I find myself frustrated with our group of defenders and to some extent contes handling of them outside of the starting 5 ...

Ivanovic is not good enough to make the bench and shouldn't be coming on late in games smacks of wanting to keep the old guard happy in the dressing room than anything beneficial to the team 

Terry doesn't look like he can roll the clock back any more and doesn't look good in a 3 

Zouma looked horrendous on the ball against Peterborough.. I wouldn't say because of march practice I just think we try play out of the back more now and Cahill and Dave keep getting caught out in the high press and zouma looks a country mile behind them two on the ball .. so all my high hopes for zouma last year are rapidly fading .. 

And the most frustrating one is Ake.. we all know deep down his time will be so limited that it will be a negative thing him coming back from loan.. he should start today .. if your going to bring a young player back from a beneficial loan you need to play him and hull at home is the game to do it.. not an fa cup game and a 10 mins sub appearance.. if you've brought him back show some faith and bed him in the first team. 

 

I love don antonio but l just want to see ake actually used or leave him be. Also surely chalobah could use a start against lower half pl opposition at home ? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you on the wind up. Our defence is easlily the best in the prem, have a look at goals against. Conte doing a great job.

Our defence is brilliantly organized and as a team our defending is working at the moment. Luiz, Azpi are one of the best defenders in the league by any measure.

I'd cut Zouma some slack considering he's been out for 12 months!

Rustiness aside, he has clearly improved on the ball since he arrived. He had started using his weaker foot more often (I wonder where he learned that ;) ) and José showed enough faith in his technical abilities to play him in midfield when Matic was suspended post-Ashley Barnes and Mikel was injured.

Admittedly he doesn't seem like he'd necessarily be a natural fit in a three-man defence, but there's nothing to suggest that he doesn't have the work rate or the application to make the improvements necessary.

This is just moaning for the sake of moaning. The defence is the least of our problems right now. It's not perfect, but nothing IS in football. The main things i am concerned about when it comes to defenders is how they work as a group and how many goals they leak. At the moment, we have been excellent with both of these things, so i see no real reason to be so concerned.

You need to remember how we were defensively at the start of the season, we couldn't keep clean sheets and we were giving teams plenty of chances to score against us. The way we are now is a million miles better than what it was.

Edited January 22, 20179 yr by Scott Harris

This is very odd. Frustrated by a defence that has barely let a goal in the past 3 months.

Actually think the defence is the best part of the team and being most consistent and reliable. 

Also look at Cahill who is in great form after last year. Luiz who I for one questioned the signing but is in a great form in a back 3. Dave is one of the most consistent defenders in the prem.  As a back 3 I think there quality and with Tibo behind them the amount of goals conceded just shows how much it works.

Comparing it to the midfield 2 who I personally don't think are that great on the ball and can be very frustrating. 

Also the front 3 Costa has been in fine form but there has always been grumbles about William and Pedro. Also read some regarding Hazard but he is world class.

Edited January 22, 20179 yr by Ernie_blue

Am feeling sad for Aké. Was having such a great run with bournemouth and we called him back. I know we needed backup but its sad especially when i see him during the matches. Its like your mum comes to pick u up from the playground and while ur sitting in the car she is having a laugh with some parents at the park.

2 minutes ago, bernardburgs said:

Am feeling sad for Aké. Was having such a great run with bournemouth and we called him back. I know we needed backup but its sad especially when i see him during the matches. Its like your mum comes to pick u up from the playground and while ur sitting in the car she is having a laugh with some parents at the park.

 

Conte will be wanting to make sure he's a 100% in sync with the systems eycbbefore he tries him. I would bet he'll play in the cup this weekend.

We have the best defense in the league, and our defense is the 2nd best in the top 5 leagues. Bayern conceded 10 goals only. 

Conte won't do something that will destroy Ake, I'm 100% sure. We're looking great defensively, changes are not needed at the moment. Ake will get his chance, I also want to see him play, but I can't see him replacing someone at the moment.