Promising cameo but I just don't see where his chances to play will come from. 

I can see us signing another attacker in the summer because of playing European football again and then Ruben will find chances even more limited. 

He used his minutes well against Stoke, unlucky not to score. He is pure talent, hope Conte can give him more of a chance and keep him next season. Not really too keen on loaning him out again.

At the very least he's back in front of Chalobah now, which I think is correct.

Fantastic to see RLC being bought on in a crucial PL game while the result was still to be secured. 

Looks as if the club have finally got a manager that is willing to give them a go. 

47 minutes ago, Van Butsen said:

At the very least he's back in front of Chalobah now, which I think is correct.

Depends where you feel he's best utilised.

I've always thought RLC's best performances for us have been as part of a midfield 2, if so you're correct in saying he's ahead of Chalobah.

However I think Conte sees him as more of a Forward, therefore he's competing with Pedro, Hazard, Willian for a place which is a different contest.

1 hour ago, Van Butsen said:

At the very least he's back in front of Chalobah now, which I think is correct.

How do you come to that conclusion, they're playing in different positions. 

Chalobah is playing in the centre of the midfield same as Matic, Kante and Fabregas. 

RLC is being used as a second striker or attacking midfielder same as Perdo, Hazard and Willian. 

The reason RLC came on is because we had shifted formation to 4-2-3-1 and he was playing in the #10 role which allowed Fabregas to drop deeper and dictate play. 

Then when Zouma came on and we reverted back to 3-4-3 he was sat behind Costa. 

Chalobah wouldn't have been asked to fulfil either of the roles RLC did against Stoke. 

24 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

How do you come to that conclusion, they're playing in different positions. 

Chalobah is playing in the centre of the midfield same as Matic, Kante and Fabregas. 

RLC is being used as a second striker or attacking midfielder same as Perdo, Hazard and Willian. 

The reason RLC came on is because we had shifted formation to 4-2-3-1 and he was playing in the #10 role which allowed Fabregas to drop deeper and dictate play. 

Then when Zouma came on and we reverted back to 3-4-3 he was sat behind Costa. 

Chalobah wouldn't have been asked to fulfil either of the roles RLC did against Stoke. 

Here's how I came to that conclusions.

Chalobah rightly had earn that final spot on amongst the subs as a youth, a lot of seasons on loan in the senior side, one in a foreign league for a great club.
Though he is really only suited to that central midfield role, at least that's where he has been developed.
For Ruben to still get opportunities this season, amongst it being in his skillset, was molded by Conte into almost a striker, at the very least an attacking midfielder.
Whilst Chalobah has been serviceable in his appearances, all of Ruben's sub appearances have been a class above Chalobahs.
Ruben can also play in Chalobahs position and in his more recently used positions by Antonio.
Antonio seeing his performances and knowing his history (where he has played AND performed) then puts him up the pecking order.

Obviously the last point is unknown.  But I think we will see him brought on ahead of Chalobah for the rest of the season.  That's how I came to it.

5 minutes ago, Van Butsen said:

Whilst Chalobah has been serviceable in his appearances, all of Ruben's sub appearances have been a class above Chalobahs.
 

The nature of the job Chalobah is asking to carry out when being bought on as sub is as you described. He's keeping it simple ensuring we retain control in the middle of the park. He's not in attacking areas so isn't making an overly noticeable impact on the game but he shores things up much like Mikel used to. 

Personally, I cannot say I have seen much from Ruben to be impressed about this season, the Stoke appearance aside so I would be interested to know what you think he has been doing previously to be so impressive? 

 

 

Chalobah has played 380 minutes this season (x8 sub appearances in the league), RLC 253 minutes (3 sub appearances in the league) for reference.  

11 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

 

Personally, I cannot say I have seen much from Ruben to be impressed about this season,

It does'nt matter what we mere mortals think, it's what Conte thinks that I'm interested in. Whatever he thinks, I'm behind him 100%. He lives and breaths with the players day in day out, no other person is in a better position to make the calls. 

 

Thought RLC looked decent when he came on Saturday and certainly didn't do his cause any harm.

Trouble is, next season we have 4 players who have all come through our academy who all look like they deserve a chance but we know that's very unlikely. Although they play different roles we have:

Ake

Baker

Chalobah

RLC

 

Out of the four, I would like to see Baker at least get some minutes but there are arguments for all 4. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see RLC get a season's long loan somewhere.

 

18 minutes ago, coco said:

It does'nt matter what we mere mortals think, it's what Conte thinks that I'm interested in. Whatever he thinks, I'm behind him 100%. He lives and breaths with the players day in day out, no other person is in a better position to make the calls. 

Goes without saying. 

I was just surprised that Van Busten felt RLC had usurped Chalobah in the pecking order based on a 10 minutes sub appearance. 

39 minutes ago, coco said:

It does'nt matter what we mere mortals think, it's what Conte thinks that I'm interested in. Whatever he thinks, I'm behind him 100%. He lives and breaths with the players day in day out, no other person is in a better position to make the calls. 

 

Incorrect. My opinion as a fan from my Ivory armchair, despite never seeing players in a training session, is far more valuable than a coach with a longstanding career as a serial winner who sees the players every day. 

19 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Goes without saying. 

I was just surprised that Van Busten felt RLC had usurped Chalobah in the pecking order based on a 10 minutes sub appearance. 

No as to my last point in my post, it's still unknown at this very point but I think the next few weeks will indicate this. I may be wrong
" Obviously the last point is unknown.  But I think we will see him brought on ahead of Chalobah for the rest of the season "

By the very nature of us chasing the game Ruben was going to be tasked differently, but ultimately I think they will fight it out for the same position in the long run.  Again this is unknown.  I may be wrong.

7 minutes ago, Van Butsen said:

No as to my last point in my post, it's still unknown at this very point but I think the next few weeks will indicate this. I may be wrong
" Obviously the last point is unknown.  But I think we will see him brought on ahead of Chalobah for the rest of the season "

By the very nature of us chasing the game Ruben was going to be tasked differently, but ultimately I think they will fight it out for the same position in the long run.  Again this is unknown.  I may be wrong.

I really see Chalobah as a replacement for Matic, he's got the stamina and defensive discipline (I'd actually prefer him starting to Matic now, nevermind in the future), whereas RLC seems more of an attacking player, he's got great ball control and technique for a big guy, but he doesn't seem to have the workrate for a holding/ central midfielder

Chalobah looked good in those first few appearnaces, but to be honest he disappointed me in his last few outings.

2 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Goes without saying. 

I was just surprised that Van Busten felt RLC had usurped Chalobah in the pecking order based on a 10 minutes sub appearance. 

He must be at Cobham every day.

1 hour ago, Van Butsen said:

No as to my last point in my post, it's still unknown at this very point but I think the next few weeks will indicate this. I may be wrong
" Obviously the last point is unknown.  But I think we will see him brought on ahead of Chalobah for the rest of the season "

By the very nature of us chasing the game Ruben was going to be tasked differently, but ultimately I think they will fight it out for the same position in the long run.  Again this is unknown.  I may be wrong.

Have your opinion by all means, but i won't hold it with much merit because i know it's purely guesswork.

I think they will both make it, but I'm guessing as well.

I know it was an 8 minute cameo but by the looks of it Conte has done some serious work on the training ground with him. 

10 minutes ago, coco said:

Have your opinion by all means, but i won't hold it with much merit because i know it's purely guesswork.

Not that I was basing it off one sub appearance, but what else are we able to base opinions on if not for what we see in front of us (even if it's very little)?

Chalobah plays as a holding midfielder where as R L C plays more forward now under Conte.  So they aren't competing for game time as they are different players

Had a great game for the U21's, pundits full of praise for him, has to go out on loan though unless he gets more game time next season.

So... pretty much another wasted season for Ruben. 5 minutes here, 1 minute there, then months without even being on the bench. Think he needs a loan next season so he can finally get a run of games and we can see what he's capable of. Otherwise he'll waste his career sitting on the sidelines.

1 hour ago, Zeta said:

So... pretty much another wasted season for Ruben. 5 minutes here, 1 minute there, then months without even being on the bench. Think he needs a loan next season so he can finally get a run of games and we can see what he's capable of. Otherwise he'll waste his career sitting on the sidelines.

Yeah, he will definitely have to go out on loan next season. I genuinely think there is a player in there somewhere, he just needs to go somewhere where he can show it to everybody. It has to be in a top division though and with a team in the top half of the table. Not a relegation team or lower league team.

Hope it's well thought out. We've sold Bamford for 10 million and he can't get on the bench at Boro! He's being kept out by Gestede. The squad of the team he goes to will have to need him and not just go to make up the numbers. Training with us will be better than sitting on a bench elsewhere.