Don't be worried, next game he's going to be heavier. He still keeps Lukaku with him.

What a defender we've in our hands!

Edited November 6, 20178 yr by IliyaKrostin

MASSIVE statement made by Andreas yesterday.

He can be trusted, you can rely on him to keep his head, and he's the future captain.

10 minutes ago, coco said:

MASSIVE statement made by Andreas yesterday.

He can be trusted, you can rely on him to keep his head, and he's the future captain.

Been saying it for a while. All this lad needed was a fair chance.

Really happy that Conte has given him his shot and he has performed to the highest level.

as the season goes on, he's only going to play more and more. if all things go right (which i assume it will) we basically have another Courtois situation, with a great loan spell at a top club and returning to fit almost into the first team right away!

our future defence is looking bright with Rudiger and also Zouma possibly coming back from a good loan spell! 

9 minutes ago, JJP said:

as the season goes on, he's only going to play more and more. if all things go right (which i assume it will) we basically have another Courtois situation, with a great loan spell at a top club and returning to fit almost into the first team right away!

our future defence is looking bright with Rudiger and also Zouma possibly coming back from a good loan spell! 

Wouldn't be surprised if Zouma never plays for us again. He's okay - good but no more than that.

 

1 minute ago, Nibs said:

Wouldn't be surprised if Zouma never plays for us again. He's okay - good but no more than that.

 

i wouldn't be surprised, but he"s definitely having a pretty good loan spell and is probably Stoke's best player. And its good for him to get a lot of game time, just to see how he performs

This time next year i'd take him over Cahill for sure

Zouma isn't as good as Rudiger as far as I've seen this season, he still looks shaky on the ball and doesn't really look like he's improved much since he came into our team.

2 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Zouma isn't as good as Rudiger as far as I've seen this season, he still looks shaky on the ball and doesn't really look like he's improved much since he came into our team.

I'd go along with this, Rudiger is technically far better for me. Although I really don't like seeing Dave go out to wingback, think we lose a lot when he goes out there. 

Zouma has that breakout part of a season before he suffered the Injury but that was at the hear of a deference that was shocking. We really don't know how good he can be the truth is that Conte clearly wants a defense that can pass and receive the ball under pressure (seems to be new style of things) nothing I have seen in Zouma suggests he can fit that mold  

I would be shocked if he doesn't make it here from this point, he's had an excellent start to the season. 

People moan at us for not giving our young players a chance, but the difference between Christensen and the rest is that Christensen went out on loan to a side playing in Europe and he was one of their best players. That is the level our youngsters need to reach before they can hope to make it here.

There has been a lot of complaints about the situation with Musonda of late, but unlike Christensen, Musonda did nothing at all of note in his two years out on loan. If they're not going to impress for a club below our level, then they really shouldn't expect much game time with us.

i wish we could find a duplicate of this lad. he is composed, plays the ball out well, and has good positional awareness for his age. i really don't see how he won't become a first team starter on a regular occasion soon. too good for the bench. 

A rolls Royce defender.

Never dissapoints.

Has to play.

Brilliant stuff.

It also puts à rocket up Luiz's arse since we deminstrated we can get on with it without him.

Andreas couldn't really have done more than he did in his appearances this season. We all knew he was a quality player after his loan, and he's cemented that view in his appearances for us.

If he gets a permanent XI spot, he's possibly a 10 year starter for us.

Beyond thankful that we gave Andreas a chance instead of spending big bucks on Stones. Better player and saved 50 million. HUGE. 

There's a reason Pep is very complimentary of Christensen.

Reckon he'd love to have him instead of Otamendi...

I've been pretty vocal about christiensen since I watched him for the youth side. He is a special footballer, he's the most composed centre I've seen at that age.

I was very happy we didn't buy van dijk in the summer, it's meant that christiensen has had the platform to prove how good he is. 

John Terry has left some big boots to fill, but I honestly think christiensen will come close, we still haven't seen what he can really do yet, he has an excellent range of passing, but I think he is keeping it relatively safe at the moment. Once he is established we have one of the best centre backs for hopefully his career. 

3 hours ago, barak81 said:

Conte clearly wants a defense that can pass and receive the ball under pressure (seems to be new style of things)

It's more really due to the fact that with 3 at the back, each CB must be prepared to play the ball at a decent level to negate high pressing teams. 

A loose touch here or there = turnovers and a long punt upfield can also lead to turnovers. With a decent on the ball skills, at least the CB can avoid being pressured into a mistake ie Cahill vs Sanchez last season.

14 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I would be shocked if he doesn't make it here from this point, he's had an excellent start to the season. 

People moan at us for not giving our young players a chance, but the difference between Christensen and the rest is that Christensen went out on loan to a side playing in Europe and he was one of their best players. That is the level our youngsters need to reach before they can hope to make it here.

There has been a lot of complaints about the situation with Musonda of late, but unlike Christensen, Musonda did nothing at all of note in his two years out on loan. If they're not going to impress for a club below our level, then they really shouldn't expect much game time with us.

Musonda went to loan at Betis since Jan 2016, had a really good start. Tapered a bit. Then extended his loan for a year, started/subbed in each of betis' first 7 liga games and got a long term injury which ended his loan in September.

 

Fantastic player, and defo future captain (hopefully).  I believe he should start even if Luiz makes it back into the team (also hopefully),  maybe push Dave to RWB, and let Cahill and Rudiger compete for other spot.  Even though Cahill is captain and done a lot for us, he is slightly the weaker link.  Rudiger also looks shaky at times, especially when he doesn't start the game.  But in time will be fantastic.  Just worried though as Ake also had great potential and I think we should have kept him.  Hope the same doesn't happen.

Ugh, Christensen is great and I believe in the future.
But David Luiz is one of my favourite players, I love him.
It's the Cech/Thibaut scenario all over again...

It’s christensen over Luiz for me every time. Christensen has that composure which Luiz is lacking at the moment and his positioning is on another level. Luiz had a great season last year but has lost some his discipline and back into makes rash charges for the ball, missing tackles and then standing looking round him.

Dont know what Luiz will do now, probably go in Jan or in the summer because I don’t think they can play together in a back three.

Luiz is a great player for us but his composure can be an issue. Needs to keep his discipline and composure if he wants to reclaim his spot back imo. The defending against Roma was schoolboy stuff at times

Christensen seems way composed at his age.

Despite his brilliant performance for us against United, crazy to think he can't get into the Denmark team right now. Ever since they changed from a back 3 formation to a 4 man defence with 2 traditional CB, he has been on the bench.

Aparrently Danish national coach, Åge Hareide, thinks that Christensen would make a good defensive midfielder. That would at least give us more options...

If Christensen play with us like a defender in back 3 all season, I think the danish national coach will change his mind.