To be fair, he has been quite a liability in previous matches, though.  And that has been against "lower" opposition.

And I'm not sure what part of Alonso's play you consider to have been a liability, anyway.  I grant he's not the fastest, but you are in a very small minority, even in here, who have such animosity to wards him.

23 hours ago, coco said:

He does both, he can cross with either foot, shoot with either foot.

If you look at the cross that led to the second goal, that is the cross I think he could only deliver from the right. That type of cross is very hard to defend against it.

 

15 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

If you look at the cross that led to the second goal, that is the cross I think he could only deliver from the right. That type of cross is very hard to defend against it.

 

I can't remember the game, maybe away to Lincoln last year, he was on the left and i remember being impressed with his ability to cut back and shoot on his right foot with some venom, but also get around the defence and use the left foot to hook it round. I'll just be happy to see him in either position, the fact we are finding it hard to choose is a very good sign.

The Grandson wants CHO boots,.... it's official, CHO has made the big time.

On ‎06‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 10:52, The Brit said:

Only Forest but his performance made a mockery of how little Sarri has played him this season

Even more so when you consider that he was showing this sort of contribution in pre-season; the stand out performance being against Premier league opposition when he tore Hector Bellerin to shreds against Arsenal.

I think he should have been getting a lot more game time on a weekly basis.

I really hope he starts against Spurs tomorrow.

 

Callum Hudson-Odoi informed Chelsea personally that he wants to leave in January. The Blues will try "everything" to keep him though in the next days. #cfc 

Chelsea currently have an offer of around €30m from Bayern on the table. [SkySport]

[SkySport]

2 hours ago, yorkleyblue said:

To be fair, he has been quite a liability in previous matches, though.  And that has been against "lower" opposition.

And I'm not sure what part of Alonso's play you consider to have been a liability, anyway.  I grant he's not the fastest, but you are in a very small minority, even in here, who have such animosity to wards him.

Whilst Emerson may not be the answer, Alonso isn't good enough. He simply doesn't have enough pace for a fullback which is a pre-requesite of that position. Every top left back in world football has pace in abundance.

Sandro, Alba, Marcelo, Alaba, Robertson, Telles, Mendy etc...

10 minutes ago, JMaher94 said:

Whilst Emerson may not be the answer, Alonso isn't good enough. He simply doesn't have enough pace for a fullback which is a pre-requesite of that position. Every top left back in world football has pace in abundance.

Sandro, Alba, Marcelo, Alaba, Robertson, Telles, Mendy etc...

Yep, not arguing with that, I said "I grant he's not the fastest", but he is far from "a liability", has been a very good player for us and was in the PFA team of the year only last season.  And I think Maldini might dispute your "Every top left back" having "pace in abundance"

So, yes he could be improved upon, but is nowhere near as bad as some FIFA-playing teenagers might claim.  And @RIP Mourinho, as well. 

I don't really know what it is worth, but fourfourtwo.com has him in the top ten of lcurrent eft backs in world football.  Are they a reliable source or are they just a Marcos Alonso fan site?

32 minutes ago, JM7 said:

Callum Hudson-Odoi informed Chelsea personally that he wants to leave in January. The Blues will try "everything" to keep him though in the next days. #cfc 

Chelsea currently have an offer of around €30m from Bayern on the table. [SkySport]

[SkySport]

Meanwhile Sarri says Hudson Odoi is "ready" and that he is "the same level as Pedro & Willian"

Alonso got player of the year with 3 CB's behind him for cover and less defensive responsibilities in a position that suited him. The struggles comes with him in a back 4. Cahill was in the team of the year once too, lets chuck him back into the starting 11 and deem him Chelsea quality.

36 minutes ago, JM7 said:

The Blues will try "everything" to keep him though in the next days.

pretty easy actually... say no to the money and he's got 18 months left on his contract.

 

1 minute ago, yorkleyblue said:

Yep, not arguing with that, I said "I grant he's not the fastest", but he is far from "a liability", has been a very good player for us and was in the PFA team of the year only last season.  And I think Maldini might dispute your "Every top left back" having "pace in abundance"

So, yes he could be improved upon, but is nowhere near as bad as some FIFA-playing teenagers might claim.  And @RIP Mourinho, as well. 

I don't really know what it is worth, but fourfourtwo.com has him in the top ten of lcurrent eft backs in world football.  Are they a reliable source or are they just a Marcos Alonso fan site?

Maldini was quick until his age caught up with him. He just wasn't your traditional left back so he looked slower when in actual fact, he was reasonably quick for his size.

In which sense is he not a liability, Yorkley? Opposition wingers purposely target him as they know he hasn't got the pace to catch them, he's also obscenely slow to overlap. I'm no body language expert but if you watch the way Hazard reacts to him, it suggests that Eden isn't all too happy with his performances either but that can't be confirmed nor denied.

I feel like a lot of love for Alonso, similar to Willian comes to the fact one scored two important goals against Spurs whilst the other ditched them at the last minute in a transfer. Both have been resoundingly poor this season.

Anyways, I don't watch to stray off topic. Let's hope that Callum starts tomorrow.

‘BETTER FOR HUDSON-ODOI TO STAY’

Maurizio Sarri believes it is in Callum Hudson-Odoi’s best interest to stay at Chelsea amid interest from Bayern Munich.

Asked if a move to Germany would benefit the England U21 international, the Chelsea boss said: "I don’t think so, because he is an English player.

“He is very young, he has the future. He has a very great future hear in England, with the national team and Chelsea. To stay here is better for him.

“For me he is a very important player. He is ready [for the Premier League]. Of course we have very important players in the same position. You want Willian on the bench? Pedro? I can play with only two wingers. I think now I can start to consider him on the same level.

“He is very young but now he is improving, especially in the defensive phase. He played really very well in the last match. I am really very happy with him."

Edited January 7, 20197 yr by EdinburghBlue

1 minute ago, EdinburghBlue said:

‘BETTER FOR HUDSON-ODOI TO STAY’

Maurizio Sarri believes it is in Callum Hudson-Odoi’s best interest to stay at Chelsea amid interest from Bayern Munich.

Asked if a move to Germany would benefit the England U21 international, the Chelsea boss said: "I don’t think so, because he is an English player.

“He is very young, he has the future. He has a very great future hear in England, with the national team and Chelsea. To stay here is better for him.

“For me he is a very important player. He is ready [for the Premier League]. Of course we have very important players in the same position. You want Willian on the bench? Pedro? I can play with only two wingers. I think now I can start to consider him on the same level.

“He is very young but now he is improving, especially in the defensive phase. He played really very well in the last match. I am really very happy with him."

Yes Maurizio, we do

12 minutes ago, JMaher94 said:

In which sense is he not a liability, Yorkley?

In the sense that is being implied.  Thinking back as far as my senile old mind can manage to all of the matches this season, and all of the goals we have conceded, by far the majority did not come down our left-hand side, and we look much more vulnerable to quick penetrative strikes through the middle.  Of the few that came down our left, most appeared to be a clusterf**k of everyone cocking up, but that doesn't suit the agenda of scapegoating Alonso, does it?

Oh, and Maldini was never fast, but he did have a supreme football brain.  I don't have any great love for Alonso, but I feel he gets abuse where it is not warranted, and that's why I defend him.  Same applies to the undeserved criticism that some people cut-and-paste in here for other scapegoats of choice, regardless of actual performance or contribution to the team.

And yes, most definitely get CHO involved tomorrow night in some capacity. I'm quite taken by the suggestions above of coming on against tired legs, but I'd be equally happy if he starts.

Sarri: “Hudson-Odoi is ready. We have very important players in the same position. I can play with only two wingers on the pitch. I think he is ready. He can play, sometimes he will be on the bench, like others, but now I can consider him the same level as Pedro and Willian”

I just copied this from another forum, hope it's true.

Edited January 7, 20197 yr by guddy69

Hopefully we’ll see more of CHO and Ampadu the second half of the season. 

All well and good going on the charm offensive in his press conferences but he's got to back it up with giving the boy minutes on the pitch. 

We've got two wingers the wrong side of 30, CHO has his entire career in front of him and if we want to convince him to stay the only way to do it is going to be by giving him regular minutes between now and the end of the season. 

2 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Yes Maurizio, we do

Here here. I wonder if he asked this in front of a matchday crowd how many would say the same. 

CHO----Morata/Giroud/Abraham---hazard

Willian and Pedro on the bench except for games normally given to CHO.

 

53 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

All well and good going on the charm offensive in his press conferences but he's got to back it up with giving the boy minutes on the pitch. 

We've got two wingers the wrong side of 30, CHO has his entire career in front of him and if we want to convince him to stay the only way to do it is going to be by giving him regular minutes between now and the end of the season. 

Exactly right. Back it up Sarri. More quality in those crosses than we have seen all season from our right and the boy defended good too.

 

2 hours ago, Skinnedy said:

pretty easy actually... say no to the money and he's got 18 months left on his contract.

 

Exactly honour your contract.

2 hours ago, JM7 said:

Callum Hudson-Odoi informed Chelsea personally that he wants to leave in January. The Blues will try "everything" to keep him though in the next days. #cfc 

Chelsea currently have an offer of around €30m from Bayern on the table. [SkySport]

[SkySport]

Haven't seen that on sky sports. 

“Chelsea are scrambling to reassure Hudson-Odoi but it’ll take actions, not words, from Sarri/Zola/etc to convince him they value him more than Bayern do. 

How trusted & involved he is in what remains of January - including tomorrow vs Spurs - could be decisive”

Have to say it does feel as if CHO is holding the club to ransom which feels unfair given that he has had chances this year. 

I was about to post something similar. On the one hand it feels CHO is holding the club to ransom, it's not right for players to demand a starting place. But can anyone really blame him? He sees Willians poor performances just like we do, he deserves a shot at the first team, a real shot. I don't blame the kid for wanting to leave if Bayern guarantee him more playing time.

He will also look at what Sancho is doing at Dortmund and feel he can do the same.

Let's hope he has a little more patience with the club that gave him the opportunity to come to this level. And let's hope the manager recognizes his potential.

12 minutes ago, JM7 said:

“Chelsea are scrambling to reassure Hudson-Odoi but it’ll take actions, not words, from Sarri/Zola/etc to convince him they value him more than Bayern do. 

How trusted & involved he is in what remains of January - including tomorrow vs Spurs - could be decisive”

Have to say it does feel as if CHO is holding the club to ransom which feels unfair given that he has had chances this year. 

I’d say the opposite - he has been totally under utilised and it’s about time one of our young players forced the clubs hand, our integration of the youth talents we have has been nothing short of abysmal. Now suddenly because Bayern are sniffing about we’re scrambling trying to make an effort. If this is what it takes, hopefully big clubs go after the likes of Mount, Reece James or Abraham to force our hand.

 

CHO is a better player than all our wingers bar Hazard and he clearly knows it, I don’t think he’s holding the club to ransom at all. Bayern have said they’ll play him so he’s said to us, play me or let me go to play football in Germany and develop as a player. He’s well within his rights to do that and I actually agree with him. If we’re not going to utilise him then let him go and get football elsewhere. There’s nothing worse than players like DD who is happy to never play and take a wage.

Abit disappointing from CHO to be honest, I don’t think he is far from starting 11. He proved himself the other day so I’m surprised he’s requested to leave, if I was him I would have waited until tomorrow to see where I stand at the very least.

However I can understand, he’s clearly good enough to play more.

The fact that Jody Morris a Chelsea cult hero & ex coach of our youth team for about 6 years has taken swipes at us on Twitter about the lack of opportunities for our young players should tell you all you need to know about the way we deal with integrating them.

 

I don’t want to start bashing the club because there is a lot of things we do well but integrating the most successful youth sides in the country/one of the best in the world is certainly not one of them and that needs to change or they will go elsewhere.