IMO Kenedy has not show anything beyond pure potential. But even if we assume that you're right and he has played well then you wouldn't call that a smart decision unless Kenedy is a short- and long-term prospect as our LB. Otherwise is a pointless exercise because it didn't pay off and which may further hinder the development of players who could play a good role as a LB in Chelsea's future.

IMO Kenedy has not show anything beyond pure potential. But even if we assume that you're right and he has played well then you wouldn't call that a smart decision unless Kenedy is a short- and long-term prospect as our LB. Otherwise is a pointless exercise because it didn't pay off and which may further hinder the development of players who could play a good role as a LB in Chelsea's future.

 

Potential is more than Rahman has shown thus far. He had a decent game in Paris but if you judge them purely on their performances in that position, Kenedy has been far better in my opinion.

 

Now the season is done, I'd like to see them both get minutes in their preferred positions.

Potential is more than Rahman has shown thus far. He had a decent game in Paris but if you judge them purely on their performances in that position, Kenedy has been far better in my opinion.

 

Now the season is done, I'd like to see them both get minutes in their preferred positions.

 

Baba Rahman was decent in Paris? What an absurd comment. He was the player of the match and he had a stormer.

 

Meanwhile Kenedy sucked vs PSG. Not only that - he sucked at LB  for two games running and was arguably the worst player in the team. If Baba Rahman had played as badly as Kenedy did then you all would be lambasting to never let Baba wear a Chelsea t-shirt ever again. Now... I don't blame Kenedy, but playing him at LB is a waste of everyone's time.

 

If Baba Rahman had played and played like he did vs PSG in Paris chances are we may still be in the running for the Champions League.

Baba Rahman was decent in Paris? What an absurd comment. He was the player of the match and he had a stormer.

 

Meanwhile Kenedy sucked vs PSG. Not only that - he sucked at LB  for two games running and was arguably the worst player in the team. If Baba Rahman had played as badly as Kenedy did then you all would be lambasting to never let Baba wear a Chelsea t-shirt ever again. Now... I don't blame Kenedy, but playing him at LB is a waste of everyone's time.

 

If Baba Rahman had played and played like he did vs PSG in Paris chances are we may still be in the running for the Champions League.

 

Hey man, I get it. Your first priority is to players of African descent and you want to see them do well. 

 

We all have our biases. Me, I have that feeling about local players or players who have come up through the academy so I totally get why you say what you do but my first priority is Chelsea. If players aren't performing well then they aren't performing well and whilst I sympathise with Rahman's lack of minutes, he's been very average for the majority of those.

 

In fact I said in that post that I'd like to see them both get playing time in their preferred positions. I'd also like to see Aina play too, which means shifting Azpi to left-back and leaving Rahman out for a bit.

If Baba Rahman had played and played like he did vs PSG in Paris chances are we may still be in the running for the Champions League.

Erm no.

Baba has been decent going forward but he is pretty bad at defending, he wouldn't have changed a thing.

This African bias you have is getting a bit ridiculous tbh.

Erm no.

Baba has been decent going forward but he is pretty bad at defending, he wouldn't have changed a thing.

This African bias you have is getting a bit ridiculous tbh.

To be fair, I have no African bias and I think it's pretty clear that Baba is the better left back.  He is a better defender (however marginal) and provides pretty much the same effect going forward.  

 

Kenedy probably has more potential as a footballer, but his future position is not at lb.  Kenedy wasn't too great defensively in any of the games leading up to PSG, and then again was not good against them.  I'm not saying we win (or even that the score is any different), just saying I think baba is the better all-around lb.  Kenedy, more potential, sure.  

I agree, Kenedy has a much much higher ceiling than Baba, but his skill is wasted in a defensive position, he's a winger or inside forward, definitely not a left back, and I'd hate to see him forcefully converted to a defender, because with a bit of nurturing he could be as good as any winger out there at the minute (obviously not Bale, Ronaldo or Neymar, but I'm thinking Robben level if his development continues). Plus he's EXCITING, which is something we're seriously missing. There's no one in our team that excites me with the ball anymore, except Kenedy and Traore, because when they get the ball they look like they don't have fear. I'm sick of this caution players have when going forward, try a dribble or a shot, they won't all come off but I'd rather see a failed dribble than a sideways pass.

I agree, Kenedy has a much much higher ceiling than Baba, but his skill is wasted in a defensive position, he's a winger or inside forward, definitely not a left back, and I'd hate to see him forcefully converted to a defender, because with a bit of nurturing he could be as good as any winger out there at the minute (obviously not Bale, Ronaldo or Neymar, but I'm thinking Robben level if his development continues). Plus he's EXCITING, which is something we're seriously missing. There's no one in our team that excites me with the ball anymore, except Kenedy and Traore, because when they get the ball they look like they don't have fear. I'm sick of this caution players have when going forward, try a dribble or a shot, they won't all come off but I'd rather see a failed dribble than a sideways pass.

 

African bias or not its pretty obvious Kenedy's position is not LB and he is wasting in that position.

 

And there is one reason Baba is a much better left back and that Kenedy should not be taking his slot: His crosses.

Erm no.

Baba has been decent going forward but he is pretty bad at defending, he wouldn't have changed a thing.

 

 

The reason he was MOTM vs PSG was his defending which was surprisingly good. So he obviously has unrealised potential in that area.

 

He definitely needs to work on that but benching a player after one mistake instead of letting him build is counterproductive. Either play Baba or sell him and play someone like Ake, because the truth is Chelsea has no chance in getting a premier leftback to join after a non-CL finish.

Edited March 15, 201610 yr by Jon Stakes

I think it's too early to say Kenedy is definitely an attacking player to be honest. That's probably where he ends up but if he becomes a top quality left-back then there's immense value in that to us.

 

The other thing is that if we do become a primarily-352 team then he may well be a perfect wing-back. 

 

Rahman probably hasn't had enough minutes on the pitch yet but from what I've seen so far, I'm unimpressed. The problem is that he cost so much money that there's a financial need to try and get the most out of him and we have players like Ake who have impressed on loan who might not get the chances because of that.

 

Maybe he needs to go on-loan but at the moment he's been one of the worst Emenalo transfers in a while.

I think it's too early to say Kenedy is definitely an attacking player to be honest. That's probably where he ends up but if he becomes a top quality left-back then there's immense value in that to us.

 

The other thing is that if we do become a primarily-352 team then he may well be a perfect wing-back. 

 

Rahman probably hasn't had enough minutes on the pitch yet but from what I've seen so far, I'm unimpressed. The problem is that he cost so much money that there's a financial need to try and get the most out of him and we have players like Ake who have impressed on loan who might not get the chances because of that.

 

Maybe he needs to go on-loan but at the moment he's been one of the worst Emenalo transfers in a while.

whoa there

Never going to happen but the answer is DaSilva.

whoa there

Someone's forgotten about Hector, Djimbobleepi, Salah and Cuadrado

Someone's forgotten about Hector, Djimbobleepi, Salah and Cuadrado

 

Hector and Dijobodgi combined cost about half of Rahman and will probably make us a profit, Salah we sold for a profit and Cuadrado could do a job here under Conte or be sold for roughly what he cost.

 

Rahman could go either way but at the moment you'd struggle to sell him for what we bought him for and we've got a younger, better player in the same position out on loan.

 

 

Never going to happen but the answer is DaSilva.

 

Long-term I agree. Great talent.

Hector and Dijobodgi combined cost about half of Rahman and will probably make us a profit, Salah we sold for a profit and Cuadrado could do a job here under Conte or be sold for roughly what he cost.

 

Rahman could go either way but at the moment you'd struggle to sell him for what we bought him for and we've got a younger, better player in the same position out on loan.

 

 

 

Long-term I agree. Great talent.

Forgetting about Hector and Djilinilli, the other two were bought to be players for our first team, not backups, they came here and failed miserably at that, regardless of whether we made a few million quid profit. Baba shouldn't be sold one season after buying him, with a pathetic amount of minutes under his belt, no young player is going to come in and be top notch straight off the mark, so either he ends up being not good enough, in which case he'll still go to either another premier league club, or a top division club in another country, and we might take a 5million quid hit on him, or he ends up being good and staying with us for the next however many years, either way, I don't think it's a failure on the level of the others. I'm still raging we sold Filipe Luis though, now that was a stupid piece of business. I agree with you on Ake, i'd rather have him than Baba though, he's one of our own, he's still only 20, and he's the starting LB for a premier league club several places above us. Definitely would have him first choice next year.

Forgetting about Hector and Djilinilli, the other two were bought to be players for our first team, not backups, they came here and failed miserably at that, regardless of whether we made a few million quid profit. Baba shouldn't be sold one season after buying him, with a pathetic amount of minutes under his belt, no young player is going to come in and be top notch straight off the mark, so either he ends up being not good enough, in which case he'll still go to either another premier league club, or a top division club in another country, and we might take a 5million quid hit on him, or he ends up being good and staying with us for the next however many years, either way, I don't think it's a failure on the level of the others. I'm still raging we sold Filipe Luis though, now that was a stupid piece of business. I agree with you on Ake, i'd rather have him than Baba though, he's one of our own, he's still only 20, and he's the starting LB for a premier league club several places above us. Definitely would have him first choice next year.

 

I do see what you're saying. I just think the Rahman transfer leaves us in a tricky spot now. Cuadrado and Salah were somewhat more established which meant other teams saw value in them. Rahman is still a development project and we already have another one of them in Ake which means you've got to find either a way to fit them both in, or a club for Rahman.

 

What I think could happen, and I hope I'm wrong, is that we either sell Ake or loan him again and jeopardise the momentum he's built up in order to give Rahman more time simply because he cost more. I agree with everything you've said about Ake though.

Kennedy is an attacking player there should be no comparison

Jury is out at present with Baba. Looks decent going forward, decidedly dodgy at the back. I always prefer my defenders to be able to defend first, as yet not seen anything in Baba to suggest he is any better than Ake or Bertrand. Maybe a second season once he has settled into the club and country will improve him though as he will be taking a squad place up and also its the ACON next season the improvement has to be significant.

Jury is out at present with Baba. Looks decent going forward, decidedly dodgy at the back. I always prefer my defenders to be able to defend first, as yet not seen anything in Baba to suggest he is any better than Ake or Bertrand. Maybe a second season once he has settled into the club and country will improve him though as he will be taking a squad place up and also its the ACON next season the improvement has to be significant.

 

Sums up my thoughts exactly after seeing him yesterday. 

Difficult one. I don't like when we give up on a player so soon, but he's only had a couple of good performances, generally he looks pretty average.

 

I haven't watched any of Ake this season really, is he better or worse than Baba? Or about the same level?

Ake is much better defensively than Baba but I would say a lot less influential going forward, which is why I think both would work well in the squad Baba for the games against lesser opposition likely to park the bus and Ake for the sterner tests.

Ake definitely deserves a shot though and would currently be my pick.

I watched few of Ake's game and he did really well. I think if we want to build a strong defence next season, then Ake is the first option for the LB position. 

Baba Rahman might well be very good as a wing back in a 3-5-2, with a bit more cover behind him and a DM sitting in front of the back three.

 

I certainly think we look much better as a team when the full backs play on their preferred side, and they overlap and use the full width of the pitch.to stretch the opposition and put in some dangerous crosses. Rahman on the left (and Azpi on the right) is our current best option if this is how we will set up tactically for next season.

 

Best form of defence is attack and all that ...

Keep baba and play him on left wing. He can cross a ball well and gets forward often.

I watched few of Ake's game and he did really well. I think if we want to build a strong defence next season, then Ake is the first option for the LB position.

I think ake is better defensively as well, although he was shocking yesterday!