My problem with RLC is that over the years he has been given chances, and before the last game, I struggle to recall a game for Chelsea, where he has objectively played well. If he has any desire to have a career at the level of Chelsea, instead of a Crystal Palace type club he needs to take every chance given to him. I feel some fans are blinded to his failings, because they are desperate for an academy player to make the first 11.

1 hour ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Conte won the league with a midfield two of Matic and Kante.

Leicester won the league with Kante and Drinkwater.

(side not Kante and Jorginho have both scored in the league this season (Barkley’s got two as well)).

I clearly talked about a midfield three of Kante. Kovacic and Jorginhio, not a midfield two.  Also, Drinkwater provided way more in the opponents half than any of our three do. I certainly would not be adverse to Kovacic, Kante (only in his old position + a creative/ goal scoring midfielder. I'll say it till I'm blue in the face, Jorginho is the problem! Slow, can't defend and offers nowt in the oppoants half. Another Mikel but with more 5 yard passes.

Edited October 27, 20187 yr by Dixon

On 26/10/2018 at 21:48, Scott Harris said:

He has to play at the weekend. You can't drop a player after they score a hat trick, no other club would do it. Performances like yesterday should be rewarded.

If he came in a league game and i did that i would agree but in a game we rotate an entire Xl we need to look at it with a different context. If Remy got a hatrick in a COC game under Jose should he have replaced Costa for the next league game? Or if Moses gets a hattrick in Belarus does he start the game after?

Also his fitness needs to be put into account, most time he plays two games back to back he struggles or picks up an injury.

1 hour ago, Argo said:

If he came in a league game and i did that i would agree but in a game we rotate an entire Xl we need to look at it with a different context. If Remy got a hatrick in a COC game under Jose should he have replaced Costa for the next league game? Or if Moses gets a hattrick in Belarus does he start the game after?

Also his fitness needs to be put into account, most time he plays two games back to back he struggles or picks up an injury.

The fact that he played 90 on Wednesday alone will probably insure he won't start. I will though share his disappointment if he doesn't at least get a slot on the bench, we seriously lack a goal scoring threat outside of Eden and Pedro. He's shown he has the ability to hit the net and has to be involved in some way within the match day squad even it's at the expense of more established stars, many of which couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. Goals win games the more spread out within your team the more chance of winning.

1 minute ago, charierre said:

The fact that he played 90 on Wednesday alone will probably insure he won't start. I will though share his disappointment if he doesn't at least get a slot on the bench, we seriously lack a goal scoring threat outside of Eden and Pedro. He's shown he has the ability to hit the net and has to be involved in some way within the match day squad even it's at the expense of more established stars, many of which couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. Goals win games the more spread out within your team the more chance of winning.

Is RLC a massive goal threat though? The Bate game accounts for almost half his goals at senior level (had he got another he would have doubled his career tally) and i can't recall him being that prolific at youth level either.

Although that said he should be on the bench tomorrow and possibly come on.

5 minutes ago, Argo said:

Is RLC a massive goal threat though? The Bate game accounts for almost half his goals at senior level (had he got another he would have doubled his career tally) and i can't recall him being that prolific at youth level either.

Although that said he should be on the bench tomorrow and possibly come on.

Our mismanagement of his career has resulted in him having not played enough football at 22. Whilst never being prolific at youth team level he did  hit the target regularly for a midfield player. He is more of a threat than other members of the midfield and his ball retention is better than Barkley. 

I do wonder if some on here want him to fail, he needs a regular run of games to prove himself, only then can be be judged. In the old days young players were told the shirt is yours for half a dozen games to out and prove yourself,  that is what RLC needs. We have a decent player on our hands, we have to find the solution to using him.

 

F**k it play him as a striker lets see how he does bet he will be better than Morata and Giroud here is a clip of him over the years :

 

25 minutes ago, charierre said:

Our mismanagement of his career has resulted in him having not played enough football at 22. Whilst never being prolific at youth team level he did  hit the target regularly for a midfield player. He is more of a threat than other members of the midfield and his ball retention is better than Barkley. 

I do wonder if some on here want him to fail, he needs a regular run of games to prove himself, only then can be be judged. In the old days young players were told the shirt is yours for half a dozen games to out and prove yourself,  that is what RLC needs. We have a decent player on our hands, we have to find the solution to using him.

 

If that last paragraph is aimed at me then no ofcourse i don't want him to fail, but equally im not going to turn a blind eye to his flaws just because he's an academy product. I enjoyed his hattrick as much as anyone and was actually annoyed he didn't get the late sub so he could get the applause of the crowd (i had my camera ready to film the moment once i saw that Kante was coming on), but ultimately he needs to keep this up (not the hatrick obviously but his general infuence on the game). Against Bate he was getting involved and making things happen when in other games one promising piece of play was followed by half an hour of hide and seek.

The next few months are crucial and we will find out whether Thursday was a one off or if the penny is finally dropping, my instinct is saying the former unfortunately but i would absolutely love nothing more than to be wrong.

Ruben played brilliant, he has to be giving a run in the starting 11 now, the only way for him to improve and get better is to play regulary, really don't understand how a loan player is getting more game time than him, I rate Kovacic a lot and he plays well but come on why are we hampering the development of one of our own, surely the point of a loan is to provide cover especially as there's a possibility that they won't be here next season. 

15 hours ago, Dixon said:

I clearly talked about a midfield three of Kante. Kovacic and Jorginhio, not a midfield two.  Also, Drinkwater provided way more in the opponents half than any of our three do. I certainly would not be adverse to Kovacic, Kante (only in his old position + a creative/ goal scoring midfielder. I'll say it till I'm blue in the face, Jorginho is the problem! Slow, can't defend and offers nowt in the oppoants half. Another Mikel but with more 5 yard passes.

You posed the question 

Quote

Has ANY team EVER won a title with a midfield three so completely lacking in creativity and goal power? 

So I replied with recent teams who won the league with midfields that didn’t offer a huge goal scoring threat and had players that aren’t regarded as overly creative. 

Taking about midfield trios starts to come down to semantics of when you stop considering a player a midfielder and call them an attacker. 

My general point is that even without a particular goal threat from midfield it’s still more than possible to win the title. 

3 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

You posed the question 

So I replied with recent teams who won the league with midfields that didn’t offer a huge goal scoring threat and had players that aren’t regarded as overly creative. 

Taking about midfield trios starts to come down to semantics of when you stop considering a player a midfielder and call them an attacker. 

My general point is that even without a particular goal threat from midfield it’s still more than possible to win the title. 

Sorry, but you conveniently left Mahrez out of the equation. An  crucial player in Leicester's title win. Without him they would not have won the title, so you point does not stand. Possible to win it with two midfielders who don't score or create,  but not three!

1 hour ago, Dixon said:

Sorry, but you conveniently left Mahrez out of the equation. An  crucial player in Leicester's title win. Without him they would not have won the title, so you point does not stand. Possible to win it with two midfielders who don't score or create,  but not three!

You want to move the goalposts anymore on your argument? 

4 goals in two games. f**k off Barcelona. 

1 hour ago, ForeverCarefree said:

You want to move the goalposts anymore on your argument? 

If anyone has moved goalposts its you!  You have not come up with a team that had 3 non creative non goal scoring midfielders. Instead, you single out two in midfield and not even mentioning a creative, goal scoring midfielder in the team that won a title.

Anyway, proof is in the pudding today. Leave out one of our three and there is instantly way more goal threat from our midfield. 

 

 

Was nice to see him on the bench ahead of Moses today. 

Granted he’s not naturally a winger but he offers more than Moses and good to see him picked on merit. 

He's enjoying his time on the pitch. We need to make sure he starts some games, and is on the bench for the others. He gets in good positions all the time.

On 27/10/2018 at 10:01, kiwi1691 said:

1 good game against a sh*t team, does not justify this massive over reaction. 

It’s not a massive overreaction, people are happy and feeling positive about him, what are you talking about?

On 27/10/2018 at 10:30, the special one said:

he still needs to add intelligence, quality, distribution and good decision making

He already has that imo, but yes he can improve. 

Looked hungry for more goals again today, cutting in and shooting.

people let this fact sink in a bit

 

 Nice

 

We'll ignore that a similar point can be made about Morata and Giroud...

Edited October 28, 20187 yr by Valerie

RLC has a place in the Chelsea squad and it is to play against opposition who are not a goal scoring threat. Starting him vs top teams is something he is not ready for yet.

 

From what i observed, his issues seem purely mental. He has too much concentration lapses and that needs to be fixed. he gives away the ball cheaply sometimes or is caught offguard, but that is because he does not seem ready at that instance. Then you have instances where he is running like a man possessed skipping past defenders. We need this version of RLC more often. 

was the Pedro injury a blessing in disguise? Surely this will allow RLC to get some more games if the Pedro injury lasts long enough.

12 minutes ago, Barry_Stanton said:

was the Pedro injury a blessing in disguise? Surely this will allow RLC to get some more games if the Pedro injury lasts long enough.

I thought the same when it occurred, will this give RLC the EPL opportunity? 

It did today and he performed well and scored.

It opens up a cracking possibility it if matures, Barkley and RLC playing together for club and country and both will be able to offer goals.

2 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

I thought the same when it occurred, will this give RLC the EPL opportunity? 

It did today and he performed well and scored.

It opens up a cracking possibility it if matures, Barkley and RLC playing together for club and country and both will be able to offer goals.

Exactly, the current form they are in is amazing for both, but now we just have to see how they play with each other with one of Kante/Jorginho is unavailable. Only then will be truly be able to see how good they are