Baba has to play.

We are so much more dangerous going forward now!  So so much more, I almost can't believe it!  We look so threatening on the overlap and we have the ability to cross it it in early and first time with the correct foot, Ivanovic nearly always takes too long to cross and while Dave's left isn't the worst, you can see how much more natural it comes to Baba..  Ivanovic looked reasonably solid in central defense as well, as he has done every time he's had to.

I would love to hear some arguments for putting Ivanovic back out on the right when JT is fit again? I see none.

We are in a position where we have to win this weekend and win against Paris to have any chance of a cup this season.  Win.  Attack. Score goals.

If he makes us a little more susceptible at the back I don't care, he's created chances going forward two games in a row now, something we could barely do all season.  Rightly so one was against Newcastle, but then he backed it up against Paris ON TOP OF the defensive responsibility he had all night.

Even when we'd been pushed back for a length of time, defending for our life, if there was an opportunity to go forward and reverse the pressure, Baba did it.  This then made his defensive duties and his teams mates a little easier.  They eventually started having more luck against Dave and targeted him for the second half.

Well played Baba.
 

Baba showed to Hiddink that he deserves to be a starter now, clearly. 

I don't want to see this back four "Iva-Cahill-Terry-Azpi" again.

He is still young and raw but everything is there for him to succeed. He will become a regular is given the chance. Our full-back position could be sorted for years if managed correctly.

We should not go over the top. He will make his mistakes and the manager needs to be patient with him. 

 

And we can finally say, Jose was right. We start playing Baba and we concede from a free kick. He is obviously too small 

Edited February 17, 201610 yr by Uxanga

For all Dave does as LB he cant put a ball into the box like Baba did for Costas chance last last night, Why?..... Cos he's left footed, hope Chelsea manger has that duly noted, plus he actually looks pretty good, i can see {Dave, Brana JT, Baba} as our preferred back 4..

You guys are kidding yourselves. Soon as jt is fit we are likely right back to our usual back 4, Cahill in for Kurt not withstanding.

You guys are kidding yourselves. Soon as jt is fit we are likely right back to our usual back 4, Cahill in for Kurt not withstanding.

Unfortunately I think you are right.  

 

As far as Baba is concerned, we haven't seen that type of attacking overlap on the left side in quite some time.  It was a pleasure to watch, honestly, and that ball to Costa was delightful.  Personally I would prefer the back line of azpi brana jt baba.  Brana looked at home yesterday with the position change.  

 

But, Hiddink needs to have seen enough to move forward with baba...and I'm not sure it's going to happen.   

I would prefer to be wrong. Guus is playing it safe and the usual defence is the safe option.

Better to have full back who attack with their natural foot forward.

Baba and Azpi could be a good combo, like ash with Paulo or bellers

Could be we saw today just why the managers were wary of playing baba.

Terrible half. Hopefully learns from this.

Wonder if taking him off at half time will do more harm than good really confidence wise, not that it matters too much now after getting the win, saying that Kenedy Oozes confidence and class wherever he is on the pitch, great talent.

The heir to Ash,dont think so.

He's young, he's going to make mistakes, i'm not going to be too harsh on him.

 

Since he came in it's the only time where i would say he wasn't good, every other game he has played he has been alright. Seeing as he doesn't play much and the other more experienced players have been making mistakes all season, i think we should give the guy a break.

He made a mistake. Head up. He has been good so far.

it's a harsh treatment.. poor boy..

He has to improve a lot but he will never get near to Coles level.Only my opinion.

I don't think it was harsh treatment tbh. He's going to make a few mistakes, but it's not like he is fresh out of an academy, im sure he will look at his performance and be determined not to let it happen again.

It's a good time for the younger players to play, as it's still competitive but not quite as cut throat as it usually is here.

A momentary lapse in concentration by Baba and boom - he gives the ball away cheaply and they score. HE should be ashamed of giving the ball away cheaply and in such a dangerous position. I am very impressed that KEnnedy was able to come in at left back and slot in comfortably and also was able to muscle his way through.  A part of me thinks that maybe Kennedy might have a higher ceiling than Baba and maybe we need to play more Kennedy at LB.

He's a young player coming from a completely different league, it will take time. It would be very optimistic for us to expect absolutely no errors from a young player playing left back in the hardest league in the world, things like this will happen but it may be a good thing in a way as I think it is likely (hopefully) that he will learn from this and not do anything as ridiculous as that again

 

ba ba ba ba ba rahman

ba ba ba ba ba rahman

you got me rockin and a rollin, rockin and a reelin baba rahman!

 

Had a decent game yesterday defensively, but strangely enough we went more down the right when on offense.  I think this kid is pretty good...looking forward to his improvement in blue!

Maybe because with Hazard on the left we're pretty exposed defensively?

It was the same when Azpi was playing there. But I think our approach was in general too defensive, that's why we didn't kill off the game.

So he makes one mistake that gets him sub off immediately in the same game. Then he's getting replaced by Kenedy and he's not even LB, should play in attacking role. Everyone noticed that Kenedy is not LB, Guus keeps playing him them instead of play Baba more and more to give him more confidence, to let him gain more experience. 

 

He was our best player against PSG in the first leg, so one mistake drops him from the starting lineup? Why players like Pedro, Hazard, Oscar, Matic keeping to show bad performances, showing bad form and still playing every game? 

All the defenders and defensive mids are making errors galore in 2015/16, so unfair to single Baba out for a couple of errors (a consistent policy would lead to Ivanovic, Cahill, even Azpilicueta, being similarly benched, for months in some cases)

 

I'd play Rahman, purely because he is a defender that actually offers pace and offensive threat down his side of the pitch. Maybe the best combo is Rahman with Kenedy in front of him and bench/sell Hazard ? I don't see how Kenedy can offer less as left wing than we currently get from Hazard or Pedro.

So he makes one mistake that gets him sub off immediately in the same game. Then he's getting replaced by Kenedy and he's not even LB, should play in attacking role. ...

Yeah, imagine Luke Shaw making a mistake at LB an being replaced by a winger like Januzaj ... just makes no sense at all.

That's just poor man management.

It's not that he made a mistake, but out of him and Kenedy it's probably fair to say Kenedy has been better. Even yesterday, Kenedy was one of the better players and you can probably say that for most of his appearances.

 

Rahman is still young and I'm always willing to support youngsters, but he also came in costing £20 million. You expect someone capable of catching the eye at that price.

 

With the emergence of Kenedy (who needs minutes) and Ake's performances at Watford, I think this lad is probably going to be fighting for his Chelsea career next season.