38 minutes ago, DonAntonio said:

He has made a catalogue of errors from not being comfortable on the ball under pressure, if you go to the beginning of the season everyone on here was putting him out for slaughter because of his mistakes,  I'm not here to slate the f**k out of GC, I like the guy but he is not good with the ball at his feet, fact, you saying he is one of the best shows you know pretty much nothing about football, we need a CB who is to improve us...no need to keep discussing. 

No you saying he is terrible with the ball shows you know nothing about football. John Terry, Carragher and previous manager as I just said have all described him as being very good on the ball so shows how much you know. I never said he is one of the best, I am stating that he is one of the more composed and as there are not much CB in the league who are very good on the ball, he is one of a few who are pretty good at using the ball. There are better of course on the ball but he is fairly adept. Agree to disagree.

Apparently we are going to bid £60 million for him.............what a load of nonsense. These rumours get more and more ridiculous. It's the kind of money you would pay if you were desperate, we aren't desperate for Van Dijk.

4 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Apparently we are going to bid £60 million for him.............what a load of nonsense. These rumours get more and more ridiculous. It's the kind of money you would pay if you were desperate, we aren't desperate for Van Dijk.

Anything more than 35m for him is a no go, and tbh even that seems like too much. He seems fairly good at a mid-table team but i'll reckon he'll struggle a lot more at the top level.

18 hours ago, JJP said:

Anything more than 35m for him is a no go, and tbh even that seems like too much. He seems fairly good at a mid-table team but i'll reckon he'll struggle a lot more at the top level.

Based on?

23 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Apparently we are going to bid £60 million for him.............what a load of nonsense. These rumours get more and more ridiculous. It's the kind of money you would pay if you were desperate, we aren't desperate for Van Dijk.

Wouldn't pay half that amount, he's not that level of player and we are not in need of a centre back 

Price isn't an issue to me as it doesn't directly affect me. If the club can afford to spend it let them spend it. Having said that i struggle to see why we need him. Our currently back three are doing fantastically well and wouldn't immediately change any of them. Although there is little depth at the moment we have Zouma making a return and Christensen coming back next year. If Zouma can reach and exceed his pre injury form he'll be fighting for a starting spot and every big club wants a piece of Andreas so he must be half decent. 

Dont rate Zouma as highly as many on here seem to do. While I appreciate  good sliding tackle every now and then, he has way to many deficiencies for me to think he will ever be a top class player. VanDijk, Luiz and Christensen would be an immense back three imo,would love to see it happen. My only gripe with Van Dijk is his "lack f concentration" he seems to be a bit of a diva. Late getting back from corners, jogs back when losing the ball etc. Im sure Conte would set him straight though, besides that hes everthing to be a world class CB. His blend of ball skills and physical presence is extremely rare.

Edited January 3, 20179 yr by Xfaxtor

6 minutes ago, Xfaxtor said:

Dont rate Zouma as highly as many on here seem to do. While I appreciate  good sliding tackle every now and then, he has way to many deficiencies for me to think he will ever be a top class player. VanDijk, Luiz and Christensen would be an immense back three imo,would love to see it happen. My only gripe with Van Dijk is his "lack f concentration" he seems to be a bit of a diva. Late getting back from corners, jogs back when losing the ball etc. Im sure Conte would set him straight though, besides that hes everthing to be a world class CB. His blend of ball skills and physical presence is extremely rare.

Zouma is 22

VVD is 25 

When VVD was playing in Scotland at the same age as Zouma he was not the finished product and looked nowhere near as promosing as Zouma has done in the past few seasons. 

At 22 how many players are the finished article especially when the lad missed a huge chunk of football with a bad Injury?  If folk are giving up on 22 year olds, especially ones who have shown huge potential like Zouma then football has gone mental.

Edited January 3, 20179 yr by Chelsbear

7 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Zouma is 22

VVD is 25 

When VVD was playing in Scotland at the same age as Zouma he was not the finished product and looked nowhere near as promosing as Zouma has done in the past few seasons. 

At 22 how many players are the finished article especially when the lad missed a huge chunk of football with a bad Injury?  If folk are giving up on 22 year olds, especially ones who have shown huge potential like Zouma then football has gone mental.

 

Nobody is "giving up" on anyone, why do I have to believe Zouma will be anything more then a decent player? Personally I cant see it, I think his level is decent squad player and thats it. 

4 minutes ago, Xfaxtor said:

 

Nobody is "giving up" on anyone, why do I have to believe Zouma will be anything more then a decent player? Personally I cant see it, I think his level is decent squad player and thats it. 

He's only 22 though and has shown he can be a big game player. Before his injury he was our best centre back so I find it a bit crazy folk would say he won't ever be anything other that a decent player. Everyone has their own opinions though 

On 02/01/2017 at 14:54, JJP said:

Anything more than 35m for him is a no go, and tbh even that seems like too much. He seems fairly good at a mid-table team but i'll reckon he'll struggle a lot more at the top level.

Why because he plays our players? or because he plays exactly the same teams but with better players around him, what you said makes no sense. 

7 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Price isn't an issue to me as it doesn't directly affect me. If the club can afford to spend it let them spend it. 

Thankyou! f**king hate when people want to apply their Lidl shopping tactics to Chelsea. 

If we really need a centre half am watching a young C/H perform tonight, wonderful display of a allround C/H, goes by the name of Nathan Ake,

lets bring him into Chelsea, heard he will not cost a penny.

It's weird most Chelsea rumours this season are with central defenders, this is actually one of your strongest area. I don't think you could improve a defence only conceded 4 out of 13, someone will score against us, great shot, good luck or a bad referee call. We could improve on the other end through, for my liking we aren't scoring enough goals, or more accurately enough cheap goals against lower teams.

Just out of interest does anyone know how koulibaly has got on this season ? 

And that young Milan defender we was after too ? Can't remember his name

14 hours ago, icecoolguy22 said:

It's weird most Chelsea rumours this season are with central defenders, this is actually one of your strongest area. I don't think you could improve a defence only conceded 4 out of 13, someone will score against us, great shot, good luck or a bad referee call. We could improve on the other end through, for my liking we aren't scoring enough goals, or more accurately enough cheap goals against lower teams.

Again not about the defending only but ability to play out from the back 

50 minutes ago, DonAntonio said:

Again not about the defending only but ability to play out from the back 

You've gotta also figure if any of our starting back 3 go down who do we have to replace them vs a team like the Spurs or any of the top 6 teams? Zouma hasn't played in the league since last year, I cringe every time Brana steps foot on the pitch, and as good of form he's been in lately, Cahill's career is drawing nearer. With us getting CL football next year we need more depth in the back line IMO.

Just now, seanlu13913 said:

You've gotta also figure if any of our starting back 3 go down who do we have to replace them vs a team like the Spurs or any of the top 6 teams? Zouma hasn't played in the league since last year, I cringe every time Brana steps foot on the pitch, and as good of form he's been in lately, Cahill's career is drawing nearer. With us getting CL football next year we need more depth in the back line IMO.

I totally agree but why go after world class players when we can save money for our billionaire owner and field players like Ake who lets face it could start for any of the teams we are trying to compete with to be elite, Barca, Real, Athleti, Bayern, city,  Juve, he would start for all of them so why not us? 

Many fans have a split opinion on Zouma, i personally felt while fit he was the best young center back in the league. He was ages ahead of the like of Stones who would be a sh*t purchase. Think he would fit greatly in this back three, the current combination works well but rotate Cahill and Cesar with him would be great. If we don't manage to sign a wing back to cover Alonso we could give Azpi a chance at wing back. However the best option would be Azpilicueta - Luiz - Zouma.

1 hour ago, DonAntonio said:

Again not about the defending only but ability to play out from the back 

 

like what? Put a nice long ball forward ala fabregas or luiz? That would be a plus but I'm not that greedy, it's logical for players to have strong points and weak points..

 

Heard a lot about building from the back and I have to say I'm frustrated whenever I see the defender or the keeper just lob the ball long to freaking nobody when they can just do a short past to their nearby teammate.. This short pass is not that difficult to do, they're professional footballer, it's the basic really..

22 hours ago, DonAntonio said:

Why because he plays our players? or because he plays exactly the same teams but with better players around him, what you said makes no sense. 

Just look at stones with Everton and now with City. Same with Fonte, Lovren and a whole bunch of other players. 

1 hour ago, bola said:

 

like what? Put a nice long ball forward ala fabregas or luiz? That would be a plus but I'm not that greedy, it's logical for players to have strong points and weak points..

 

Heard a lot about building from the back and I have to say I'm frustrated whenever I see the defender or the keeper just lob the ball long to freaking nobody when they can just do a short past to their nearby teammate.. This short pass is not that difficult to do, they're professional footballer, it's the basic really..

It's not about making superstar passes every time it's about being quick with the ball at your feet, making space, changing direction,  going past a player if you have to, picking out the pass quick, composure, those are the qualities of a ball playing defender, it's very relevant when the high press is on, this is an extreme example but for illustration purposes:  if hazard was back defending when we are under pressure would he get out? Yes, because you can't take the ball off him, he shields it well, changes direction, picks out a pass, not because he hit's 50 yard diagonals,  if you don't understand the concept ask don't be critical and sound silly. 

46 minutes ago, JJP said:

Just look at stones with Everton and now with City. Same with Fonte, Lovren and a whole bunch of other players. 

And to think Garry Cahill won the Champions league the year after he came from Bolton Wanderers....

Edited January 4, 20179 yr by DonAntonio

4 hours ago, DonAntonio said:

I totally agree but why go after world class players when we can save money for our billionaire owner and field players like Ake who lets face it could start for any of the teams we are trying to compete with to be elite, Barca, Real, Athleti, Bayern, city,  Juve, he would start for all of them so why not us? 

He'd improve Citys defence

20 hours ago, DonAntonio said:

It's not about making superstar passes every time it's about being quick with the ball at your feet, making space, changing direction,  going past a player if you have to, picking out the pass quick, composure, those are the qualities of a ball playing defender, it's very relevant when the high press is on, this is an extreme example but for illustration purposes:  if hazard was back defending when we are under pressure would he get out? Yes, because you can't take the ball off him, he shields it well, changes direction, picks out a pass, not because he hit's 50 yard diagonals,  if you don't understand the concept ask don't be critical and sound silly. 

And to think Garry Cahill won the Champions league the year after he came from Bolton Wanderers....

Those qualities are not usually associate with a defender, you even used hazard for your example..  It's not easy to find one but when you do manage to find one, chance is, he's not very good at defending..

Make no mistake, I'm not against getting this so called ball playing defender but I prefer my defender to be solid when defending but that's not to say I prefer an orthodox no nonsense defender because like I said before I don't like my defenders doing blind clearance too casually.. I don't even like them going to ground too easily for the tackle..

 

Just name your targets..

 

 

 

Apparently we could have both Bakayoko and Kessie for the amount we would have to pay for Van Dijk. They can both cover in defence so maybe it's worth taking the two of them now and see how Zouma and Christensen do when they're available?

I am not 100% sure because I haven't seen Bakayoko and Kessie play but people seem to be very impressed and we have a few promising defenders lined up. On top of that, we need a few athletic players in our midfield, unless I was totally misinterpreting our games against the big teams!