it looks like it has taken it's toll. Iva is, as others have mentioned, too bulky and unathletic for a full back, especially one who is expected to be regularly bombing forward.

Jose confirmed that it's not.

When he was asked to defend he was excellent

No, no he wasnt. He was a liability. He was just so class gling forward and completely dominated in the air atound his area that everyone was willing to overlook it

I'm glad I don't work for football fans - a few bad games or a loss of form and you're toast!

 

With Ivanovic, i don't think it has just been few bad games, i think he has had many. I remember from the very first game of last season against Burnley i was pointing out how they were attacking our right hand side because it was our weakest area.

No, no he wasnt. He was a liability. He was just so class gling forward and completely dominated in the air atound his area that everyone was willing to overlook it

Since we changed our approach after the Arsenal game in Jose's first season and he was asked to defend, he was fantastic. Last season when he was asked to defend, especially in the big games when we were more organized, he was excellent, one of the examples the Arsenal game at the Bridge. He's a top defender, much better defender than going forward imo, it just that Jose was willing to sacrifice some of his game because he was so effective on the right. Let's not forget that for years now we start the game with the goalkeeper aiming for him to bring the ball down over the halfway line.

 

The solution here in my view is just to balance his positioning to match his current physical abilities. He still has a lot to offer, he's a leader and he's Chelsea, two things we need.

I reckon he's got some incriminating pictures of Jose.