13 hours ago, DannyLB said:

Easy clickbait. It's known Mourinho is a fan. Will never happen mind you. Wouldn't be surprised if we don't sell a single player to Spurs for decades after the Modric saga. 

They can have Drinkwater if they like.

Has been by far our best Centre Back Post Lockdown, if we are looking to bring in a new CB Zouma has to partner them

Reports have been saying that we are looking to offload Zouma, I would be pretty annoyed if we kept Christensen and sold Zouma

15 minutes ago, Imran_CFC said:

Has been by far our best Centre Back Post Lockdown, if we are looking to bring in a new CB Zouma has to partner them

Reports have been saying that we are looking to offload Zouma, I would be pretty annoyed if we kept Christensen and sold Zouma

We need to sell both.

Id keep Rudiger purely because he helped with bringing in Werner and helping with Havertz as well. Realistically we need 2 new CB's but if we only sign one, better make sure they are full of quality.

Not quite sure why this thread is so quiet... everyone loves to praise him when he has a good game but if Christensen/Rudiger let Aubameyang go past him like that they’d be slaughtered.

 

Made him look like a school boy defender, shocking defending.

Just now, EdinburghBlue said:

Not quite sure why this thread is so quiet... everyone loves to praise him when he has a good game but if Christensen/Rudiger let Aubameyang go past him like that they’d be slaughtered.

 

Made him look like a school boy defender, shocking defending.

To be honest, nobody really rates Zouma highly, it's kind of depressing that he's our best defender this season. 

7 minutes ago, Slojo said:

To be honest, nobody really rates Zouma highly, it's kind of depressing that he's our best defender this season. 

Go back a page or two and you’ll find people calling him a top defender & consistent, of which - he is neither.

9 minutes ago, Slojo said:

To be honest, nobody really rates Zouma highly, it's kind of depressing that he's our best defender this season. 

Dave has been our best defender this season imo. Today changes nothing.

I thought he had a good game bar the second Arsenal goal. 

Not one of our defenders have done themselves justice this season. 

Could make a case to replace each one of the back 5. 

24 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

I thought he had a good game bar the second Arsenal goal. 

Thought Zouma had a good game period. The 2nd goal came from Bellerin running unchallenged through the middle of our midfield.

3 minutes ago, just said:

Thought Zouma had a good game period. The 2nd goal came from Bellerin running unchallenged through the middle of our midfield.

Agreed. Not to mention that was a blatant foul on Bellerin after Christensen won the ball.

Edited August 1, 20205 yr by mwblue10

5 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Dave has been our best defender this season imo. Today changes nothing.

That's not good either, because this is Azpi's worst season in a Chelsea shirt, you can tell he's nowhere near as fast as he used to be, but he was good on the restart. 

Don't really have any complaints with him this season, he is who he is and he's done as well as we can realistically expect given his skillset which is all we can ask for really.

Rudiger and Christensen are the one's performing well below their capabilities, especially the latter.

Edited August 2, 20205 yr by Argo

He was good compared to the others I guess but he's still a pretty poor defender. At least with the others they can step it up another level when on form and/or in the right system, not going to get that from Zouma. 

54 minutes ago, Remodez said:

He was good compared to the others I guess but he's still a pretty poor defender. At least with the others they can step it up another level when on form and/or in the right system, not going to get that from Zouma. 

I disagree, I think he has been our best defender since lockdown. He got done today by Aubameyang, and he has to hold up his hand today but I think he made a lot of progress. In a more organised defence I think he could do well with us. I actually think he'll likely make the France team for Euro2021. Underrated here in my view.

At least with Zouma we know where his strenths lie. He can battle with big centre forwards for long balls and won't be intimidated by anyone physically, which is important, given the nature of the league he plays in. He's never been comfortable with ball at his feet and is never going to be. Doesn't have the quality to be a starter in  a top side, but as a backup, you'll have trouble finding better option.

Rudiger and Christensen, on the other hand, offer nothing. They're just as bad in one-one-one defending as Zouma, but lack composure or physical strength to do even basic things well. They also seem to have some mental issues, Andreas has always been soft, while Rudiger seems to have lost whatever confidence he'd had pre-injury.

Edited August 2, 20205 yr by abramovich

10 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Dave has been our best defender this season imo. Today changes nothing.

But that is also worrying. Just because zDave happens to be the last one throwing in a last ditch tackle doesn't mean he's the best of defenders and if he is our best its a true indication of our plight. Dave is at least 1 and maybe 2 seasons past prime. I like him and I like his spirit but with decent defensive coaching and better players coming through Daves career could have gone on much longer in a secure defense rather than diving in to make up for the lack of pace and reactions now evident

On 02/08/2020 at 06:15, Spiller86 said:

I disagree, I think he has been our best defender since lockdown. He got done today by Aubameyang, and he has to hold up his hand today but I think he made a lot of progress. In a more organised defence I think he could do well with us. I actually think he'll likely make the France team for Euro2021. Underrated here in my view.

Extremely underrated. I think if he "looked" as confident on the ball as Christensen or rudiger with exactly the same results, there wouldn't be a question on him. His passing is just as good as those two if not better. He just has a weird technique. 

I genuinely think zouma would be the 1st-3rd best centre back in every premier league team. Liverpool might be the only team in the PL he wouldn't be a nailed on starter. 

Selling him would be absurd. I can't believe that's ever discussed.

However I am of the mind that we shouldn't be wasting money on a centre back this season.  We've got 4 perfectly good ones imo. 

Edited August 3, 20205 yr by bisright1

2 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Extremely underrated. I think if he "looked" as confident on the ball as Christensen or rudiger with exactly the same results, there wouldn't be a question on him. His passing is just as good as those two if not better. He just has a weird technique. 

I genuinely think zouma would be the 1st-3rd best centre back in every premier league team. Liverpool might be the only team in the PL he wouldn't be a nailed on starter. 

Selling him would be absurd. I can't believe that's ever discussed.

However I am of the mind that we shouldn't be wasting money on a centre back this season.  We've got 4 perfectly good ones imo. 

I think people are overratedng Zouma, he has been absolutely awful at times. He just hasn't looked quite as bad as Christensen and Rudiger as they have been worse the majority of the time.

Weird though, because on paper all 3 of these CB's would get into most premier league teams and even last year under Sarri, they were much better than they are this season. Seems likely its down to lampard's defensive setup because its been very poor regardless of the players

1 hour ago, driller97 said:

I think people are overratedng Zouma, he has been absolutely awful at times. He just hasn't looked quite as bad as Christensen and Rudiger as they have been worse the majority of the time.

Weird though, because on paper all 3 of these CB's would get into most premier league teams and even last year under Sarri, they were much better than they are this season. Seems likely its down to lampard's defensive setup because its been very poor regardless of the players

Impossible that all of our centre backs have suddenly become awful. Despite all being excellent in other teams. All at the same time. 

It's a mixture of a sh*te goalkeeper and a set up that leaves no one but the two centre backs defending. 

16 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Impossible that all of our centre backs have suddenly become awful. Despite all being excellent in other teams. All at the same time. 

It's a mixture of a sh*te goalkeeper and a set up that leaves no one but the two centre backs defending. 

I think you're right. Don't need to look any further than Milan Skriniar's form at Inter this season to see that even the most highly rated centre back can have a bad year in a system that doesn't suit.

12 months ago he was one of the most sought after CBs in Europe. Now Conte is looking to flog him to Spurs for Ndombele. 

23 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Impossible that all of our centre backs have suddenly become awful. Despite all being excellent in other teams. All at the same time. 

It's a mixture of a sh*te goalkeeper and a set up that leaves no one but the two centre backs defending. 

Their are several clues to help us find the issue with our back line., like when defenders try kicking the ball into touch and the ball ends up in the net, or when the keeper keeps getting done over the top, or when a defender comes charging out for the tackle and gets left on his butt., they all point to one thing, individual culpability on the pitch.

On 03/08/2020 at 17:24, bisright1 said:

Impossible that all of our centre backs have suddenly become awful. Despite all being excellent in other teams. All at the same time. 

It's a mixture of a sh*te goalkeeper and a set up that leaves no one but the two centre backs defending. 

When was the last time Christensen, Zouma, Rudiger, Alonso and Emerson were excellent consistently? Rudiger was at his best in his first season for us, not quite as solid the second season and a disaster the third season. Christensen hasn't been the same player since he f**ked up against Barcelona, that for me shows he is too weak mentally. Zouma returned to the club after having a serious injury a few years back, getting relegated with Stoke and being part of the worst team from set pieces defensively with Everton. Alonso has always been an inconsistent player, a handy player on his day and then a disaster the next and Emerson has done nothing with his time on the pitch for 99% of the games he has played for us.

Our defenders becoming awful didn't happen suddenly, they have been sh*t for a while now. The only difference between this season and last season is that last season, Sarri changed us to a much more defensive side after being beaten 2-0 by Arsenal, 4-0 by Bournemouth and then 6-0 by City. 

Edited August 4, 20205 yr by Scott Harris

18 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

When was the last time Christensen, Zouma, Rudiger, Alonso and Emerson were excellent consistently? Rudiger was at his best in his first season for us, not quite as solid the second season and a disaster the third season. Christensen hasn't been the same player since he f**ked up against Barcelona, that for me shows he is too weak mentally. Zouma returned to the club after having a serious injury a few years back, getting relegated with Stoke and being part of the worst team from set pieces defensively with Everton. Alonso has always been an inconsistent player, a handy player on his day and then a disaster the next and Emerson has done nothing with his time on the pitch for 99% of the games he has played for us.

Our defenders becoming awful didn't happen suddenly, they have been sh*t for a while now. The only difference between this season and last season is that last season, Sarri changed us to a much more defensive side after being beaten 2-0 by Arsenal, 4-0 by Bournemouth and then 6-0 by City. 

Agreed. We have go to this point after several years of failing to sign the right players, or signing duds. When you compare our current first choice defense with  the what we had in 2012 (Ashley Cole, JT, Cahill, Luiz, Brana) it really strikes home how far we have fallen. Apart from the quality of the defensive players in 2012 we also had so much more leadership. Hopefully in time the likes of Tomori, Guehi, and Maatsen will prove to be solid options from the academy. But we need some experience, quality, and leadership in there if we are going to improve in the short term.

 

9 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

When was the last time Christensen, Zouma, Rudiger, Alonso and Emerson were excellent consistently? Rudiger was at his best in his first season for us, not quite as solid the second season and a disaster the third season. Christensen hasn't been the same player since he f**ked up against Barcelona, that for me shows he is too weak mentally. Zouma returned to the club after having a serious injury a few years back, getting relegated with Stoke and being part of the worst team from set pieces defensively with Everton. Alonso has always been an inconsistent player, a handy player on his day and then a disaster the next and Emerson has done nothing with his time on the pitch for 99% of the games he has played for us.

Our defenders becoming awful didn't happen suddenly, they have been sh*t for a while now. The only difference between this season and last season is that last season, Sarri changed us to a much more defensive side after being beaten 2-0 by Arsenal, 4-0 by Bournemouth and then 6-0 by City. 

Also people get carried away with us being this and that under Sarri.. as if Sarri was a master of setting up the defense and the current lot being novices... if that were true why is Juve for the first time in 10 yeas not the best defence in the country?