We should loan him out to Palace again, they seem more his level to be fair.

Edited September 22, 20187 yr by Malcolm9

Hearing some great things about Mason Mount at Derby. He might well be the one who makes it big at Chelsea.

8 hours ago, Dixon said:

He has played in a deeper role earlier in his career. He could easily have done that job the other night against such moderate level opposition! Sadly, he looks no nearer to really breaking thru than he did 3 or 4 yeara ago. He's wasting his time staying at Chelsea. 

He isn't quick enough in possession for that role and doesn't have the brain to run the team like cesc does. Cesc has always been jorginhos back up.

RLC should be looking to compete with kante and kovacic. I'd be interested to see how the team does with cesc Barkley and RLC in midfield. Someone has to play instead of kante at some point.

1 hour ago, benjsross said:

 I'd be interested to see how the team does with cesc Barkley and RLC in midfield. 

My god i hope we never see that, like ever, from a defensive POV it would probably be the one of the worse midfield's in top flight football anywhere across Europe.

10 hours ago, Argo said:

My god i hope we never see that, like ever, from a defensive POV it would probably be the one of the worse midfield's in top flight football anywhere across Europe.

We might get away with it in the early rounds of the FA Cup or League Cup yet it in the league we would be hammered. 

10 hours ago, Argo said:

My god i hope we never see that, like ever, from a defensive POV it would probably be the one of the worse midfield's in top flight football anywhere across Europe.

He did say he’d be interested, to be fair. And it would definitely be interesting.

11 hours ago, Argo said:

My god i hope we never see that, like ever, from a defensive POV it would probably be the one of the worse midfield's in top flight football anywhere across Europe.

What's the alternative?

When kante and jorginho aren't playing, that's our squad!

2 hours ago, benjsross said:

What's the alternative?

When kante and jorginho aren't playing, that's our squad!

RLC    Kovacic

     Cesc

 

Cesc has Jorginho's passing range, Kovacic has Kante's energy and RLC can progress the ball into attack.

2 hours ago, benjsross said:

What's the alternative?

When kante and jorginho aren't playing, that's our squad!

Ampadu, even Luiz  (and i hate him in midfield). 

7 hours ago, Argo said:

Ampadu, even Luiz  (and i hate him in midfield). 

You know kante isn't a defensive midfielder right? He's a box to box midfielder, high energy, breaks up play, gets into both boxes 

Luiz would be worse than Barkley or RLC at this and Ampadu is no where near the level required to do that role 

On 22/09/2018 at 07:46, Malcolm9 said:

We should loan him out to Palace again, they seem more his level to be fair.

We should be picking him to replace Pedro rather than wasting a place in the team on Willian.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/09/24/ruben-loftus-cheek-suffers-blow-bid-force-way-chelsea-england/

 

Ruben Loftus-Cheek suffers blow in bid to force his way into Chelsea and England contention. Matt Law, football news correspondent

24 SEPTEMBER 2018 

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has suffered a blow in his bid to force his way into Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri’s plans and keep is place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad after being ruled out of the Carabao Cup clash with Liverpool.

Midfielder Loftus-Cheek had an injection on an ongoing complaint on Saturday, which kept him out of Sunday’s draw with West Ham United, and it is estimated that it will be around a week until he is ready to play again.

 

It seems that he can't go long without an injury. Could this be due to lack of playing time or just his genetics? 

He was decent tonight, but it was another one of those days where you want him to give a bit more. It was another case of Loftus-Cheek playing at his own tempo instead of showing a bit of urgency. His run into the box that should have won us a penalty was good, but this should be the norm from him, not something you see once a game. He picks one or two moments to show what he can do and then plays the rest of the game at a slow tempo.

The difference between him and Barkley is clear to see. Barkley comes on and almost instantly you see Barkley trying to force things to happen. Loftus-Cheek only seems to do that when he feels like it.

With Loftus-Cheek, i'm always saying "he did ok, but....."

Thought it was one of his better performances. 

Was looking to get into the ball with the box and had a decent attempt at goal from range. He won the ball back a few times quite high up the pitch too, showing good strength in the tackle. Considering he’s just had a fairly lengthy lay off I think he did well. 

35 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

He was decent tonight, but it was another one of those days where you want him to give a bit more. It was another case of Loftus-Cheek playing at his own tempo instead of showing a bit of urgency. His run into the box that should have won us a penalty was good, but this should be the norm from him, not something you see once a game. He picks one or two moments to show what he can do and then plays the rest of the game at a slow tempo.

The difference between him and Barkley is clear to see. Barkley comes on and almost instantly you see Barkley trying to force things to happen. Loftus-Cheek only seems to do that when he feels like it.

With Loftus-Cheek, i'm always saying "he did ok, but....."

I think the safe option has been coached into RLC , whereas Barkley is more forceful in possession... even if it means he loses it. For example last Saturday against Liverpool RLC would have been more likely to keep it simple and retain possession when we were holding onto our lead. Good performance by both players tonight,

10 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Thought it was one of his better performances. 

Was looking to get into the ball with the box and had a decent attempt at goal from range. He won the ball back a few times quite high up the pitch too, showing good strength in the tackle. Considering he’s just had a fairly lengthy lay off I think he did well. 

And you're right, up to a point, but I agree with @Scott Harris, "he did ok, but....."

11 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

He was decent tonight, but it was another one of those days where you want him to give a bit more. It was another case of Loftus-Cheek playing at his own tempo instead of showing a bit of urgency. His run into the box that should have won us a penalty was good, but this should be the norm from him, not something you see once a game. He picks one or two moments to show what he can do and then plays the rest of the game at a slow tempo.

The difference between him and Barkley is clear to see. Barkley comes on and almost instantly you see Barkley trying to force things to happen. Loftus-Cheek only seems to do that when he feels like it.

With Loftus-Cheek, i'm always saying "he did ok, but....."

Exactly how I saw it almost word for word.

On the night he was one of our best performers but again faded in the second half. You watch him and you feel like someone should run on the pitch and shake him and say "f**king step it up and stop playing in your comfort zone"! But he did ok.

On Barkley, he looked lively but we need to keep him as far away from our own box as possible as he loses possession far too easily and far too often and at times is a liability.

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Exactly how I saw it almost word for word.

On the night he was one of our best performers but again faded in the second half. You watch him and you feel like someone should run on the pitch and shake him and say "f**king step it up and stop playing in your comfort zone"! But he did ok.

On Barkley, he looked lively but we need to keep him as far away from our own box as possible as he loses possession far too easily and far too often and at times is a liability.

 

 

 

And what about Kovacic and Fabregas ? Both were out done by RLC. Both should be stepping up against that level of opposition, let's talk about the players in front of RLC in pecking order, lets judge them before we judge the players who have yet to have a proper run of games in the team.

22 minutes ago, coco said:

And what about Kovacic and Fabregas ? Both were out done by RLC. Both should be stepping up against that level of opposition, let's talk about the players in front of RLC in pecking order, lets judge them before we judge the players who have yet to have a proper run of games in the team.

I thought Fabregas would go in the summer and think he's past his best. He won't be in our first 11 and should only play a bit part and last night underlined why.

I'm undecided on Kovacic. He's good and perhaps still finding his feet in the team but he hasn't been anything special to date - pretty much the same as RLC. Kovacic is quicker and does link up really well with Hazard though. Thing with RLC compared to Kovacic is all the hype. Not his fault but all the media and Pundits are RLC should be playimg more, Why isn't he getting more of a chance at Chelsea so when he does the spotlight is on him and you see what he can offer and as it's been said it's a case of..............urm, well yeah he did okay but no more than that.

 

29 minutes ago, coco said:

And what about Kovacic and Fabregas ? Both were out done by RLC. Both should be stepping up against that level of opposition, let's talk about the players in front of RLC in pecking order, lets judge them before we judge the players who have yet to have a proper run of games in the team.

I'm not sure I'd agree with you about Kovacic, but as @Nibs said, fabgregas is past his best.  I'm also torn on this "yet to have a proper run of games in the team" stand point.  There must come a time when you judge a player on his performances, and, in a blue shirt, Ruben seems to do "just enough" most of the time.  So judging him on last night's performance, people are right, yeah, he did OK, but nothing special.

To be honest, much as I would love for it to be, he really isn't kicking doors down and demanding a place with his performances.

 

A low quality meme for you all to enjoy on this fine day.

One of his better performances, a couple of good drives through the midfield, won the ball back several times, good control and passing, even if it was mostly "safe" passing. Nothing out of this world, but a decent starting point to push on from, if he gets more chances.

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

Exactly how I saw it almost word for word.

On the night he was one of our best performers but again faded in the second half. You watch him and you feel like someone should run on the pitch and shake him and say "f**king step it up and stop playing in your comfort zone"! But he did ok.

On Barkley, he looked lively but we need to keep him as far away from our own box as possible as he loses possession far too easily and far too often and at times is a liability.

 

 

 

He basically plays it like a golf pro would play a round of golf to Par, percentage football, no risk etc. Its so f**king frustrating to watch as when he does decide to up it he looks like he could dominate. then he just sits back and puts the slippers and smoking jacket back on.

He basically plays it like a golf pro would play a round of golf to Par, percentage football, no risk etc. Its so f**king frustrating to watch as when he does decide to up it he looks like he could dominate. then he just sits back and puts the slippers and smoking jacket back on.

Good shout. Was at the game last night, and the amount of times he looked like he was taking it easy without wanting to really try and push himself and the team on was frustrating.