John Terry "leader, Captain , Legend" irreplaceable, untouchable

Matic.

 

No one touches him in DM at the moment.

Matic for me has been our best player this season, the amount of attacks he breaks up is unreal and is brilliant at keeping the ball moving, Top player.

Very simple: Matic. Nobody else even comes close.

Hazard for me, still our best attacking player by far even when not in top form. I think we would struggle alot if he got a long term injury. Shurrle is to inconsistent and lacks the burst of pace great wingers have, he does have good stamina and timing of his runs though, but that requires space we don't get against defending teams. Willian dosen't offer much in the final third, 5 goals in 53 apperances is just not good enough in his position. I see Oscar more as a playmaker then a winger and Salah is barely in our squad.

Oscar for me, obviously replaceable as they all are but we lose something when he isn't in the team for sure, even when he was having what most saw as a bad run of form it always seemed to me we  just didn't have the same cohesion without him in the team.

 

Certainly nice to look through the squad and see so many quality important players, no longer one or two great players amongst a squad that can beat anybody on their day (not knocking those times as they were some of the most enjoyable for me).

 

I think you are on your own with that selection Chippy!!

 

Don't get me wrong, I do rate Oscar highly. I just don't think he is the sort of player we really rely on to get results. When he is great he is brilliant, but he does still have a fair number of games which pass him by and Saturdays game was the perfect example (although not many came out of that one with much credit TBH).

 

My choice is Hazard as I think he is the one player we have capable of being considered as good as the likes of Messi and Ronaldo and he can win a game on his own. BUT he needs to find consistency and try and dominate games more.

 

And I'm not looking forward to the day when JT finally hangs up his boots. He has been that good we've kinda taken him for granted.

Without Fabregas we'd struggle to break down anyone that defends deeply against us and as i've said on a few other topics, the only thing I believe that could stop us winning the title is him picking up a long term injury.

 

So I voted for Fabregas.

 

This^. Suprised that Fabregas hasn't got more of a mention. If he gets injured then I don't see a direct replacement in the squad. Although JT and Matic are of enormous importance I still think we'd get by with Cahill/Ivanovic/Zouma and either Mikel or Ramires in the holding role.

At the present time it's Matic and Terry for me.

 

Terry is the glue to our defence. He provides leadership, presence and experience like none of the other defenders can and when he's missing our defence always seems to be weaker and more vulnerable in conceding goals.

 

Matic is our best DM and without him we're a weaker team for it. His absence was hugely profound on the weekend even though Mikel played quite well to the best of his limited ability. 

Anyone who keeps Mikel out of the team.

without the slightest hesitation .... JT

Anyone who keeps Mikel out of the team.

 

Hugh Briss?

Was going to post this in the MOTM thread for Hull but I thought I'd put it here.

 

Matic is not only our most irreplaceable player, but I think we'd struggle to win a game without him in the side. The only other player who comes close is Terry, but I think we could bodge together Cahill and Zouma, play a more compact game and still find a way to win a match.

 

Without Matic in the side we're a far worse team and we have no way of mitigating for his absence if we needed to. He's integral to everything we do and that's why I find it hard to vote for anyone else in MOTM polls, because without him I don't think we have a base to do anything else.

Hugh Briss?

 

 

This is why you're my favourite young poster!

without the slightest hesitation .... JT

 

I agree, we will probably never replace JT, he is brilliant. He brings the best out of every partnership he has been paired with.

I think the question answers itself really.  How many top, top players are there for each position in the world?  Goalkeeper - plenty, central defender (of the physical/organisational nature) - quite a few, strikers - tons, attacking midfielders - a glut.

 

Defensively strong and yet technically gifted defensive midfielders.  I'm limited to one hand thinking about players who I would put in the same league as Matic.

 

We might as well just call him Maka, as our dependency and gameplan has been as focused around him as quickly as he did with Claude in Jose's first reign.

Hazard or Matic for me, Hazard puts so many teams on the back foot just with his very presence. When he gets the ball you just no he will open up a little space. Matic, just superb in what he does. These are the two for me that you would struggle to replace :-)

Quite surprised that more people haven't said Fabregas.

 

His absence was quite evident against Hull as we lacked creativity going forward despite being dominant in possession.

I would be curious to know whether people's answers to this question might have changed in the subsequent few months...

I said Fabregas originally but Hazard is the only one to maintain consistently good form.

Think I said Matic.

 

It's Hazard now.

Hazard.

Has to be.

Quote a tough one, Hazard and Matic on so many levels, but went for JT as his leadership qualities and experience are so valuable to us, especially at this end of the season.

Can we just add this thread into the 'Eden Hazard' one please?!

Can we just add this thread into the 'Eden Hazard' one please?!

Haha, quite. But I do think it's a good discussion even if everyone picks the same player. Perhaps it could be extended to our three most irreplaceable players? Or our second, after young Eden.

Voted for Fabregas. Hazard now of course.