I feel calm now that the fullback has 3 and the centreback has 5. Thank god.

Paul Clemment reckon's Luis will be a better left back for Chelsea than Ashley Cole.

 

Full article is behind The Times pay wall so can't read it all but he reckons we've bought Atletico's best player. 

If one compares Cole of last season, then Luis should be better than him. However, if I were to look back on Cole of 2 to 3 years ago, I am not sure here. Cole to me, was the best LB in England then.

Let's hope Luis gives us reason to consider that notion

Paul Clemment reckon's Luis will be a better left back for Chelsea than Ashley Cole.

Full article is behind The Times pay wall so can't read it all but he reckons we've bought Atletico's best player.

You're welcome:

Any Chelsea fans waiting nervously for a first glimpse of summer signings Diego Costa and Filipe Luís — they surely know everything about Cesc Fàbregas — in their pre-season friendly against RZ Pellets, the Austrian club, tonight should be reassured by the words of one of their own.

Paul Clement, a former coach at Stamford Bridge who is now assistant to Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid, believes that Chelsea have signed the best player from Atletico Madrid, who, as well as eliminating José Mourinho’s side from the Champions League last season, also pipped Real, their city rivals, to the La Liga title.

Having sat in the dugout during five Madrid derbies last season, which culminated in Real’s dramatic extra-time Champions League final win, Clement is well placed to judge Chelsea’s incoming players. The only surprise is that he rates Filipe as the pick of the bunch, identifying the little-known left back as Chelsea’s best signing of the summer.

Clement is a huge admirer of Ashley Cole both professionally and personally, and is looking forward to a reunion with his former colleague when Real meet Roma in a pre-season friendly in Dallas next week. But he is convinced that, given their respective ages, Chelsea have secured an upgrade. Filipe, 28, was a key part of Europe’s meanest defence last season, with Atletico conceding only 26 goals in 38 league games, of which he started 32, showing the kind of discipline and determination that was always likely to appeal to Mourinho.

The Brazil player was a late developer, failing to get beyond the B team during a single season at Real and establishing himself in the first team at Deportivo La Coruna only six years ago before joining Atletico two years later. Since then he has appeared determined to make up for lost time.

“Atletico had an amazing season last year, but

Filipe was their best player,” Clement said. “We played them five times and I watched them on countless other occasions, and he never seemed to make a mistake. He’s good on the ball, reasonably quick and incredibly tough in the tackle. He’s smart and resilient, so should be perfect for the Premier League. How he wasn’t playing for Brazil this summer I’ll never know.”

Filipe was on Luiz Felipe Scolari’s standby list for the World Cup finals, summing up an international career that has brought him only four caps. He was in the squad for last year’s successful Confederations Cup campaign without getting on the pitch, yet as Marcelo was repeatedly exposed and caught out of position in Brazil’s shock 7-1 semi-final defeat by Germany, there seemed little doubt who Mourinho would have selected.

Filipe’s one potential weakness is a lack of experience at the highest level, as he has made only ten appearances in the Champions League, all last season as Atletico reached the final.

Clement also speaks highly of Costa, another Brazilian-born late developer who has much in common with his team-mate, but adds the caveat that the physical strength that proved so difficult for Spanish defences to handle may make less of an impact in the Barclays Premier League.

Costa’s attitude seems to be just as important as his ability, and has transformed him from a squad player who was passed around Sporting Braga, Celta Vigo, Albacete and Rayo Vallecano before finally establishing himself at Atletico as one of the most feared strikers in the world.

“Costa’s aggression and nastiness is the key, as without that he’d be a fairly average player,”

Clement said. “I’m not surprised Mourinho has signed him as he’s the kind of player who’d die on the pitch for his team-mates, but he won’t find it as easy to bully defenders in England as he did in Spain. He’s not Didier Drogba yet, but he’s a big improvement on what Chelsea had.”

I still think Shaw was the better bet but I guess his assists to Costa last season has to be respected

Wonder when he will start. Hard to drop Ivanovic after today's game and Azpilicueta seems to be a Jose favourite.

Wonder when he will start. Hard to drop Ivanovic after today's game and Azpilicueta seems to be a Jose favourite.

Is it? Almost every attack Burnley had was down his side. 

Is it? Almost every attack Burnley had was down his side. 

 

And how did that turn out for them?

And how did that turn out for them?

Why does something have to come from it? It shouldn't be happening that frequently in the first place. 

 

To clarify, I don't think he had a bad game. He did well. I just think out of the two he's the one I would drop.

Hope he starts on Saturday. I can understand why Jose didn't start him with it being away and to a potentially difficult fixture. However we don't want to spend so much money on a left back who won't play.

That said, who's he going to play instead of? Who are you gonna drop Ivanovic or Dave? We know how good both players..

He'll have to wait I think and so he should. Back four were solid as a rock last season and deserve to keep their places.

Yep I agree, the whole back four deserve to start against Leicester. Filipe's chance will come.

Be strange to buy a 29 year old for a big fee and not fit him in at some point.

No one deserves dropped although Ivan's defending is a bit cagey but he's such a threat I don't think we can drop him.

Tough one

Hope he starts on Saturday. I can understand why Jose didn't start him with it being away and to a potentially difficult fixture. However we don't want to spend so much money on a left back who won't play.

That said, who's he going to play instead of? Who are you gonna drop Ivanovic or Dave? We know how good both players..

 

I think F.Luis will replace Azpilicueta for the next match, wich gives us a bit more going forward. Leicester will most likely park the buss and we could use the width on both sides from our fullbacks.

Think Jose had one eye on their right side tonight, they're right back had a lot of assists last year. Can see Luis starting saturday, needs to be given some time.

Jose had said weeks ago that FIlipe would not start the first game of the season!

I hope to see him playing regularly in the league soon, most consistent LB in LIGA BBVA last season in my opinion.

Increasingly strange transfer for me. Paying £16m for a 29 year old left back would only make sense to me if a left back was a necessity. With him not slotting immediately into the team and our current full backs being far more than adequate it does seem strange to spend so much just to offer slightly more on the attack.

his time will come, tough to drop Ivan at the mo the form he's in and Dave hardly deserves dropping either. Once the games start coming thick and fast we will be glad we have 3 top full backs.

Didn't like him from what I saw pre season and our first choice back 4 will remain as-is for the foreseeable future. Im sure he'll get his chance sometime down the line but if it aint broke dont fix it.

Dont care if he's benched at the moment, dave doing a fine job so hard luck luis.

Azpi is great defensively but he doesn't cross the ball.

Edited August 24, 201411 yr by dcmining

Azpi is great defensively but he doesn't cross the ball.

 

He put in a decent cross for Ivanovic yesterday and Ivanovic almost scored from it.

I don't see him starting against Everton, believe it's international break after that, so we probably won't see him debuting until mid september. When you have Hazard who constantly pulls 2-3 players to him, the left back should have plenty of space and time to cross the ball, this is a trick we are missing playing Azpi. He's a great player, but he can't cross with his left foot.

Since Terry is getting older, it may be smart to try to keep him fresher for the more important games and hopefully the later year CL games. As such, using a combination of Ake, Iva, and Cahill in the middle would allow Terry to get some rest yet allow Luis and Dave to be on the left and right back spots.

I would try to acclimatize against the smaller EPL teams now.