2 hours ago, JM7 said:

Problem is that Frank still doesn’t know his best centre back pairing. He keeps switching it around depending on form. 
 

I think it’s clear that we need to buy a new CB - one that is dominant. 

I’d like to say when Tomori is fit again we go with him & Zouma but considering all the time he’s been out I think that’s it’s massive risk when we’re playing for CL football. Is it one worth taking though?

For now Christensen & Zouma for me, Rudiger needs to stew on his sh*t show against West Ham. Off to the naughty corner he goes!

Zouma and Rudiger for me. Christensen is just average.

Edited July 5, 20206 yr by jack_super_class

2 hours ago, jack_super_class said:

Zouma and Rudiger for me. Christensen is just average.

Well that’s about 5 levels above Rudigers rating of an absolute bomb scare.

 

It has to be Christensen & Zouma for me. On paper they’re the most compatible although it hasn’t worked out quite yet although they looked much better yesterday. Christensen is without a doubt our best CB on the ball and Zouma is our best out and out no nonsense CB. 
Rudiger isn’t good at either for me. If we’re looking to move any CB on this summer, for me it would be him. He’s the oldest and should be the leader and most composed but he’s actually the worst in my opinion and there’s not a lot of room for improvement for him.

Both still have a mistake in them. Zouma passing the ball straight to the Watford centre forward and Christensens performance against West Ham. I don’t class being beaten by Welbeck as a mistake because every CB will be beaten now and again. 

I would stick with the same CBs against Palace and think Zouma should be in the next paring if Frank mixes it up again.

57 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Well that’s about 5 levels above Rudigers rating of an absolute bomb scare.

 

It has to be Christensen & Zouma for me. On paper they’re the most compatible although it hasn’t worked out quite yet although they looked much better yesterday. Christensen is without a doubt our best CB on the ball and Zouma is our best out and out no nonsense CB. 
Rudiger isn’t good at either for me. If we’re looking to move any CB on this summer, for me it would be him. He’s the oldest and should be the leader and most composed but he’s actually the worst in my opinion and there’s not a lot of room for improvement for him.

Both still have a mistake in them. Zouma passing the ball straight to the Watford centre forward and Christensens performance against West Ham. I don’t class being beaten by Welbeck as a mistake because every CB will be beaten now and again. 

Meh the best of Rudiger is still better than the best of Christensen for me. Rudiger is a threat from set pieces too, his 2 goals VS Leicester show that. Christensen hasn't scored yet. Rudiger has been poor this season i get that but Christensen isn't much better, Christensen is just average at everything to me.

We need zouma simply for his ability to defend first and foremost. Great at winning headers and tough tackles.  christensen is so up and down but does seem a better partner with zouma. 
 

rudiger is a strange one. Thought he was the best of both but actually quite poor recently. What gets me most though is his concentration is very poor and positional play less than good. 

5 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Well that’s about 5 levels above Rudigers rating of an absolute bomb scare.

 

It has to be Christensen & Zouma for me. On paper they’re the most compatible although it hasn’t worked out quite yet although they looked much better yesterday. Christensen is without a doubt our best CB on the ball and Zouma is our best out and out no nonsense CB. 
Rudiger isn’t good at either for me. If we’re looking to move any CB on this summer, for me it would be him. He’s the oldest and should be the leader and most composed but he’s actually the worst in my opinion and there’s not a lot of room for improvement for him.

Both still have a mistake in them. Zouma passing the ball straight to the Watford centre forward and Christensens performance against West Ham. I don’t class being beaten by Welbeck as a mistake because every CB will be beaten now and again. 

Nicely summed up EB.

Frank has had a real dilemma with the defence (and keepers) this season and you would have to question if ANY of them would get into teams looking to compete in PL and CL, although that said, most sides have struggled defensively this season. None of our defenders have been consistent and it's no wonder Lamps has kept changing things. I know it was only Watford, but I would stick with those players now until the end of the season but hope we invest in a CB and LB in the Summer.

Edited July 5, 20206 yr by Nibs

8 hours ago, jack_super_class said:

Zouma and Rudiger for me. Christensen is just average.

All of our defenders have looked average this season. There is not one of them you would say, "Yep, he's a quality defender and HAS to start" - even Azpi has looked all over the place at times.

When he was injured, we all hoped Rudiger would return and solve the problem but bar one or two good games, he has actually made things worse.

Christensen is the best with the ball at his feet and the most "cultured" - a Barca / Pep type defender but has errors his game and at times is too easily bullied.

Tomori is still only 22 and playing for CFC in PL is a massive jump from Derby in the Championship. Not totally convinced with him but he does have time on his side. 

Still a question mark over Zouma. I thought a team like Everton was perhaps his level and he had a shocker in that first game against Man Utd which probably stuck in Lamp's mind. But he is our biggest unit and took his chance against Watford (bar the one bad error), so can see him keeping his place with Christensen, but all of our defenders seem to be one bad howler away from being dropped again. We need to spend in the Summer.

 

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

All of our defenders have looked average this season. There is not one of them you would say, "Yep, he's a quality defender and HAS to start" - even Azpi has looked all over the place at times.

When he was injured, we all hoped Rudiger would return and solve the problem but bar one or two good games, he has actually made things worse.

Christensen is the best with the ball at his feet and the most "cultured" - a Barca / Pep type defender but has errors his game and at times is too easily bullied.

Tomori is still only 22 and playing for CFC in PL is a massive jump from Derby in the Championship. Not totally convinced with him but he does have time on his side. 

Still a question mark over Zouma. I thought a team like Everton was perhaps his level and he had a shocker in that first game against Man Utd which probably stuck in Lamp's mind. But he is our biggest unit and took his chance against Watford (bar the one bad error), so can see him keeping his place with Christensen, but all of our defenders seem to be one bad howler away from being dropped again. We need to spend in the Summer.

 

Given the chat I have heard here an elsewhere Dunk at Brighton is looking a prospect worth pursuing and he is a natural LCB which we do not currently have.

54 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Given the chat I have heard here an elsewhere Dunk at Brighton is looking a prospect worth pursuing and he is a natural LCB which we do not currently have.

I wouldnt say Dunk is a prospect, he is 29 in november!

29 minutes ago, big blue said:

I wouldnt say Dunk is a prospect, he is 29 in november!

But his dog is called Didier...

All of our defenders are rated better when they're not playing. Waitt until the next shambolic defensive display and everyone will be calling for Rudi to be brought back into the team. Fact is we need a completely new back four and obviously a far better keeper than what we have now and getting that rght is a 2 year job on its own. 

5 hours ago, Dixon said:

All of our defenders are rated better when they're not playing. Waitt until the next shambolic defensive display and everyone will be calling for Rudi to be brought back into the team. Fact is we need a completely new back four and obviously a far better keeper than what we have now and getting that rght is a 2 year job on its own. 

So true. One goes out and then there’s calls for the other defenders to come in. 

9 hours ago, big blue said:

I wouldnt say Dunk is a prospect, he is 29 in november!

Hes also not as good as our current defenders, he is basically a solid wall for Brighton who defend deep, he never has to chase attackers into channels or come out from deep so he plays an entirely different way to us. It would be a ridiculous signing.

1 hour ago, dkw said:

Hes also not as good as our current defenders, he is basically a solid wall for Brighton who defend deep, he never has to chase attackers into channels or come out from deep so he plays an entirely different way to us. It would be a ridiculous signing.

A solid wall wouldn't go amiss at times 

3 hours ago, JM7 said:

So true. One goes out and then there’s calls for the other defenders to come in. 

Yep! Frank has tried every combintation available to him and none of them have been good enough! Just going to have fiddle thru until we bring in some new and hopefully better players.

10 hours ago, Dixon said:

All of our defenders are rated better when they're not playing. Waitt until the next shambolic defensive display and everyone will be calling for Rudi to be brought back into the team. Fact is we need a completely new back four and obviously a far better keeper than what we have now and getting that rght is a 2 year job on its own. 

Is the whole back 4 really that bad? Azpi I kind of understand as he is on the wrong side of 39, but Zouma has been linked to Spurs, Everton & PSG, and Christensen Barca & City. Fans keep pointing to Klopp changing his entire back line but he spent £130m, with 2 being big purchases. Does Frank need to spend £200m on a new back line to stop us looking shaky every time we face a dead ball?

Where does it stop then? Using the same yardstick arguments can be made he needs to change the whole midfield depending on who you ask.

His technical ability is pretty ordinary, however against teams in bottom half that plays direct, it's a no brainer to pick Zouma. Watford got tall timbers too, but the couple of set pieces they had, Zouma headed them out comfortably at front post. Who knows what would have happened if Rudiger/Christensen played that game.

I have criticised him a lot, but he's a dominating type of center back that we really need in this side. That tackle at the end of the game I just don't see being made by our other CB's, they don't have it in them. He also makes us so much stronger at defending corners. I think he will always be clumsy at times and will probably never be able to cut out his weird mistakes, but right now, he is our best CB and should be playing every game until the end of the season.

Edited July 7, 20206 yr by Scott Harris

If we somehow sell zouma, and keep Rudiger and Christiansen il be fuming. 

 

Just now, big blue said:

If we somehow sell zouma, and keep Rudiger and Christiansen il be fuming. 

 

Zouma and Tomori haven been in and out of the team this season, but they have arguably been our best pairing overall. Outside of the injury problems, I don't understand why Lampard keeps breaking them up.

Zouma and Tomori for the future, sell Christensen and Rudiger!

4 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Zouma and Tomori for the future, sell Christensen and Rudiger!

Edited July 7, 20206 yr by robdog

Look at the amount of ground he covers to make that tackle. That's a proper match winning tackle.

7 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Zouma and Tomori haven been in and out of the team this season, but they have arguably been our best pairing overall. Outside of the injury problems, I don't understand why Lampard keeps breaking them up.

Tomori has been injured a fair bit since the turn of the year, but i agree, even if Tomori and Zouma isnt fantastic, its probably the best of a bad bunch.