1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

94% pass accuracy this season. Andreas is usually perfect on the ball. 1 awkward pass doesn't change that. 

94% accuracy doesn't mean anything. Most of his passes could have been 5 yard passes to his fellow CB. He's not natural on the ball. Room for improvement for sure. 

11 minutes ago, STATS said:

He doesn't have the long range passing ability of Terry (as of yet) but other than that he is very comfortable on the ball and you seem him often, when the time is right take the occasional dribble with the ball and play a pass. Has good acceleration with the ball too.

John Terry could drop a 40 yard ball with his weaker foot straight to an attackers feet. His long range passing with both feet for a defender was superb. Looked as natural as any striker/midfielder when he was in the opposing teams goal. 

18 minutes ago, Famous CFC said:

94% accuracy doesn't mean anything. Most of his passes could have been 5 yard passes to his fellow CB. He's not natural on the ball. Room for improvement for sure. 

I don't agree he's not natural on the ball. He's great on the ball. Rarely has a bad touch, rarely gives it away, has stepped forward and played some nice through balls aswell this season. 

Long passing and his left foot could do with an improvement, but you are comparing a peak John Terry to a 21 year old. 

JT improved his passing massively in his early to mid 20's, to the point he was one of the best passing centre backs in the world, but he certainly wasnt that ball playing centre back at 21. 

I'm not comparing JT with Andreas. I doubt he'll be anywhere near as good as JT with ball at his feet. I can assure you he'll be a lot more conservative now after that silly blunder. This type of error from him has been coming. Terrible past to say the least. Each to their own. Quality defender, not so with ball at feet. He's certainly not on Cesars level ball on feet wise. 

23 minutes ago, Famous CFC said:

I'm not comparing JT with Andreas. I doubt he'll be anywhere near as good as JT with ball at his feet. I can assure you he'll be a lot more conservative now after that silly blunder. This type of error from him has been coming. Terrible past to say the least. Each to their own. Quality defender, not so with ball at feet. He's certainly not on Cesars level ball on feet wise. 

He bursts forward from the back into midfield numerous times this season. You can't do that at this level unless you're comfortable with the ball at your feet. He was praised so highly in Germany for his ability to play out from the back with calmness. Think you're a bit off the mark with this criticism. 

54 minutes ago, Famous CFC said:

94% accuracy doesn't mean anything. Most of his passes could have been 5 yard passes to his fellow CB. He's not natural on the ball. Room for improvement for sure. 

There is room for improvement, but in terms of centre backs he is by far the best passer we have. Yes David Luiz can play a hollywood ball but very often they go very wrong. How you can say he's not a natural on the ball is beyond me, his passing stats don't lie. Really just watching him its easy to tell how comfortable he is. Yes he misplaced a few against Barcelona but if you look a bit further back than just one game you might discover how good he actually is in possession. 

18 minutes ago, Famous CFC said:

I'm not comparing JT with Andreas. I doubt he'll be anywhere near as good as JT with ball at his feet. I can assure you he'll be a lot more conservative now after that silly blunder. This type of error from him has been coming. Terrible past to say the least. Each to their own. Quality defender, not so with ball at feet. He's certainly not on Cesars level ball on feet wise. 

I wouldn't expect him to be on Azpilicueta's level, azpi is in his prime, and having started out as a right midfielder, you would expect him to good on the ball. 

It was a terrible pass, but that's all it was. Gerrard made at 3 terrible back passes that resulted in goals, in big games, but that doesnt mean he was a bad passer, or that he needed to work on his passing. 

The mistake was an error in judgement more than any underlying issue with his ability. 

6 hours ago, big blue said:

I wouldn't expect him to be on Azpilicueta's level, azpi is in his prime, and having started out as a right midfielder, you would expect him to good on the ball. 

It was a terrible pass, but that's all it was. Gerrard made at 3 terrible back passes that resulted in goals, in big games, but that doesnt mean he was a bad passer, or that he needed to work on his passing. 

The mistake was an error in judgement more than any underlying issue with his ability. 

Judgement, passing, brain power, confidence, composure, whatever it may be, he f**ked up. Just hope he doesn't try that sh*t again. 

RIP and big blue, bite me. 

7 hours ago, DidierDidier said:

There is room for improvement, but in terms of centre backs he is by far the best passer we have. Yes David Luiz can play a hollywood ball but very often they go very wrong. How you can say he's not a natural on the ball is beyond me, his passing stats don't lie. Really just watching him its easy to tell how comfortable he is. Yes he misplaced a few against Barcelona but if you look a bit further back than just one game you might discover how good he actually is in possession. 

Actually I’d make a case for that being Rudiger now he’s settle in and looks comfortable. He did have a few hairy moments in first few appearances mind. 

1 hour ago, Famous CFC said:

RIP and big blue, bite me. 

The 1990s called, they want their insults back  (sorry your post just made me chuckle!)

11 hours ago, Munkworth said:

 

The 1990s called, they want their insults back  (sorry your post just made me chuckle!)

I aim to please. I'm impressed you can remember that far back. Ha

Edited February 25, 20188 yr by Famous CFC

On 24/02/2018 at 10:42, RIP Mourinho said:

94% pass accuracy this season. Andreas is usually perfect on the ball. 1 awkward pass doesn't change that. 

That's nothing, he plays simple passes, whenever he passes forward he gives the ball away.

That's not a big problem, but it does expose him in games like Barcelona where we have to play it out from the back at all costs. Even a casual fan could see Christensen is not the best passer of the ball he's like Zouma in that department but everything else about him is perfect.

I have no complaints whatsoever with Christensen or his mistake, it was a bad pass, thank you for being solid as a rock other than that and disposing Messi at a crucial time near the box. 

22 hours ago, DidierDidier said:

There is room for improvement, but in terms of centre backs he is by far the best passer we have. Yes David Luiz can play a hollywood ball but very often they go very wrong. How you can say he's not a natural on the ball is beyond me, his passing stats don't lie. Really just watching him its easy to tell how comfortable he is. Yes he misplaced a few against Barcelona but if you look a bit further back than just one game you might discover how good he actually is in possession. 

That's completely inaccurate.

When does Christensen play diagonal balls like Luiz? Have people forgotten David Luiz of last season? He's like a playmaker at the back and he's always comfortable in possession, if you really think Christensen is better at passing than Luiz I don't even know what to say, it's pretty obvious he isn't. 

Christensen plays simple passes for a reason, Luiz would find Hazard, Moses, Pedro & Willian about 5-6 times a game with one pass from the back. 

And what on earth is a hollywood ball? Are you serious? Luiz more often than not would accurately find his teammate with a pass. 

Edited February 25, 20188 yr by Slojo

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

That's completely inaccurate.

When does Christensen play diagonal balls like Luiz? Have people forgotten David Luiz of last season? He's like a playmaker at the back and he's always comfortable in possession, if you really think Christensen is better at passing than Luiz I don't even know what to say, it's pretty obvious he isn't. 

Christensen plays simple passes for a reason, Luiz would find Hazard, Moses, Pedro & Willian about 5-6 times a game with one pass from the back. 

And what on earth is a hollywood ball? Are you serious? Luiz more often than not would accurately find his teammate with a pass. 

We'll have to agree to disagree. I'm not knocking Luiz as a passer, he is good. I just prefer Christensen who does pass incisively through to midfield and not sideways all the time like you are trying to suggest. 

This whole debate you've started with me here is irrelevant anyway because whether or not Christensen is a better passer than Luiz (which I think he is), this season Andreas is clearly the better defender and is rightly starting. 

 

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

That's completely inaccurate.

When does Christensen play diagonal balls like Luiz? Have people forgotten David Luiz of last season? He's like a playmaker at the back and he's always comfortable in possession, if you really think Christensen is better at passing than Luiz I don't even know what to say, it's pretty obvious he isn't. 

Christensen plays simple passes for a reason, Luiz would find Hazard, Moses, Pedro & Willian about 5-6 times a game with one pass from the back. 

And what on earth is a hollywood ball? Are you serious? Luiz more often than not would accurately find his teammate with a pass. 

Spot on. 

People seem obsessed with stats. I'd have 94 % passing if I played basic balls. I'd tell Andreas to stick to defending(Which he does very well.) and leave the passing to the people that can pass. I'm not knocking the lad but he's limited in what he can do with the ball. That was the beauty of playing Luiz in that position last year. Hopefully Andreas will improve his range of passing. But as of know he's nowhere near the standard of passing of Luiz and Cesar. Luiz is/was a hell of a passer. Natural ball player. Extremely similiar to JT, just not as good.  

5 hours ago, DidierDidier said:

We'll have to agree to disagree. I'm not knocking Luiz as a passer, he is good. I just prefer Christensen who does pass incisively through to midfield and not sideways all the time like you are trying to suggest. 

This whole debate you've started with me here is irrelevant anyway because whether or not Christensen is a better passer than Luiz (which I think he is), this season Andreas is clearly the better defender and is rightly starting. 

 

I dont think i will agree with that statement. HE is starting purely because Conte is pushing Luiz out the door just like he did Costa. Luiz is a defensive midfielder/playmaker is still better than Drinkwater and the fact that Luiz is struggling to make it to our 11 even as a sub makes me believe that Conte has no plans for Luiz. This is not me dinging Christensen, but pointing out Contes  ego flaw.

Ampadu is exactly the type of defender who would fit in next to christensen, but maybe it's too soon. rudiger can actually pick out a nice pass when he needs to, just doesn't do it as much as luiz. christensen, i agree, doesn't have the passing ability of luiz, but is twice the defender. 

1 minute ago, enigma said:

Ampadu is exactly the type of defender who would fit in next to christensen, but maybe it's too soon. rudiger can actually pick out a nice pass when he needs to, just doesn't do it as much as luiz. christensen, i agree, doesn't have the passing ability of luiz, but is twice the defender. 

A physical forward would have a field day with that line up of Ampadu and Christenen. Christensen lost position to Lingard for the second goal against United, A great defender would have been able to prevent that from happening. The flaw with Luiz has always been his cavalier attitude of blazing forward and leaving the defense vulnerable and exposed. He is not a crap defender. 

Was at fault against Barca and again today.

I wonder if people were as forgiving towards someone like Cahill rather than a young player everyone wants to succeed because he's our first bonafide academy player turned first team footballer since Terry.

5 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Was at fault against Barca and again today.

I wonder if people were as forgiving towards someone like Cahill rather than a young player everyone wants to succeed because he's our first bonafide academy player turned first team footballer since Terry.

He still had a very good game against Barcelona despite the one error, Christensen deserves the benefit of the doubt over Cahill and I shouldn't really need to provide a reason for that. 

Today, however, he was definitely off and I didn't like how he struggled physically, that's a big negative. But regardless he still has fantastic potential. 

When Luiz is back fit, it might be worth putting him back in for a couple of games. It's good to show the younger players they need to keep working and they can't take their place for granted.

30 minutes ago, brownindian said:

A physical forward would have a field day with that line up of Ampadu and Christenen. Christensen lost position to Lingard for the second goal against United, A great defender would have been able to prevent that from happening. The flaw with Luiz has always been his cavalier attitude of blazing forward and leaving the defense vulnerable and exposed. He is not a crap defender. 

He is a very bad defender and it's no coincidence that we ship 7 goals in two games when he replaced Christensen.

Last season was an anomaly where he had gotten over his flaws. This season he has reverted back to the norm. Bad defender who had a great season.

Think this Chelsea team would benefit from playing a back 4 and so would this lad.

4 minutes ago, Total-Football said:

He is a very bad defender and it's no coincidence that we ship 7 goals in two games when he replaced Christensen.

Last season was an anomaly where he had gotten over his flaws. This season he has reverted back to the norm. Bad defender who had a great season.

2

An anomaly? Okay if it was just several games but it was a full season where he was consistently solid, I wouldn't call that an anomaly he's definitely a good defender. 

 

4 minutes ago, Slojo said:

An anomaly? Okay if it was just several games but it was a full season where he was consistently solid, I wouldn't call that an anomaly he's definitely a good defender. 

 

Lots of players have freak seasons. Look at the Leicester team, that was 11 players who had the best season ever and only one player has replicated that form (Kante). Also, I believe three at the back hid his deficiencies as the other defenders could cover for him when he wondered off/lost possession. Also, two solid defensive midfielders that were very good at reading the game helped. 

Personally, Luiz has no place starting for Chelsea when we inevitably go to a back four again.