Blimey, he looked all over the place yesterday, wrong positioning, poor passing, missed tackles and looked tad lost.

In his defence, until last 20mins he had little cover and Wiley old Hutton had too much physicality and nouse for him - notably plopping over for free kick if he actually got tackled, and bullying passed him couple times.

So maybe he was nervous and can learn - but speaking generally the top left backs have the same assets and he doesn't appear to have any of them, is

- lightning pace - is he quickish

- tactical nouse - not evident at all

- Good in the air - yes he can leap ok

- strong in the tackle - nope, he prefers to nip in and poke it away

- good passing - awful yesterday but had good reputation in Germany

- attacking play - not yesterday

Not sure Jose will give him time so don't expect to see much of him

I may be wrong but tbh, he doesn't look the part at all

Can people stop crying over spilt milk-Luis and Bertrand are no longer CFC players

Looking towards the future Baba seems decent but we need to reserve judgement until he has a few games under his belt.

Jose doesn't give younger players many games to prove themselves though. 

He wasn't good, but I doubt anyone expected a 9/10 game from him. He's new, manager not backing up, of course he's not at the level he wanted to be at. Let's not chop and change, give the guy 5-6 games in a row, let him build up some momentum and rhythm. At least he get the pace to recover when he's beaten, and he didn't do the 'out of the way' move Ivanovic got into this season.

It's one thing getting on the pitch playing for Augsburg and another playing for Chelsea where you are expected to win pretty much everything. Difference in pressure and expectations is being overlooked. He is young, he hasn't had to deal with that level of mental demand before, and some players take longer to adjust, while some just don't, full stop.

Blimey, he looked all over the place yesterday, wrong positioning, poor passing, missed tackles and looked tad lost.

In his defence, until last 20mins he had little cover and Wiley old Hutton had too much physicality and nouse for him - notably plopping over for free kick if he actually got tackled, and bullying passed him couple times.

So maybe he was nervous and can learn - but speaking generally the top left backs have the same assets and he doesn't appear to have any of them, is

- lightning pace - is he quickish

- tactical nouse - not evident at all

- Good in the air - yes he can leap ok

- strong in the tackle - nope, he prefers to nip in and poke it away

- good passing - awful yesterday but had good reputation in Germany

- attacking play - not yesterday

Not sure Jose will give him time so don't expect to see much of him

I may be wrong but tbh, he doesn't look the part at all

That list may be a little long. Id like to hear which top fullbacks posess all of those qualities.

He is still young and new to the league and team, some of his game will come in time. He has the things you cant teach, which is promising.

First of all, if baba is indeed that awful and has no potential, why didn't Jose allow Luis go, or did he have someone else in mind but failed to sign? Secondly, if we let every young player go after he failed his first audition, we will probably never nurture anyone through the ranks. I think Jose needs to give him more backing, not pointing out he's not ready or not tall enough in every press conference. If it's up to me, I still prefer to risk it with Baba than Ivanovic.

At least we can now see why he wasnt dropping Ivanovic for dire perfomances.

Augsbeeg. No pressure.

Chelsea. Huge pressure.

Only 21. Nervous, not great positionally, but Will get better with games

^ When will he get those games? You need to be playing games regularly between the ages of 17-24 to fully develop. Ironically Jose views the age at which a player will be ready for 1st team games to be 24 (exceptions being Varane & Zouma), so if you ask me Baba & RLC are just wasting their time here because Jose is not interested in player development.

Needs a run in the team to gain confidence, settle in and come up trumps ...

If his name was Ivan, no problem ... every opportunity would be given and more ...

Thank god, he is not playing today because with him we'd be awful at defending set-pieces.

Not sure he would have done worse if he played. Zomua is fish out of water at right back, we lost and pace/power in the middle. He has no attacking value what so ever in open play, let the attacker run past him which should have been game, set and match. At least Baba will add some width in attack. Anyway, to bad he's not 6'5

Not sure he would have done worse if he played. Zomua is fish out of water at right back, we lost and pace/power in the middle. He has no attacking value what so ever in open play, let the attacker run past him which should have been game, set and match. At least Baba will add some width in attack. Anyway, to bad he's not 6'5

At the moment, I'll take a Pygmee as long as he is a decent RB.

At the moment, I'll take a Pygmee as long as he is a decent RB.

 Funny thing is that despite his height Baba Rahman has better 'won header' stats from last season than any other player at Chelsea.

We've conceeded more goals from headers than any other club this season, using tall players. So it's a ridiculous reason to try and justify selections

Not sure he would have done worse if he played. Zomua is fish out of water at right back, we lost and pace/power in the middle. He has no attacking value what so ever in open play, let the attacker run past him which should have been game, set and match. At least Baba will add some width in attack. Anyway, to bad he's not 6'5

This is why Baba should be playing. He provides natural width. When you have a CB at RB and a LB who is better coming inside on his right teams dont have to respect your attacks. We have a few problems but to me most stem from this one.

Coincidentally we have yet to lose when Baba starts and our best attacking displays have come with him in the lineup.

Someone please tell me:

 

Who sanctioned this singing. If he is not ready then the scouts/advisers need to be held accountable..and if its the same people who pushed for Salah, papy and Cuadrado they need to be sacked.

^ It really is a puzzling one and you are right there seems to be a trend with Salah, Cuadrado & now Baba might as well lump Djibolji (spell) in with them. Surely our scouts were either employed by Jose or he was/is happy with them?

If you are the board now & Jose comes in January asking for another fullback, you will ask him left or right? If he says he needs another LB, you will tell him he just bought a £21m one in the summer and he also has Ake on loan at Watford.

^ It really is a puzzling one and you are right there seems to be a trend with Salah, Cuadrado & now Baba might as well lump Djibolji (spell) in with them. Surely our scouts were either employed by Jose or he was/is happy with them?

If you are the board now & Jose comes in January asking for another fullback, you will ask him left or right? If he says he needs another LB, you will tell him he just bought a £21m one in the summer and he also has Ake on loan at Watford.

 

Yes, knowing we needed an immediate Left back, its hard to imagine Jose didnt think he was ready when he was purchased. So between them they have got it wrong. Yet again.

Encouraging game, especially first half. Hopefully no more of this inverted fullback/Converted centre half nonesense.

He deserves a run in the team based on the fact that he is the only real left back we have.

Excellent game against Dynamo, he destroyed Yarmolenko and was involved in the first goal. He should be our starter from now.

Edited November 5, 201510 yr by IliyaKrostin

This is what having an actual set of fullbacks does for you. The opposition wingers get so preoccupied with having to defend and track back they become less of a threat because they cant cheat and stay forward. Hopefully this is a nail in Ivanovics coffin at RB

^ No chance reckon he will be back on the bench as soon as Brand is fit. He deserves to start v Stoke though.