ricardo "franz" carvalho

[g3.7]

has had an excellent season in my opinion. really stepped it up- he was never as bad as some people said in the previous two seasons, maybe people were a bit spoilt by the jt/ gallas partnership, but this season he's truly been excellent, and despite playing alongside so many different combinations. has shown character and quality.

not bad for a liability, eh?

[BlueBosnian]

I think he had a great season, but I think that it is no different from the previous one. The only reason people are noticing him this season is because Terry is having trouble (injuries, ect.) and he has to be the main man in front of our goal. I always thought he was a great player.

Carvalho keeps Chelsea in hunt

A rare goal from Ricardo Carvalho allowed Chelsea FC to defeat Tottenham Hotspur FC and close the gap on Premiership leaders Manchester United FC.

uefa.com

[loz]

Agreed. PLayer of the season will surely (and for me correctly) go to Drogba for his goal tally and runner up will go to Essien for his consistency and the fact he has been asked to play in so many different positions however after these two I would place Carvalho.

[Chippy]

I think he has had his best season for us and I believe it had as much to do with the fans favourite Gallas going which gave him confidence the CB position was rightfully his.

He still tends to lunge and grab but less and he as I have always said is as good as anyone in his position.

I think he is now an untouchable along with JT Cech Drogba, and Essien these would be the first 5 names if I wrote the teamsheet,

[just]

He played very well today.

The goal ? Well, a nice enough hit, but any proper keeper would just have bent down and picked it up.

Carvalho's real test will always come in the mega matches. Portugal V France World Cup 2006. That sort of pressure.

If he can't do it in the big games he'll just be our Theirry Henry.

[The Moos]

Great to see how many players who have stepped up this season.

Riccy has had his best season by far.

Drogba has gone from being a diving git to a scoring God.

Essien has gone from being "money wasted" to become the best allround player in the league...no, make that "the world"!

I guess I've forgotten some player who have become better.

Without our bad injuries we would have been in the lead by now. As it is we just have to wait a bit to get there

[Enrico]

What the f**k was he doing crossing the halfway line? Was it a guaranteed goal? If not then he shouldn't have left his post! I expect defenders to defend!

[mad_mac]

wow, Enrico, there really is no pleasing some people. Riccy is a tremendous defender, and we ahve been spoiled in recent years with the amount of talent that we have had in those positions.

I think the Terry being injured was hugely instrumental in our lagging behind Manu, but at the same timem, I think Riccy is very instrumental in teh fact that we still have a glimmer of hope

Scott

[loz]

Scott,

I may need to install one of these for you

[singablue]

IMHO, we would have been out of many competitions without Riccy in the heart of defence after Cech and Terry got injured. Just look at the game at Anfield, we were torn to shreds with Essien and Paulo in the dentral defence positions (Riccy was down with a flu).. There was one or more occassions TSO went down to the pitch to hug Riccy after the game, certainly in appreciation for his good work.

[loz]

There was one or more occassions TSO went down to the pitch to hug Riccy after the game, certainly in appreciation for his good work.

Jose was very forthcoming in his praise for Carvalho in the post match conference yesterday. He specifically pointed out that Carvalho is under appreciated and doesn't get the credit he deserves for his performances.

[Scott]

Scott,

I may need to install one of these for you

Make sure it's a heavy duty model Loz. It'll get a lot of use I'm afraid.

[mad_mac]

Scott,

I may need to install one of these for you

The sarcasm was also in my comment saying that there really was no pleasing some people! May need to take a quick shot of that machine yourself mate!!! I guess I should use those pesky emoticons moreoften

[BLUENUT]

I've thought so for a long time!

Don't want to gloat but....... http://www.csrforums2.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=2878

[Fansince65]

I think Ricci has been one of JM's best signings, he has his detractors and he has his faults, but overall I feel he has been superb, improving every season.

His coolness under pressure and his distribution are top notch, he really came into his own while JT was out and without him I doubt we would still be in with a shout at the title, he also reminds me a lot of a Chelsea legend from the 70s by the name of John Dempsey, his overall play and general appearance remind me a lot of "Demps". anyone else think so ?

P.S.

"WE LOVE YOU POM-PEY, WE DO"

[TomP]

I think it is really telling that the likes of Carvalho, Essien and Drogba are finally showing their full potential 2 or 3 seasons in. That's how long it takes players to get fully aclimitised to English football.

I just wish some people would think of this when they are demanding players to be shipped out after a poor season.

It makes you wonder how good we will be when Sheva and Ballack are fully aclimatised. Even someone like Robben could well do the same thing - if you take into account his injuries, he has probably only really played 1 full season with us.

[Elliott]

Carv has had an excellent season.

Dont get me wrong, some of the old traits are still there (The trademark shirt tugging, and ''All or Nothing'' lunges), but on the whole, fantastic. He stepped up to the plate when Terry has been missing, and scored some very important goals.

Heres a good peice on him: (By Clive Tyldesley of all people )

Carvalho shows his all-round class

[The Brit]

don't want to be too much of a doomer after a great night, but Valencia's goal was an example of why riccy won't win over all the fans as a top top defender...he was at fault as he left morientes to join cole and terry marking villa which was completely wrong...i think hasselbaink in the studio said diarra should have gone over to cover but he had a man on the outside of him and rightly was worried by him...it was riccy's mistake and though he played brilliantly for the rest of the game it just backs up my point that he can play well 99% of the time but there is always a major cock-up in his locker

[g3.7]

maybe, but I felt JT was marking morientes all game and riccy had villa... in every other moment in the game that was how it was... so with morientes deep jt forgot about him and went towards villa and the near post... leaving morientes to arrive free, despite some effort from mikel to track his run.

honestly, I think it was jt's error. though I reserve the right to change my mind.

[loz]

I would agree Brit - he lost his man totally for the goal however I think it is unfair if people can't be won over because that happens once in a while. It used to happen a lot more regularly and when that was the case I was very critical of him however thi season I think we have seen a massive improvement (just as we have with Drogba) but if he isn't to be allowed the odd mistake then he doesn't have a chance. There are a lot of players in our team now making a lot more mistakes than Carvalho is.

[flasher10]

One of the reasons that Carvalho looks so well this season is that we don't have him keeping William Gallas out of the centre half roles. Therefore we ain't getting too pissed off about his presence in the back four.

Secondly he has stood up (apart from his occasional mad lunges) this season. When JT was out Carvalho performed with some class. Even when JT is around he still plays with some (heart stopping moments) of quality.

So Man U have the ?30 Million Rio Ferdinand as a centre half - we have the ?20 Million Ricky Carvalho. Who would you rather have?

Both scored goals on Easter Saturday.