The lad has been one of the few standouts of the tickle era. Would be unfair to drop him straight away. Would try him next to silva over rudiger or azpi. 
 

Just now, nonotnowjim said:

The lad has been one of the few standouts of the tickle era. Would be unfair to drop him straight away. Would try him next to silva over rudiger or azpi. 
 

I'd have him playing over Dave any day of the week. I actually feel Dave plays far too safe these days and it leads to us not breaking down teams quick enough.

Back in the Conte days, Dave contributed quite a few assits with crosses from inside the right hand channel, not doing that anymore.

Have to say Christensen had a good game, didn't get caught out by anyone.

Never doubted him 😁! Oozes class and is immense in the middle of a back three.

Christensen oozes that  Scandinavian class, needs to find a bit more Viking steel, but I’ve been an admirer for ages, and knew with some inner belief there is a top top player lurking...

55 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

Christensen oozes that  Scandinavian class, needs to find a bit more Viking steel, but I’ve been an admirer for ages, and knew with some inner belief there is a top top player lurking...

As long as he keeps bringing home the bacon I'll be perfectly happy. 

I'm not convinced that Silva walks back into the starting XI right now. 

We're keeping clean sheets against tough opposition with the current back 3 and Christensen is thriving in that central role. Even his distibution is looking good right now. 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

1 hour ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Never doubted him 😁! Oozes class and is immense in the middle of a back three.

Think there are maybe about three of us that always saw the promise and defended him. There was a time not long ago when EVERYTHING that went wrong was somehow his fault, and that reverse halo effect clearly went into overkill with the Liverpool sending off (which another defender may even have been applauded for). Will be interesting to see how far the other way the pendulum swings. 

Fantastic again. Still only 24 and if he can find consistency he could become a top class CB.

Has anyone ever floated the idea of a Kovacic-Christensen midfield pivot? Idiotic idea or does it have legs? We’ll probably never find out. 

36 minutes ago, Dean said:

Think there are maybe about three of us that always saw the promise and defended him. There was a time not long ago when EVERYTHING that went wrong was somehow his fault, and that reverse halo effect clearly went into overkill with the Liverpool sending off (which another defender may even have been applauded for). Will be interesting to see how far the other way the pendulum swings. 

Definitely so, I've been defending him on this thread and in match ones for so long now I was beginning to think it was pointless. And I know you've been backing me up on that. The guy was being chased by Guardiola at one point, and you can see why, he fits that Dias, stones, laporte mould to a tee. I just never understood why a player that came through our academy got so much stick on here, but perhaps its because he isn't English.

Even this year before Tuchel came he was playing very well, the Liverpool game he was not faced with much choice, and against Villa whilst being fouled and subsequently injured by Grealish, he copped all the blame for that goal, when you also have to factor in it came 20 secs later and the rest of the team were set to defend. 

I'm just glad he is finally getting the recognition because even after his first few games under tuchel, every match thread was littered with comments about "how is he playing and tomori was sent out on loan", or "I have no hope in this team with Christensen playing", or "he's been great but that's not going to last".

Lets back the kid, we should be lucky we have a defender like him on our books, that has come through the academy, and is showing real world class attributes. He reads he game so well, is good on the ball, something if we saw in Man City every other team would be singing his praises to the sky. Personally I would drop Azpi when he comes back, his legs arent there anymore, and he seems to always pass back to Christensen all the time, slowing down our play, when he needs to look up and play down the wing. Rudi at least adds speed and muscle, which Silva and Christensen playing as the classy ball players. 

5 minutes ago, Oli said:

Definitely so, I've been defending him on this thread and in match ones for so long now I was beginning to think it was pointless. And I know you've been backing me up on that. The guy was being chased by Guardiola at one point, and you can see why, he fits that Dias, stones, laporte mould to a tee. I just never understood why a player that came through our academy got so much stick on here, but perhaps its because he isn't English.

Even this year before Tuchel came he was playing very well, the Liverpool game he was not faced with much choice, and against Villa whilst being fouled and subsequently injured by Grealish, he copped all the blame for that goal, when you also have to factor in it came 20 secs later and the rest of the team were set to defend. 

I'm just glad he is finally getting the recognition because even after his first few games under tuchel, every match thread was littered with comments about "how is he playing and tomori was sent out on loan", or "I have no hope in this team with Christensen playing", or "he's been great but that's not going to last".

Lets back the kid, we should be lucky we have a defender like him on our books, that has come through the academy, and is showing real world class attributes. He reads he game so well, is good on the ball, something if we saw in Man City every other team would be singing his praises to the sky. Personally I would drop Azpi when he comes back, his legs arent there anymore, and he seems to always pass back to Christensen all the time, slowing down our play, when he needs to look up and play down the wing. Rudi at least adds speed and muscle, which Silva and Christensen playing as the classy ball players. 

Indeed Oli, i had you in mind when i said “about 3 of us”. He certainly deserves to keep his place on current form 

Oh another thing I constantly keep reading even now, because a lot of our fans have an agenda on him that they just can't shake, "he's only playing good because he's in a back three". Who even knows if that is true. But at the highest level when you play 7 or 8 games and concede none, especially when the level is so so high in every game and anyone can beat anyone, surely you just need to hold your hands up and stop the back handed compliments.  (I'm deliberately excluding Rudiger's own goal).

2 minutes ago, Oli said:

Oh another thing I constantly keep reading even now, because a lot of our fans have an agenda on him that they just can't shake, "he's only playing good because he's in a back three". Who even knows if that is true. But at the highest level when you play 7 or 8 games and concede none, especially when the level is so so high in every game and anyone can beat anyone, surely you just need to hold your hands up and stop the back handed compliments.  (I'm deliberately excluding Rudiger's own goal).

Yes, this too. People find it hard to say “I was wrong”

11 minutes ago, Dean said:

Yes, this too. People find it hard to say “I was wrong”

Agreed, people are very stubborn.

I mean someone with an untrained eye might read through my post history and conclude that I have been incredibly critical of Christensen and don't rate him whatsoever, whereas I always secretly believed in him and was merely showing him tough love. 

Indeed, when I said things like 'he should never wear the shirt again' or 'what is the point of Christensen' or 'what a massive fanny', while it may sound like I was crassly writing him off, it was actually encourage him to develop the steelier elements of his play and gain confidence through sheer defiance.

Clearly my methods have been successful. Although maybe playing in a back three has helped just a little bit...

13 minutes ago, Oli said:

Oh another thing I constantly keep reading even now, because a lot of our fans have an agenda on him that they just can't shake, "he's only playing good because he's in a back three". Who even knows if that is true. But at the highest level when you play 7 or 8 games and concede none, especially when the level is so so high in every game and anyone can beat anyone, surely you just need to hold your hands up and stop the back handed compliments.  (I'm deliberately excluding Rudiger's own goal).

He only play well in back 3 is absolutely true. He also played well under Conte in the middle of back 3. Christensen positioning and reading of the game is really2 good. Against team who doesnt really play a striker like united or city,he is very2 good.

The problem lies when he play against team who play with a st and he has to defend rather than cover, he tend to struggle against physical st who play close to him.

 

3 hours ago, Bob stark said:

He only play well in back 3 is absolutely true. He also played well under Conte in the middle of back 3. Christensen positioning and reading of the game is really2 good. Against team who doesnt really play a striker like united or city,he is very2 good.

The problem lies when he play against team who play with a st and he has to defend rather than cover, he tend to struggle against physical st who play close to him.

 

Well, he's been very solid in Denmark's back 4 in nearly every game and even as a cdm in some games a while back - in the 2018 WC for example. His anticipation and positioning is up there among the very best, his distribution top notch and with his recent form he's hopefully showing everyone that he has become the complete cb we expected him too. 

4 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I'm not convinced that Silva walks back into the starting XI right now. 

We're keeping clean sheets against tough opposition with the current back 3 and Christensen is thriving in that central role. Even his distibution is looking good right now. 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

Silva walks back in because of what he gives us out of the back and how well he reads and deals with dangerous situations.

When it comes to playing it out of the back, nobody is better at it than Silva. He doesn't hesitate to pass the ball between the lines the same way the others do. Christensen has upped his game, but I still feel that Thiago Silva offers us more.

Edited March 1, 20215 yr by Scott Harris

51 minutes ago, Ph.c. said:

Well, he's been very solid in Denmark's back 4 in nearly every game and even as a cdm in some games a while back - in the 2018 WC for example. His anticipation and positioning is up there among the very best, his distribution top notch and with his recent form he's hopefully showing everyone that he has become the complete cb we expected him too. 

I have never watched him with Denmark but Chris tend to struggle when the opp play striker and he has to defend. This is not new. It is the same last year,it is the same these year

This might be the most encouraging week Christensen has had in his entire Chelsea career.

He has played against two top sides, who played in hugely contrasting ways, with entirely different threats, and he shone through as arguably our best defender in both.

I really hope he keeps this up. For the first time in a long while we look capable of dominating possession without catastrophically collapsing at the back whenever the opposition have the ball. As you will see from my above post I always believed he had this in him, and never dramatically wrote him off at any point.

Would be nice if he scored a goal though.

6 hours ago, Bob stark said:

He only play well in back 3 is absolutely true. He also played well under Conte in the middle of back 3. Christensen positioning and reading of the game is really2 good. Against team who doesnt really play a striker like united or city,he is very2 good.

The problem lies when he play against team who play with a st and he has to defend rather than cover, he tend to struggle against physical st who play close to him.

A few times over recent times two big mobile strikers have beaten our back 3 on the counter, I recall one against Wolves where they just walked through us.

I don't think Christensen is just too blame yet a couple of times he has gone down injured not made the most of fit and we concede a goal without getting a free kick.

Be great if Christensen does become the CB we all hoped he would - bit like Stones is looking currently at Man City.

I always rated Christensen and when he came through the academy and then had the good loan spell at BM, whilst also playing for Denmark, thought he would be our CB for years. But have to admit to giving up on him during Lamps time. He is a classy footballer, but you need a bit more than that to be a top CB and he doesn't appear physical enough and looked to be too easily bullied, as well as having lapses in concentration. But just maybe he has been learning from Silva and is finally knuckling down and we won't need to spend £100+M on another CB.

I know he will still have his doubters who will be keen to post in this thread the minute he makes any sort of mistake but if we were playing a back 4, I would have Christensen alongside Silva as our best CB pairing.

 

33 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Be great if Christensen does become the CB we all hoped he would - bit like Stones is looking currently at Man City.

I always rated Christensen and when he came through the academy and then had the good loan spell at BM, whilst also playing for Denmark, thought he would be our CB for years. But have to admit to giving up on him during Lamps time. He is a classy footballer, but you need a bit more than that to be a top CB and he doesn't appear physical enough and looked to be too easily bullied, as well as having lapses in concentration. But just maybe he has been learning from Silva and is finally knuckling down and we won't need to spend £100+M on another CB.

I know he will still have his doubters who will be keen to post in this thread the minute he makes any sort of mistake but if we were playing a back 4, I would have Christensen alongside Silva as our best CB pairing.

 

I'd currently have..Christensen- Silva- Rudiger, with James as his protection and attacking outlet on the right, Dave is still handy, but seems to be more Defensively minded as he ages...

Rudiger and Christensen have looked so much better lately, last season the pair of them were an absolute mess. 

22 hours ago, Slojo said:

Rudiger and Christensen have looked so much better lately, last season the pair of them were an absolute mess. 

They went to pot when David Luiz left, it must help having a top class, experienced CB knocking about...