Outstanding performance.

He's coming of age.

7 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

I still stand by that red card was the right thing for him to do in the circumstances. He stopped him going clean through on goal & I’m sure Kepa was in goals so it was basically a goal if he didn’t bring him down.

Disagree on that note. You concede and go 1-0 down, you still have a better chance of getting back into it at 1-0 down rather than 0-0 and a player less. Eventually, when you play with 10 men, it is backs against the wall and it is just a matter of time before the opposition team scores. Mane scored 2 within 10 mins of second half restarting and bar the penalty miss, it became a impossible task.

I suppose the problem we have with Christensen is that his best form for Chelsea has always been as part of a back three. 

First under Conte and now under Tuchel.... But are we going to continue playing a back 3 or is it a temporary solution by Tuchel until next season when he can better stamp an "identity" on the team? 

Because if we revert back to playing a back 4 I don't think we've ever seen Christensen play consistently well in those formations. 

Thought he played very well. 

Christensen's played very well under Tuchel in 3 at back. Although he deserves all the praise we are once again in the vicious cycle of giving long term deals to players who suddenly play well for a stretch. He's been with us forever and he's played a handful of games. If Tuchel and his eventual successor switch back to 4 man line Christensen is immediately out if favour for a good reason. 

He is in any case more of a pawn instead of player you build around. 

Not saying Christensen wasn't going to get the deal anyway for me the club should keep their heads cool with the contract. Don't go overboard. 

12 minutes ago, evissy said:

Christensen's played very well under Tuchel in 3 at back. Although he deserves all the praise we are once again in the vicious cycle of giving long term deals to players who suddenly play well for a stretch. He's been with us forever and he's played a handful of games. If Tuchel and his eventual successor switch back to 4 man line Christensen is immediately out if favour for a good reason. 

He is in any case more of a pawn instead of player you build around. 

Not saying Christensen wasn't going to get the deal anyway for me the club should keep their heads cool with the contract. Don't go overboard. 

All depends on what we're offering of course. I agree he works well in a three but is frequently exposed in a back 4 both physically and in terms of his decision-making.

I think we've got some interesting decisions to make with the backline. Tomori has done well on loan. Rudiger and Dave come off contract next year and Silva has been immense. 

4 hours ago, evissy said:

Christensen's played very well under Tuchel in 3 at back. Although he deserves all the praise we are once again in the vicious cycle of giving long term deals to players who suddenly play well for a stretch. He's been with us forever and he's played a handful of games. If Tuchel and his eventual successor switch back to 4 man line Christensen is immediately out if favour for a good reason. 

He is in any case more of a pawn instead of player you build around. 

Not saying Christensen wasn't going to get the deal anyway for me the club should keep their heads cool with the contract. Don't go overboard. 

It seems like the lad has been around forever therefore we tend to be overly harsh on him and view him as either not good enough, too soft or can't play in a back 4. A lot of those statements do have some truth behind them however it's surprising that he is only 24 and their certainly is a good player CB in their. In my view he is half the puzzle, we need to partner him with someone who is physical & more commanding allowing him to focus more on the technical elements of defending.

Stones looked like a liability for a number of years however with Dias partnered with him he has started to look absolutely elite this season, I think the club was hoping Rudiger would be the answer however he seems like someone more suited to a back 3 due to his poor positioning and reliance on pace and Zouma is a good defender but for some reason seems to be more of a squad option. Our backline especially back 4 have taken a lot of unnecessary criticism in recent years in my view and that is due to us not having a proper CDM screening them, we have not replaced Matic and therefore the backline has always looked exposed especially on the transition and last season Kepa made the CB's look like fools. 

Definitely seems to prefer being in the middle in a 3 at the back formation. We all know that the physical part of his game isn't the best and I think his current role means he doesn't have to worry about that part of his game so much. He can focus on his positioning and tackling. He's been a lot more confident about passing out of the back of late too. No more stuttering and he seems comfortable to play through the lines a bit more.

He's got to keep this going though, if he makes a mistake, he needs to pick himself up and carry on instead of reverting back to that player that looks scared to get involved. Also, if we ever switch back to 2 CB's, I don't think he will cope anywhere near as well as he currently is. It's more physically demanding and with everything I have seen of Christensen over the years, I don't think he is up to it.

Get the contract out, put it on the table, let him put whatever number he wants...

Thought his distribution tonight was really good. Wasn't looking for the easy sideways pass was often pinging a nice sharp ball forwards into feet which bypassed the midfield and got us onto the front foot. 

Made a couple of really good tackles and interceptions too. He's been our best defender over the last month, very impressive. 

That Silva fella could probably learn a thing or two from him. 

At the moment, I don't think Silva gets back in the team .. certainly not in place of Christensen anyway ...

Really is in great form, been virtually flawless the last few matches.

Christensen or Silva, makes no difference to me. They’re on the same level currently. I really cant believe I’m saying that, mental.

He should rent a room at Silva's place to learn more. His recent form is staggeringly good.

Reminded me of Carvalho tonight, especially when he backed of and nicked the ball of an attacker. 

8 minutes ago, dkw said:

Reminded me of Carvalho tonight, especially when he backed of and nicked the ball of an attacker. 

That was very Carvalho esque! 

31 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

At the moment, I don't think Silva gets back in the team .. certainly not in place of Christensen anyway ...

It was almost unimaginable but he's been that good that you have to think about it. Perhaps he can replace Azpi or Rudiger but I don't think one can justify benching him when he's playing like he is now.

Taken some criticism over the last couple of years some warranted. Looking at him now and into the future he has upped his game physically and now looks a composed centre back.

Excellent tonight.

I think the biggest compliment I could pay Christensen is that I only remembered Silva was back on the bench when Zouma looked injured.

17 minutes ago, Sindre said:

It was almost unimaginable but he's been that good that you have to think about it. Perhaps he can replace Azpi or Rudiger but I don't think one can justify benching him when he's playing like he is now.

He should stay firmly where he is for now, we shouldn't bring Silva back in because of who he is. If the Brazilian forces his way back in then that will only make us stronger so win win.

Immense tonight, looked in control at all times. I am happy to admit I always used to gulp when I saw him in the team or coming on but he’s been fantastic since silva got injured.

Still so young for a centre-back too! He's like a Rolls Royce at the back at the moment.

Just oozing class at the moment in every department and even looks bigger somehow. 

He’s been excellent, and I’m not surprised. Let’s hope we don’t encounter Barcelona anytime soon.

Another outstanding performance.  So much confidence.  Stands taller, leading on the pitch.  It is great to watch - may this be a big step.  Great comparisons to Carvalho.  To me, he is also defending like he will be really f'ing annoyed if we were to concede a goal, and he's not having it on his watch.