An awful lot of that footage was very very basic, which is fine but does that mean he only had 7 minutes of involvement in the game?  If it was highlights it was disappointing.

McEachran didn't have the natural attributes RLC has to fall back on.

 

Over at redcafe they see RLC as the spitting image of Paul Pogba at that age. If that's even half true it would be criminal for us to miss the opportunity to develop such a talent for ourselves.

 

By "attributes" I am guessing that you are merely referring to RLC's physical presence. In terms of size, he is like the kid in the playground who looks 16 when all his mates are about 10, even though they are all the same age!

 

But in regards of natural footballing ability, I would argue that McEachran was streets ahead at the same age, as he demonstrated when Carlo played him in the first team. 

Edited September 7, 201510 yr by Nibs

An awful lot of that footage was very very basic, which is fine but does that mean he only had 7 minutes of involvement in the game?  If it was highlights it was disappointing.

 

You got to look for the glimpses, go to 7:20 and watch him turn his player in midfield and pass a slide rule ball forward, those are the things we should be talking about.

I'm glad we never Pogba. I want the club to develop and play RLC.

And yet our manager was ready to break the bank for Pogba. And if you know JM you know he means what he wants.

^ excellent point Evissy. Not a good sign.

Watching the U21's game RLC is playing as the most advanced of 3 central midfielders and is playing reasonably well. Passing well and looking very composed on the ball seems to glide away from the Norway players admittedly it is U21's so is easier to do so but nether the less he's playing well.

 

And I can see why the highlights for RLC last week were very basic, if today is anything to go by then Southgate has us up to play a very LvG man U style, all about keeping possession and not really doing much, needless to say no-one has set the world alight, but 1-0 to us at half time, coming from a soft penalty given on the brink of the half, and Ward Prowse converted.

Hopefully Chalobah comes on at some point would like to see him in action too.
  

An awful lot of that footage was very very basic, which is fine but does that mean he only had 7 minutes of involvement in the game?  If it was highlights it was disappointing.

Edited September 7, 201510 yr by PedroMendez

I'll probably get a few raised eyebrows when people here will read this but I think he was quite bad in that highlight reel.

As a central midfielder he was completely unaware of his surroundings once he was under pressure and easily gave away the ball with misplaced passes, he managed well giving out basic passes once he had space but every now and then he tried something 'fancier' and it backfired.

Based on this performance I personally don't think he has earned a shot anytime soon especially since USA U-21 is not even close to Premiership level.

An awful lot of that footage was very very basic, which is fine but does that mean he only had 7 minutes of involvement in the game?  If it was highlights it was disappointing.

He is a Dm you are not going to see over head kicks and 6 man dribbles, he does his job very well 

Its definitely good that hes involved instead of Mikel, who just takes the place of anybody that may coming through the ranks. Hell, Ake could have been given Mikel's spot. Nonetheless, RLC hopefully gets a lot more development and is able to get runs in FA and League Cup games so he could get some more game time. Its nice to get some youth talent into the first team so were not always dependent of the transfer windows.

He is a Dm you are not going to see over head kicks and 6 man dribbles, he does his job very well 

Just to be clear, I really rate RLC and really hope JM gives him a fair crack at the first team - in his right position.  But in that highlights reel (unlike many others of the same player) there weren't many highlights.

Also I'd dispute that he's a DM, he can sit deeper in the midfield but his best work is done going forward, when he really catches the eye at youth level is creating for the attackers,not sitting in front of the back four.  For some reason Jose seems to think that playing someone in that holding role is always the right thing to do, you can almost imagine him thinking; "I'll put him there where he can't really do too much, at least then people can't accuse me of not giving him a chance!".

problem is he's not really defensive, but he's not really offensive either.

I know he's got exactly the same problems with his game as; Pirlo, Xabi, Inniesta, Alonso, Fabregas!!!

He might suffer for not having a manager that can use him (either because of pressure to win, lack of trust, or whose system he simply doesn't fit in), I hope not though.

We parked the bus, and it was hardly 'near perfect'. Good thing mourinho saw Kalas' performance for what it actually was.

 

 

Oh come on he was very well protected. Its almost insulting that people expected Kalas to be terrible or something like he blocked some shots won some headers and cleared the ball a few times like it was an amazing performance that nobody expected. Im sorry but i expect a 20/21 year old on the books of Chelsea to be able to do the basics.

Funny, Brendan Rodges said much the same thing after the game and was rightfully laughed at on this forum.

 

Regardless of the protection, it was against a side that had only failed to score in two league matches that season and were on pace to break the all time goals record in a single season. Keeping out Sterling, Sturridge, and Suarez at the high of their powers that season was basic? Ummmmm, ok.  Well Kalas did "the basics" that only two other CB pairings in the whole league were capable of that season, keeping a clean sheet against LFC.

 

but hey, if you want to take away from his performance because its "easy to park the bus" that's fine.  Certainly more Brendan Rodgers than Mourinho, but that's fine too.

Kalas?! Stop it please. He couldn't get a game for Cologne. That's pretty low for our standards.

Cologne had like the 3rd best defense in the league at the time. Him not getting a game for them isn't a fair representation of his abilities, it was more along the lines of not fixing what's not broken. 

Just to be clear, I really rate RLC and really hope JM gives him a fair crack at the first team - in his right position.  But in that highlights reel (unlike many others of the same player) there weren't many highlights.

Also I'd dispute that he's a DM, he can sit deeper in the midfield but his best work is done going forward, when he really catches the eye at youth level is creating for the attackers,not sitting in front of the back four.  For some reason Jose seems to think that playing someone in that holding role is always the right thing to do, you can almost imagine him thinking; "I'll put him there where he can't really do too much, at least then people can't accuse me of not giving him a chance!".

Sounds like the Mikel issue. Mourinho basically destroyed him by trying to make him another Makelele. Hopefully that doesn't happen with RLC.

I'd like to see how RLC/Fabregas get on with either a high defensive line (to close the space between the pivot and defence) or a DM who can play in the Maka role (i'd say Matic would suit the role perfectly, but I'm still not convinced he has the pace/guile to play the Maka role as effectively as Makelele, Verratti would be ideal).

Edited September 8, 201510 yr by the special one

Cologne had like the 3rd best defense in the league at the time. Him not getting a game for them isn't a fair representation of his abilities, it was more along the lines of not fixing what's not broken. 

I'm sorry but you have too look at the big picture there. 

He joined rather early. Fans were raving about him joining Cologne. The expectations were quite high. The circumstances were on his side.

 

You have a point that both CBs were doing well, but Cologne had a lots of problems at RB and DM. As far as I know those are positions that Kalas could also play.

There were a lot of oppotrtunities for him to get more than zero games for Cologne. I'm sorry but that's laughable. Maybe he had the wrong attitude (he was probably earning more than any of the Cologne players, maybe that played a role, I don't know....)

Edited September 8, 201510 yr by Uxanga

Sounds like the Mikel issue. Mourinho basically destroyed him by trying to make him another Makelele. Hopefully that doesn't happen with RLC.

Saying Mourinho basically destroyed mikel is ridiculous. He managed him for all of 14 months.

Just to be clear, I really rate RLC and really hope JM gives him a fair crack at the first team - in his right position.  But in that highlights reel (unlike many others of the same player) there weren't many highlights.

Also I'd dispute that he's a DM, he can sit deeper in the midfield but his best work is done going forward, when he really catches the eye at youth level is creating for the attackers,not sitting in front of the back four.  For some reason Jose seems to think that playing someone in that holding role is always the right thing to do, you can almost imagine him thinking; "I'll put him there where he can't really do too much, at least then people can't accuse me of not giving him a chance!".

I agree with most of that but as long as we play a double pivot with matic the holding player the other CM will never really know what to do, like fab, he doesn't know if he is coming or going and as intelligent as he is at passing his positional awareness is not very good at all, RLC is big, powerful and elegant, he is built for that role, but the positional awareness has to be spot on to be a top player, that's what we will have to see if he possesses or not..he has taken a play it safe approach to chelsea kenedy just rolled his sleeves up and went in, both have their merits as an approach, being a cautious deep lying mid fielder has its uses, the reason mikel is not rated although he actually does his given task well is he can't see forward,  I think RLC is more ambitious in that sense but has not been given licence to do so 

Sounds like the Mikel issue. Mourinho basically destroyed him by trying to make him another Makelele. Hopefully that doesn't happen with RLC.

 

Everytime i watch mikel play its evident he was the new zidane, but alas . . . mourinho

Class written all over him.

Hopefully from this day forward we'll see this thread being a lot more active.

Thought he was our best player today, really hope he gets some regular game time.

Done well, deserves more game time after that performance.