5 minutes ago, mad_mac said:

but are the both not right sided CB's?  Or can they play either spot?

I agree, on paper, Rudi and AC would be my preferred pairing, but not if neither can play that left sided CB spot

Rudiger played on the left of a back 3 under Conte, I know it's not exactly the same but he should be able to handle it in a back 4.

4 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

Rudiger played on the left of a back 3 under Conte, I know it's not exactly the same but he should be able to handle it in a back 4.

aye, not the same, but a fair point.  Cheers, pal

Glad we keep the faith in this lad. Very precise, calm and complex defender. Reminds me of Carvalho. Hope he gets to that level soon. 

Edited September 15, 20196 yr by Droopy

Whenever he does play, I never seem to notice him. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. 

3 minutes ago, JM7 said:

Whenever he does play, I never seem to notice him. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. 

Definitely a good thing, according to JT. Better to stop attacks building than making last ditch dramatic tackles

1 hour ago, JM7 said:

Whenever he does play, I never seem to notice him. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. 

And I, even when the ball is in Tammy or Mason, am glaring anxiously at Zouma. 

Christensen is a fine player and under Conte he was also good till the Barcelona game. Only then the mental part of the game took over him and he lost confidence. 

If he can stay strong and the erros which will happen doesn't get to him he is going to prove that he is chelsea material. 

With Rüdiger by his side he can learn much from him. 

 

4 hours ago, JM7 said:

Whenever he does play, I never seem to notice him. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. 

JT has been quoted by Tyrone MIngs as saying if you get through a match without being noticed that is a good thing, I guess he also means with 3 points in the bag too.

Looked good, comfortable and suited to that central position in a back three. Not the creative presence Luiz was when playing there but a more calming presence.

It will be interesting to see if Lampard continues with the back three or reverts back to a four.

For me is he is a must start. Last year in the limited games he played he was very impressive, and he along with Rudiger is our best defender. I really dont think he gets the credit he deserves from a lot of our fans. 

Its also good that he has come through our academy albeit at a much later age than the english lads.

Christensen is a good defender though he did appear to lose his nerve under Conte after playing well. Good to see him back as when he is playing well he is good player.

He might be a better defender with 3 CBs rather than in a back 4.

 

Needs to bulk up a bit to have a more commanding presence. Other than that is more of polishing the mental side of his game.

I keep waiting to be convinced.

He'll never be good enough, he will always look like a talented kid who was pulled from the academy to make up numbers in a squad. You just feel there's always a mistake in him. Just doesn't have the right attitude for the game, he's no fighter. Physically not strong enough either, and that's a critical flaw for a centerback in the most physically challenging league in the world. Developed a worrying tendency to break down during games, which is not a good sign. 

Last, but not least, has he ever scored a goal? I know he's a defender, but aren't they supposed to be a threat at set pieces? Andreas just strikes me as someone who was given a lot of leeway because of how desperate Chelsea supporters were for many years for our youngsters to break into the first team, and they were willing to overlook plenty of negatives.

Given our situation he will still get bundles of playing time this season, but unless something changes radically, we'll need to replace him with someone significantly better in the summer. In fact, our backline needs improvement the most, by the look of things.

2 hours ago, abramovich said:

He'll never be good enough, he will always look like a talented kid who was pulled from the academy to make up numbers in a squad. You just feel there's always a mistake in him. Just doesn't have the right attitude for the game, he's no fighter. Physically not strong enough either, and that's a critical flaw for a centerback in the most physically challenging league in the world. Developed a worrying tendency to break down during games, which is not a good sign. 

Last, but not least, has he ever scored a goal? I know he's a defender, but aren't they supposed to be a threat at set pieces? Andreas just strikes me as someone who was given a lot of leeway because of how desperate Chelsea supporters were for many years for our youngsters to break into the first team, and they were willing to overlook plenty of negatives.

Given our situation he will still get bundles of playing time this season, but unless something changes radically, we'll need to replace him with someone significantly better in the summer. In fact, our backline needs improvement the most, by the look of things.

He's hit the woodwork about 3 or 4 times and never scored. I feel if rudiger and tomori were fully fit we'd be quite happy with our centre backs. But far too often we are relying on our 3rd and 4th best centre backs to play. Question is what type of player do we buy, do we need to buy a world class centre back or just better cover for our best two. 

Agreed about Andreas, sadly I just don’t think he’s as good as I’ve been telling myself all these years, zouma had a better game yesterday than I think I’ve seen from andreas this year, he was bullying Liverpool, all you hope for with Andreas is he is steady and looks reasonably comfortable with the ball but compare that to Tomori and even zouma yesterday and I was thinking to myself I never really notice anything great Andreas does but not make huge mistakes although we know he’s fragile and can do

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

He's hit the woodwork about 3 or 4 times and never scored. I feel if rudiger and tomori were fully fit we'd be quite happy with our centre backs. But far too often we are relying on our 3rd and 4th best centre backs to play. Question is what type of player do we buy, do we need to buy a world class centre back or just better cover for our best two. 

We need to buy world class, period. Defense is our Achilles heel, we need to address it urgently. If we've learned anything from our recent transfer troubles, is that for every little known gem we can get for a relatively small fee we tend to sign a sh*tload of dross. I'd rather we sign two top quality players for loads of money than five-six maybes with potential for the same amount. Doesn't mean we have to just sign world class all the time, it's impossible, but we need a mix of talented youth,  world class performers and few very good squad players to get back to where we were.

Lovely ball for Tammy though.

Is he perhaps better in defensive midfield? I think it would be interesting to try him there vs Grimsby at least, if he's not injured. We need to give Kovacic and Jorginho a rest while protecting Kante, anyways. 

1 hour ago, AndyDowsleftflank said:

Is he perhaps better in defensive midfield? I think it would be interesting to try him there vs Grimsby at least, if he's not injured. We need to give Kovacic and Jorginho a rest while protecting Kante, anyways. 

I think we have to accept that the answer to a bad centre back isn't to put them in defensive midfield. 

But aside from the fact it never works, with Andreas it absolutely wouldn't. He isn't actually that good on the ball. Reece James will be a better option there. 

1 hour ago, abramovich said:

We need to buy world class, period. Defense is our Achilles heel, we need to address it urgently. If we've learned anything from our recent transfer troubles, is that for every little known gem we can get for a relatively small fee we tend to sign a sh*tload of dross. I'd rather we sign two top quality players for loads of money than five-six maybes with potential for the same amount. Doesn't mean we have to just sign world class all the time, it's impossible, but we need a mix of talented youth,  world class performers and few very good squad players to get back to where we were.

Swapping a world class CB for AC would be sensible. I'd keep Zouma. He's exactly the level of player I think we should have as our 4th choice CB. Let's see how the season pans out first. 

3 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

I think we have to accept that the answer to a bad centre back isn't to put them in defensive midfield. 

But aside from the fact it never works, with Andreas it absolutely wouldn't. He isn't actually that good on the ball. Reece James will be a better option there. 

Swapping a world class CB for AC would be sensible. I'd keep Zouma. He's exactly the level of player I think we should have as our 4th choice CB. Let's see how the season pans out first. 

I'd be all for keeping Zouma as the fourth choice. But why would a 24-year old player, who knows he can be a starter in another PL team, like he did at Everton last season, would want to stay on as a benchwarmer at CFC?

10 minutes ago, abramovich said:

I'd be all for keeping Zouma as the fourth choice. But why would a 24-year old player, who knows he can be a starter in another PL team, like he did at Everton last season, would want to stay on as a benchwarmer at CFC?

Always a tricky balance. But the same would be said of any player who is 4th choice CB. 

Has Christensen still got a knock? IMO he is better than Tomori and Zouma.

Seen a few comments about potentially selling him... maybe a little harsh, good player and clearly is talented at 23.

No rush with him yet. 

On 07/10/2019 at 10:55, Ernie_blue said:

Has Christensen still got a knock? IMO he is better than Tomori and Zouma.

At his very best, he is the best of the 3. Problem is, he rarely plays upto that level.

I think if Tomori can carry on improving he can reach a higher level than Christensen, but Zouma atm is playing his best, especially the past few games