14 hours ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

And the touch just before 

 

 

What was good was that he took the keeper's ball on the volley to pass his marker and with one touch put Hazard clear, think Fabregas would have been proud of that.

The team was missing that kind of touch and creativity all match. I don't think Kovacic will ever get there and honestly, I bet he's lowered his value with his performances this season. Barkley is just not a top player so RLC has a chance for a few months to really stake his place for the future. 

1 hour ago, Strider6003 said:

In some years where we won trophies we had an easy passage to the final with perhaps just one tricky team. Not this time though and we were very close.

That fa cup win in 2009, when we beat Portsmouth in the final must be the easiest route we ever had. I think Everton was the trickiest game. Villa in the semis and Pompey I  the final. 

He needs to stay fit. The talent is there, he can be a really special player but ONLY if he can sort out his body. Or a Darren Anderton career awaits him.

20 minutes ago, big blue said:

That fa cup win in 2009, when we beat Portsmouth in the final must be the easiest route we ever had. I think Everton was the trickiest game. Villa in the semis and Pompey I  the final. 

Last year was also pretty easy until meeting Utd in the final - Norwich, Newcastle, Hull, Leicester, Southampton - none of the top 5 until the final.

The touch before putting Hazard through was incredible, and I thought he showed a few other nice touches too. I'm a big fan of the way he always looks to be direct and carry the ball forward, we really miss that in our midfield. Kovacic is tidy enough but has no real attacking instinct, which when you're playing alongside Jorginho and Kante is no help at all. Barkley is decent and has some impressive moments, but he has a tendency to get himself into trouble by wanting too long on the ball and a lack of awareness, but when operating purely on instinct he's great. Either way, RLC and Barkley have to be ahead of Kovacic in the pecking order, and as a few others have said, staying fit really is the key for him now, as he's looking impressive each time he plays at the moment.

Edited February 25, 20197 yr by Remy10

3 minutes ago, Remy10 said:

The touch before putting Hazard through was incredible, and I thought he showed a few other nice touches too. I'm a big fan of the way he always looks to be direct and carry the ball forward, we really miss that in our midfield. Kovacic is tidy enough but has no real attacking instinct, which when you're playing alongside Jorginho and Kante is no help at all. Barkley is decent and has some impressive moments, but he has a tendency to get himself into trouble by wanting too long on the ball and a lack of awareness, but when operating purely on instinct he's great. Either way, RLC and Barkley have to be ahead of Kovacic in the pecking order, and as a few others have said, staying fit really is the key for him now, as he's looking impressive each time he plays at the moment.

Yes Barkley does tend to caught in possession though has the body strength to hold off a challenge so normally gets away with it. Think he might now get the nod over Kovacic, with RLC being the bench option when we need more attacking form midfield. 

From what he showed yesterday, it appears his back ailment is doing much better.

Seen enough now to say without hesitation we need to extend his contract past 2021. We can't afford for him to let his contract run down and wait for a big club to come in like we are suffering with CHO.

That LCM role NEEDS to be his.

That LCM role NEEDS to be his.

1 hour ago, coco said:

Seen enough now to say without hesitation we need to extend his contract past 2021. We can't afford for him to let his contract run down and wait for a big club to come in like we are suffering with CHO.

I imagine it's not our decision to extend his contract....it would be shocking if he hasn't been offered an extension 

He’s becoming an important player for us. Seems to be the only creative midfield spark. 

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

That LCM role NEEDS to be his.

He needs to stay fit! Good for him to get 90 minutes. 

Would much rather see him there than Barkley any day of the week. Even Kovacic at this rate, and I do actually rate Kovacic quite highly. 

He’s an absolute monster of a footballer, his technical ability on the ball is terrific. The way he drives forward pushes the team on in my opinion - which brings me on to my favourite part of his game - the strength!!!! Players are hanging off him and he just shrugs them out of the way and bursts away from them leaving them lying on the ground, it’s fantastic to watch and brilliant to finally see one of our academy players making a position his own, if he stays fit he will be one of the first names on the team sheet in the run in! Absolutely love the guy and i actually get excited to watch him play when he’s in the starting XI

1 minute ago, EdinburghBlue said:

He’s an absolute monster of a footballer, his technical ability on the ball is terrific. The way he drives forward pushes the team on in my opinion - which brings me on to my favourite part of his game - the strength!!!! Players are hanging off him and he just shrugs them out of the way and bursts away from them leaving them lying on the ground, it’s fantastic to watch and brilliant to finally see one of our academy players making a position his own, if he stays fit he will be one of the first names on the team sheet in the run in! Absolutely love the guy and i actually get excited to watch him play when he’s in the starting XI

He has been excellent all season! 

I know he has had a few injuries but I think he should've had a lot more game time for the performances he has been putting in. What are the chances he's brought off from the bench in the Everton game after we're struggling to score a goal and breakthrough? It's happened that many times I'm confident enough to suggest it, bottom line is, he should be starting. 

That was probably our best balanced midfield that we saw today ... Kante, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek.

Almost certain that Jorginho and Barkley will play at Everton though ?

 

 

Him, CHO and Ampadu. Need to hold on to and play these guys more!

I hope he doesn't play on Sunday. Very nervous about his back! 

But he needs to be a starter in our next game. I think he might be. 

 

What a player! Incredible performance! He's similar to a Zlatan in terms of him being big and strong, but also technically very good! Not many players who seem to have both of those about them.

18 hours ago, Slojo said:

He has been excellent all season! 

I know he has had a few injuries but I think he should've had a lot more game time for the performances he has been putting in. What are the chances he's brought off from the bench in the Everton game after we're struggling to score a goal and breakthrough?  

It wouldn't, his burst of acceleration against tired legs is an asset, he has had almost a midfield version of Hernandez/Solskjaer impact from the bench this season. I'm still not completely sold on him starting every game however, especially less than 72 hours after a full 90 minutes, i still think he's got a long way to go fitness wise, he tailed off after an hour last night and i fear that happening even sooner or worse his injury flaring up with another start so soon at Goodison.

That said he has developed his game tactically beyond what i thought he was capable off, so kudos to him (and Sarri deserves credit to, he's worked with him to improve those aspects where-as his predecessors didn't bother).

This is quite an interesting question...

Would you all prefer to see Hazard/Kovacic or Hudson Odoi/Loftus Cheek?

It's pretty obvious that Sarri doesn't rate the defensive contribution of Ruben which is why he doesn't play with Hazard often.

16 minutes ago, JMaher94 said:

This is quite an interesting question...

Would you all prefer to see Hazard/Kovacic or Hudson Odoi/Loftus Cheek?

It's pretty obvious that Sarri doesn't rate the defensive contribution of Ruben which is why he doesn't play with Hazard often.

Room for all 4.

15 hours ago, JMaher94 said:

This is quite an interesting question...

Would you all prefer to see Hazard/Kovacic or Hudson Odoi/Loftus Cheek?

It's pretty obvious that Sarri doesn't rate the defensive contribution of Ruben which is why he doesn't play with Hazard often.

Like Coco says, there is room for all 4 of them. Hazard on the left wing, Hudson-Odoi on the right wing, Loftus-Cheek LCM and Kovacic playing the Jorginho role.

I think Loftus-Cheek's defensive contribution has improved a great deal in recent years. I also think there is too much focus on what our attacking players can contribute to the side defensively. How about we focus on what they can do to improve our attack, because that is where we need to improve the most right now.