He would definitely suit us more now than he did when we first signed him. The main is issue is that he has been out with a serious injury for the last few months.

I'd prefer to see Kenedy given a shot to be honest, Rahman will amount to an Everton/ Schalke/ Valencia level player in my mind, just below that level required to be a top player. Kenedy looked to me like he has something about him, a bit of magic in his game

8 hours ago, Blueblur said:

Paper talk:

"Anthonio Conte is set to give forgotten Chelsea left-back Baba Rahman a second chance this summer" 

Discuss. Competition for Alonso? Media nonsense? Or is Baba beyond redemption? 

The cynic in me says he's throwing a carrot to Baba just in case we don't find a buyer for him. Would be happy to have him back as others have said he'd be a good backup, but for me only if we can't find a buyer/or don't sign Diego Laxalt (Laxalt's style is similar to Steven Pienaar, can play LWB/LM, low centre of gravity, agile, good decision making etc)

Edited May 10, 20179 yr by the special one

8 hours ago, Blueblur said:

Paper talk:

"Anthonio Conte is set to give forgotten Chelsea left-back Baba Rahman a second chance this summer" 

Discuss. Competition for Alonso? Media nonsense? Or is Baba beyond redemption? 

 

Giving him a chance this summer isn't exactly saying that he's coming back to replace Alonso, or fight him for that spot.  To me, it means he'll take a look at him seeing as he's our player anyway.

Baba was good in the BUndesliga before we signed him, correct?  My memory isn't great but i seem to remember people talking about how he was the second best Fullback in that league behind only Lahm?

Unfortunately i don't think he was a Jose signing and that's why he was hooked after such a poor spell and sent on loan.  We've all seen what Antonio can do with his players though, so it's worth a look for sure.

On 5/10/2017 at 00:35, charierre said:

As he is still on our books there is nothing wrong with looking at him in a backup role to Alonso. Like Alonso the wing back role would suit him better than a pure LB role in a flat back four as both are a little suspect defensively. This could also free up funds to strengthen other areas so win /win if he is able to do a job for us. Has he fully recovered from his injury yet?

Doesn't seem like it but seems like that would be major determinant on whether he's here next year. ACL at seven months, so maybe in time for pre season. Wonder if we'll take it slow like with Zouma - in that case wonder if it may make sense for him to get playing time elsewhere for one more year to strengthen knee, but that doesn't help us next year with depth. 

So what about this lad?

His beginning with us wasn't really good, but he also didn't have that much chances to show himself. I still remember when Hiddink subbed him off due to his mistake against Southampton, I think things like that can hurt the player. 

Now with a new coach, new system, new players and 4 competitions to play, he may have a chance to play with us. I believe we must give him another chance, he is only 22 years old and coming hungry after an injury. I'm sure he is motivated enough to prove himself. He could be a good LWB, I think he can be something good for us under Conte. 

Can Conte surprise us by keeping him with us?

I would say yes. He deserves a shot.

Not sure, he was a highly rated young full back when we signed him. Who knows what he will be like now after his injury. I do think a wing back role suits him though.

Deserves a shot yes, but would prefer if we sold Baba and replaced him with Celtic's Kieran Tierney.

3 minutes ago, the special one said:

Deserves a shot yes, but would prefer if we sold Baba and replaced him with Celtic's Kieran Tierney.

Raman shone in a far, far stronger league than the Mickey Mouse SPFL where even Scott Sinclair looks like a world class player.

 

Moses got his shot in pre season and look how that turned out. Bring him back and let's see how he performs under Conte before spending big. 

We literally have tons of players out there who have loads of potential. We should be looking to see what ones could improve in our system. Especially for these back up positions for options 

Edited June 10, 20179 yr by Chelsbear

35 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Raman shone in a far, far stronger league than the Mickey Mouse SPFL where even Scott Sinclair looks like a world class player.

 

For me it's about principle. Baba may be the better player but as far I can remember Chelsea is still a professional English football club. If we don't start giving young Brits a go who knows post Brexit we may find ourselves having to spend a fortune to rebuild the team in the near future. If they're good enough I'd hope the club always gives British talent first dibs.

van Dijk also played in the Mickey Mouse SPFL, no?

Edited June 10, 20179 yr by the special one

Just now, the special one said:

For me it's about principle. Baba may be the better player but as far I can remember Chelsea is still a professional English football club. If we don't start giving young Brits a go who knows post Brexit we may find ourselves having to spend a fortune to build the team in the near future. If they're good enough I'd hope the club always gives British talent first dibs.

Brexit isn't going to change how we buy players or how much they will cost, can you advise what you mean and where you heard that? 

We spend a fortune every year building the team regardless.....We want the best players not choosing someone lesser because they are British, that's just not how the biggest clubs in Europe operate. I'd wager any of our young European and domestic winning youngsters would tear up Scottish football. It's just not a good indicator of a players ability when guys like Sinclair flop in the EPL and championship then light up a pub league. 

Chelsea will always go for the quality before nationality as would any club tbh 

3 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Brexit isn't going to change how we buy players or how much they will cost, can you advise what you mean and where you heard that?

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brexit-negotiations-premier-league-fa-football-future-a7688786.html

2 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Brexit isn't going to change how we buy players or how much they will cost, can you advise what you mean and where you heard that? 

We spend a fortune every year building the team regardless.....We want the best players not choosing someone lesser because they are British, that's just not how the biggest clubs in Europe operate. I'd wager any of our young European and domestic winning youngsters would tear up Scottish football. It's just not a good indicator of a players ability when guys like Sinclair flop in the EPL and championship then light up a pub league. 

Chelsea will always go for the quality before nationality as would any club tbh 

I think you'll find Brexit will impact on the way clubs operate. the moment free movement from the EU stops we will be into a whole new ball game especially if we have immigration quotas.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brexit-negotiations-premier-league-fa-football-future-a7688786.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/04/06/brexit-premier-league-fa-odds-immigration-exemptions-foreign/

11 minutes ago, charierre said:

I think you'll find Brexit will impact on the way clubs operate. the moment free movement from the EU stops we will be into a whole new ball game especially if we have immigration quotas.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brexit-negotiations-premier-league-fa-football-future-a7688786.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/04/06/brexit-premier-league-fa-odds-immigration-exemptions-foreign/

But how do people differentiate world class from average journeymen on paper?

37 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Moses got his shot in pre season and look how that turned out. Bring him back and let's see how he performs under Conte before spending big. 

We literally have tons of players out there who have loads of potential. We should be looking to see what ones could improve in our system. Especially for these back up positions for options 

Pre season of the last campaign 2016/2017, Rahman had said, that Conte did not think his defending was up to standard. Don't think much has changed. 

Put it this way, if we want to buy a player for 15mil and pay them £60k a week I have a feeling they might be allowed in the country.

46 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Raman shone in a far, far stronger league than the Mickey Mouse SPFL where even Scott Sinclair looks like a world class player.

 

Same was said about VVD and Waynama and they have done just fine.

7 minutes ago, Argo said:

Same was said about VVD and Waynama and they have done just fine.

They 2 players performed well at UCL and EL  level over a few seasons....Kearny has done hee haw in Europe with them so far. They had a terrible defence and finished bottom of group last year. The reason those mentioned got the moves down south was because they showed they could compete at that level and be successful, this boy has not...which is the whole point.

More have moved and done nothing of note despite being a stand out in Scotland. The league is the poorest it's ever been in my lifetime

Edited June 10, 20179 yr by Chelsbear

5 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Put it this way, if we want to buy a player for 15mil and pay them £60k a week I have a feeling they might be allowed in the country.

This is why the Tories claiming immigration down to the tens of thousands just wouldn't work. Who are we to say that we require more footballers from abroad when the country requires Doctors and Nurses for example. As for paying 15 mil for a player, that is money leaving the country, the wages would be the same for an English player so the tax dodged would be the same.

Jesus, I completely forgot about this guy.

He would actually make a good LWB if given the chance. 

As for Baba we should sell for whatever we can get. How many times now have under 25's been poor for us or on loan but people hide behind the age to suggest they would come good? Baba, RLC, Kenedy, Bamford and the biggest example of all, Oscar.

4 hours ago, Osgood is Good said:

Pre season of the last campaign 2016/2017, Rahman had said, that Conte did not think his defending was up to standard. Don't think much has changed. 

I think a lot has changed. Mainly in relation to the way we play.

Baba definitely is a better defender than moses has, has good pace, a good cross.

He is far more suited to a back 5/LWB role than to a LB/flat back 4. 

7 minutes ago, didierforever said:

I think a lot has changed. Mainly in relation to the way we play.

Baba definitely is a better defender than moses has, has good pace, a good cross.

He is far more suited to a back 5/LWB role than to a LB/flat back 4. 

I take your point, I would assume that when assessing Rahman, Conte would have taken him into consideration for a LWB role. For me personally I would prefer Sandro (Juve). Under Mourinho (first spell) we had 2 quality players for almost every position, we were so strong domestically and in the CL. I would like to have that again.