1 hour ago, just said:

He is no more of a natural finisher than Jorginho or Kante are.  All of them would struggle to finish their dinner.

But when Kova plays like last night, who cares? For the first time in forever, when space opened up in front of him, he didn't stop and pass back or sideways. He carried the ball forward at pace and forced opponents to make a decision.

His best game in a Chelsea shirt by miles.

Okay I promise you all, I didn't hack Just's account. 

4 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

A player of his technical ability really should be contributing more goals and assists. 

Lol I have been hearing this since he’s 18 years old. Every coach that he has had said I can get him to contribute more and goals and assists in the final third. He is what he is at this point as he’s 26. Good player but will never take the next step to be great. 

4 minutes ago, Kova17 said:

Lol I have been hearing this since he’s 18 years old. Every coach that he has had said I can get him to contribute more and goals and assists in the final third. He is what he is at this point as he’s 26. Good player but will never take the next step to be great. 

Maybe not, sometimes I see promising things from him, and I thought last season he should've had many assists if it wasn't for poor finishing, particularly the through balls to Abraham. 

I think either way he's a good squad player though, handy player to have on your team. 

4 minutes ago, Kova17 said:

Lol I have been hearing this since he’s 18 years old. Every coach that he has had said I can get him to contribute more and goals and assists in the final third. He is what he is at this point as he’s 26. Good player but will never take the next step to be great. 

He's still just entering his prime. Next season he will be more mature so maybe that helps.

1 hour ago, Kova17 said:

Lol I have been hearing this since he’s 18 years old. Every coach that he has had said I can get him to contribute more and goals and assists in the final third. He is what he is at this point as he’s 26. Good player but will never take the next step to be great. 

I wasn't saying he will contribute more goals and assists but he should. 

I've seen enough in two and a half seasons to know he's pretty inconsistent and rarely contributes in the final third.

1 hour ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I wasn't saying he will contribute more goals and assists but he should. 

I've seen enough in two and a half seasons to know he's pretty inconsistent and rarely contributes in the final third.

Kovacic has been compared to Modric since he’s a teenager. He’s never gonna get to that level as he he doesn’t have the footballing brain or vision of Modric. Kovacic is a good player. Hes a very good dribbler can  hold the ball really well and has has a really good first touch. Short passing is good long passing is erratic. His shot is weak and his descision making in the final third has always been poor. I don’t see that side of his game improving. Transitioning the ball he’s world class at. I don’t know if I know of a midfielder better then him at that part of the game.

Edited February 5, 20215 yr by Kova17

5 hours ago, Kova17 said:

Kovacic has been compared to Modric since he’s a teenager. He’s never gonna get to that level as he he doesn’t have the footballing brain or vision of Modric. Kovacic is a good player. Hes a very good dribbler can  hold the ball really well and has has a really good first touch. Short passing is good long passing is erratic. His shot is weak and his descision making in the final third has always been poor. I don’t see that side of his game improving. Transitioning the ball he’s world class at. I don’t know if I know of a midfielder better then him at that part of the game.

Has all the technical aspects, his turn and carry under pressure is amazing. Problem is he never finds the pass at the end of it.

Witness the run against Spurs. Could have played Werner into acres of space instead held it too long and ended up scuffing his shot wide. 

2 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Has all the technical aspects, his turn and carry under pressure is amazing. Problem is he never finds the pass at the end of it.

Witness the run against Spurs. Could have played Werner into acres of space instead held it too long and ended up scuffing his shot

He has this in his locker the ability to drive forward and draw opponents to him before releasing the final ball. I want to see if Tuchel can unlock this on a regular basis.

13 hours ago, Kova17 said:

Kovacic has been compared to Modric since he’s a teenager. He’s never gonna get to that level as he he doesn’t have the footballing brain or vision of Modric. Kovacic is a good player. Hes a very good dribbler can  hold the ball really well and has has a really good first touch. Short passing is good long passing is erratic. His shot is weak and his descision making in the final third has always been poor. I don’t see that side of his game improving. Transitioning the ball he’s world class at. I don’t know if I know of a midfielder better then him at that part of the game.

Kovacic can be a poster child of what happen if you spend your early twenty as bench warmer 

As a professional footballer you must have some ability to shoot, especially as a midfielder. 

I'd have him shooting drills all day because if he had that in his locker he would be awesome. 

Bizarre seeing him have that much end product. 

Hopefully he really can find that attacking ability he clearly had in his locker at one point, because the rest of his game at the moment is fantastic. 

 

Suddenly realised this morning that he's a dead ringer for a young Anthony Hopkins. Not sure I'll ever be able to look at him in the same way again...

15 hours ago, Malcolm9 said:

As a professional footballer you must have some ability to shoot, especially as a midfielder. 

I'd have him shooting drills all day because if he had that in his locker he would be awesome. 

 

13 hours ago, big blue said:

Bizarre seeing him have that much end product. 

Hopefully he really can find that attacking ability he clearly had in his locker at one point, because the rest of his game at the moment is fantastic. 

I wouldn't say that is all he is missing. His defensive work can be a bit lazy too, particularly his recovery runs. Not always great when he is in a midfield two, particularly alongside Jorginho.

Someone said a minute ago that he is a classic version of what happens when you spend your early 20s on the bench on big wages. Nearly is good enough. 

After yesterday's game I realized that this team depends a lot on him. He is the one moving the ball away from the press, tracks back in defense, makes the tackles, holds the ball and he also helps in attacking play.

If he can deliver the final pass and shoot long ranger, he's almost as close to a real life Roy of the Rovers. 

A real good game from him. 

Just now, Deino said:

After yesterday's game I realized that this team depends a lot on him. He is the one moving the ball away from the press, tracks back in defense, makes the tackles, holds the ball and he also helps in attacking play.

If he can deliver the final pass and shoot long ranger, he's almost as close to a real life Roy of the Rovers. 

A real good game from him. 

He was good up to about 65 minutes then he completely faded.

Do like him and he does carry the ball well but always so disappointing with that final ball and when he has a shot. Just give him a couple of whole days on the training ground practicing his shooting - surely he could hit the target at some point?!

2 minutes ago, Nibs said:

He was good up to about 65 minutes then he completely faded.

He usually gets tired around the 70-75 minute mark. That doesn't surprise me though, he really puts in a shift at both ends of the pitch.

Just now, Nibs said:

He was good up to about 65 minutes then he completely faded.

Do like him and he does carry the ball well but always so disappointing with that final ball and when he has a shot. Just give him a couple of whole days on the training ground practicing his shooting - surely he could hit the target at some point?!

Not surprised that he fades as the game progresses, the team asks too much of him at times and the knocks he got must eat at his stamina. 

I don't know why the coach that trains him doesn't just have him practice shooting on his training menu. It would surely benefit him more than rondos considering the team does it in matches too

3 minutes ago, Nibs said:

He was good up to about 65 minutes then he completely faded.

Do like him and he does carry the ball well but always so disappointing with that final ball and when he has a shot. Just give him a couple of whole days on the training ground practicing his shooting - surely he could hit the target at some point?!

I don't think it's his shooting per se, it's more that he constantly finds himself in those kind of positions when he's almost at top speed. It's extremely hard to shoot from there, you either need a bit of time (something you don't get in the PL) or already have a plan as to what you're going to do (something Kova doesn't seem to have).

I absolutely agree with you on the practice things. He needs drills so he stops thinking, trying to chip/pass/shoot with the side of his foot and just puts his laces through that ball instead.

Or we're all wrong and all he needs is a psychologist because he sh*ts himself when he gets near the penalty box.

7 minutes ago, Vagabond said:

I don't think it's his shooting per se, it's more that he constantly finds himself in those kind of positions when he's almost at top speed. It's extremely hard to shoot from there, you either need a bit of time (something you don't get in the PL) or already have a plan as to what you're going to do (something Kova doesn't seem to have).

I absolutely agree with you on the practice things. He needs drills so he stops thinking, trying to chip/pass/shoot with the side of his foot and just puts his laces through that ball instead.

Or we're all wrong and all he needs is a psychologist because he sh*ts himself when he gets near the penalty box.

That’s the difference between Kovacic and world class, the best players in the world would at least make the keeper work, well Essien would smash the top corner.

21 minutes ago, Deino said:

Not surprised that he fades as the game progresses, the team asks too much of him at times and the knocks he got must eat at his stamina. 

I don't know why the coach that trains him doesn't just have him practice shooting on his training menu. It would surely benefit him more than rondos considering the team does it in matches too

Surely Kovacic does practice shooting in training? That was one of the best parts smashing shots at the goalkeeper. 

14 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

That’s the difference between Kovacic and world class, the best players in the world would at least make the keeper work, well Essien would smash the top corner.

True. But at least he starting to shoot and failing at it for the moment. It can only get better from here (or at least not much worse 😂). It's a lot more frustrating to watch him run into a promising position only to pass it backwards or sideways.

55 minutes ago, Nibs said:

He was good up to about 65 minutes then he completely faded.

Do like him and he does carry the ball well but always so disappointing with that final ball and when he has a shot. Just give him a couple of whole days on the training ground practicing his shooting - surely he could hit the target at some point?!

To be fair to him he was having to carry our other midfielder for 60 minutes......

His shooting is awful, I don't think he'll ever score a meaningful number of goals in a season. His passing however isn't as hopeless. Sure, he's no Cesc and his decision making in the final third needs a lot of work, but he's got the occasional through ball in his locker. He played a good one yesterday in the first half where he played Werner in, who could have squared it to Mount for an easy tap in.

No wonder Kovacic is bloody knackered after 60 minutes, he's having to do all of the work in midfield. Jorginho is absolutely useless, Kov needs someone who can also support attacks to take the burden off him. 

Gilmour is the best option we have at the club. Tuchel need to give him a chance.

Ok. I’m not going to defend Kovacic’s shooting and I agree he tends to fade in the last 20 mins. 
 

but I will push back against this idea that he has poor decision-making in the final third... again. I think this is a myth. In fact I’d contend that more often than not he makes the right decision, but we only notice the times he makes the wrong one.  he DOES play some great balls...pretty much every time he plays. He played a really good one over the top to Werner early on, which some were saying Werner should have scored from. Yet no one (iirc) mentioned the pass. I think it would have been different had Werner scored. There was a clever chip too that on another day might have resulted in something. There were at least two other occasions where Kova played a would-be killer ball but they were cut out by a good defensive block. Had they not been cut out, again - the narrative could have been completely different. The margins are fine (as SFL would say), and killer passes in football are few and far between, else the scorelines would be different.
 

Final point - so often we judge our players against a nigh-on impossible benchmark. In this case, Fabregas. So Kova isn’t as good as Fabregas at finding the killer pass. Sure, but nor was pretty much any player ever. This doesn’t mean Kova is bad at it. For his weaknesses, refer back to the top.