I saw it and thought credit to Southgate for giving the youngsters a chance. Assuming we get to Russia it will be interesting to see how we set up and who plays.

Great game from him yesterday playing out of position.

Get him back in our starting XI next season, him and Kante will be exquisitely devastating

I still don't think he would work in a midfield two. If Fabregas struggles in a two, RLC definitely would too.

 

In a three in a 4-3-3 though....

22 minutes ago, Cam said:

I still don't think he would work in a midfield two. If Fabregas struggles in a two, RLC definitely would too.

 

In a three in a 4-3-3 though....

My dream midfield for next season is RLC-Jorginho-Kanté.

Hopefully we can lure Jorginho here if Sarri comes

52 minutes ago, Lucashm said:

My dream midfield for next season is RLC-Jorginho-Kanté.

Hopefully we can lure Jorginho here if Sarri comes

Haven’t seen much of Jorginho but have heard good things.  He would be a Fabregas replacement, correct?

On 4/15/2018 at 00:10, Strider6003 said:

I saw it and thought credit to Southgate for giving the youngsters a chance. Assuming we get to Russia it will be interesting to see how we set up and who plays.

What happened to strider? Has he been banned? 

1 hour ago, big blue said:

What happened to strider? Has he been banned? 

Surely Not? What's he done? Not who I'd think of as a controversial poster!

 

12 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Surely Not? What's he done? Not who I'd think of as a controversial poster!

 

Too much information about his bowels perhaps 

1 hour ago, big blue said:

What happened to strider? Has he been banned? 

Hopefully only a temporary ban. He appears to be a decent person, and non-confrontational.

8 hours ago, mwblue10 said:

Haven’t seen much of Jorginho but have heard good things.  He would be a Fabregas replacement, correct?

Yeah more of a midfielder who keeps the ball and ticks things over. Not as creative as Fabregas.

I watched the replay of RLC tonight. He played well. For me he is still a bit like Fabregas a player who requires a midfield 3. Not convinced of his stamina or desire without the ball in a central two.

10 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Too much information about his bowels perhaps 

I mean, we're all getting old and there's not much to get excited about with Chelsea at the moment, theres bound to be bowel talk.

51 minutes ago, Zeta said:

I mean, we're all getting old and there's not much to get excited about with Chelsea at the moment, theres bound to be bowel talk.

True, even though I permit myself a glimmer of excitement for the upcoming semi, there may be a renewed need for bowel talk after Sunday. 

1 minute ago, Valerie said:

True, even though I permit myself a glimmer of excitement for the upcoming semi, 

commonly known as saturday nights effort at keeping the relationship alive to married people......

RLC getting some big praise from The Guardian today following his performance at the weekend. 

Considering he missed 3 months of football sounds like he's come back strong. He's either got to be given the chance to impress with us next year or be sold, he's 22 now and at an age where he's probably needing to play regularly if he has any hopes of kicking on as a player. 

"Loftus-Cheek presses claim for England World Cup squad
The focus was drawn inexorably towards Wilfried Zaha, whose switch to Ivory Coast will always have the England setup cursing. Yet another in Crystal Palace ranks excelled in the M23 derby on Saturday to suggest he could yet have a role to play in Russia. This was Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s best performance at senior club level, the Chelsea loanee driving the hosts forward in a dominant opening period. After more than three months out with ankle trouble, the 22-year-old has swiftly recaptured form. “He has qualities,” said Roy Hodgson. “He was very good at screening, keeping the ball. He’s very good at beating players. His workrate has been very good. If he can play regularly for the last part of the season, then we will see him doing more and more as a player.” A place in the World Cup squad is far from outlandish."

i saw people criticising him a game or two after returning, thinking he should automatically be producing 9/10 performances straight back from a long term injury. i swear some people don't understand what it must be like for a player to come back from that kind of injury and produce great performances immediately. i didn't watch the game, but seems he did well. only problem with him is staying fit, it seems every few weeks he is out for either a back issue or something else, i hope his career isn't hampered by injuries. 

It was a fairly average game from him. He was playing out wide though and its only his second 90 minutes back after injury. Better then his first game back and hopefully he can push on for the last few games. Also, credit to Roy Hodgson for giving so much faith to him. Perhaps his tenure as England manager has made him more receptive to young English players.

12 minutes ago, Total-Football said:

It was a fairly average game from him. He was playing out wide though and its only his second 90 minutes back after injury. Better then his first game back and hopefully he can push on for the last few games. Also, credit to Roy Hodgson for giving so much faith to him. Perhaps his tenure as England manager has made him more receptive to young English players.

i dunno why hodgson keeps doing that to him. first you had mourinho trying to mould him into a defensive mid, then conte kept trying to mould him as a striker, and now woy is trying to mould him into an attacking winger haha. it would be nice to finally see him in the number 10 role or as a b2b mid, rather than pushing him into a position he isn't as effective. i suppose the thinking is him and zaha link up well on that side, i dunno. it is regular playing time i guess so that's something. 

Edited April 16, 20188 yr by enigma

3 minutes ago, enigma said:

i dunno why hodgson keeps doing that to him. first you had mourinho trying to mould him into a defensive mid, then conte kept trying to mould him as a striker, and now woy is trying to mould him into an attacking winger haha. it would be nice to finally see him in the number 10 role or as a b2b mid, rather than pushing him into a position he isn't as effective. i suppose the thinking is him and zaha link up well on that side, i dunno. it is regular playing time i guess so that's something. 

They tend to play with a two man midfield and Loftus-Cheeks workrate is suspect. He plays out wide but is very much operating less as a winger and more a number ten. Kind of similar to Koke at Atletico where he drifts in and operates the half space a lot of the time.

 

For me he had done enough at Palace to warrant a chance in our midfield. 

Our midfield needs major work, and probably major money spent on it, and I think this would be a very good start without spending a penny. 

I would send Bakayoko out on loan, perhaps even to Palace, and hope he can discover some form & confidence so we don't have to write him off completely after one season. 

9 hours ago, big blue said:

What happened to strider? Has he been banned? 

Still here and according to my profile two days running get the award of the most likes.

Bizarrely I only discovered this award by chance yet secondly as equally bizarre can't make out why people think I was banned, did I miss that too?

2 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Still here and according to my profile two days running get the award of the most likes.

Bizarrely I only discovered this award by chance yet secondly as equally bizarre can't make out why people think I was banned, did I miss that too?

Glad to hear that you're still around. And yes your account was showing as banned for, what I am presuming, around 24hrs.

6 minutes ago, Osgood is Good said:

Glad to hear that you're still around. And yes your account was showing as banned for, what I am presuming, around 24hrs.

Strange as I was blogging yesterday afternoon and evening...........

I want him to stay next season but im still not sure where is best to play him, same with Barkley.