I have liked him in previous seasons, but he doesn't seem to want to fight this season. The attitude hasn't been there for me. if it's not there this season, why should I believe it will be next season? The same could be said for many of our players to be honest, but he's one that stands out. 

I have heard he is waiting on surgery yet am in favour of moving on, he has been a good servant yet we could do better.

Apparently Tuchel not interested now. Wants to strengthen his front line instead. Wonder if he would be keen to take Lukaku, Aubameyang or Sterling off our hands.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1764957/Bayern-Munich-Thomas-Tuchel-Chelsea-transfer-news

I’m surprised Kova isn’t getting more stick after another very poor performance in which he failed to close opponents down and couldn’t even make his customary 5 yard passes. For me his performance last night alongside Sterling and Aubameyang epitomised Chelsea and where we are at present. Experienced players who the younger generation should be looking to for leadership and the only thing they are seeing is a lack of backbone and unwillingness to work. The club feels broken at present with each section, owners , coaches and players contributing to its demise. The owners aren’t going anywhere, the coaches shoulder the blame, it’s up to the players to show some professional pride in their own performance.

3 minutes ago, charierre said:

I’m surprised Kova isn’t getting more stick after another very poor performance in which he failed to close opponents down and couldn’t even make his customary 5 yard passes. For me his performance last night alongside Sterling and Aubameyang epitomised Chelsea and where we are at present. Experienced players who the younger generation should be looking to for leadership and the only thing they are seeing is a lack of backbone and unwillingness to work. The club feels broken at present with each section, owners , coaches and players contributing to its demise. The owners aren’t going anywhere, the coaches shoulder the blame, it’s up to the players to show some professional pride in their own performance.

I couldnt agree more. Kova is a very limited player for a deep lying midfielder -

• he cant make a decent loong pass (yesterday was an exception)..
• he has lost his legs and cant run with the ball to beat a press. 
• he cant shoot to save his life or finish
• Will never run beyond the opposition in the midfield into the box to stretch play
• he cant tackle either and has lost his ability to press..

CG is very limited but atleast he has one or two standout attributes - i really dont understand what Kova is bringing to the table. Azpi, Auba all are in the same boat.

In short, he's sh*te !

Why does he still get game time ?

We have other players like Zakaria, Carney, RLC, surely one of those can step in.

Really made me wonder if we sold the wrong midfielder in January. Looked like he inherited everything Jorginho was bad at, and lost everything else he used to do back in the better days.

57 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Really made me wonder if we sold the wrong midfielder in January. Looked like he inherited everything Jorginho was bad at, and lost everything else he used to do back in the better days.

Or maybe Jorgi wasn't as bad as people made him out to be when they used him as scapegoat. Same as Kova was better than both Enzo and Kante yesterday but since he seems to be the scapegoat now he'll magically improve as soon as he doesnt wear a blue shirt...

4 minutes ago, Vagabond said:

Or maybe Jorgi wasn't as bad as people made him out to be when they used him as scapegoat. Same as Kova was better than both Enzo and Kante yesterday but since he seems to be the scapegoat now he'll magically improve as soon as he doesnt wear a blue shirt...

Jorginho really wasn't terrible at all. But still not at the level we need for the position. In a team high on confidence and dominating possession he's more than functional. Kova has been terrible since coming back from injury, making his limitations all the more unbearable.

Watched the highlights earlier and when you have a number 8 having no clue as to how to mark his counterpart and a number 5 stepping over a low cross like he's trying a dummy in training.... 

1 hour ago, Vagabond said:

Or maybe Jorgi wasn't as bad as people made him out to be when they used him as scapegoat. Same as Kova was better than both Enzo and Kante yesterday but since he seems to be the scapegoat now he'll magically improve as soon as he doesnt wear a blue shirt...

I was going to mention scapegoating of Kova. I’m not going to deny he’s had a terrible season but I’m not sure he’s quite the standout he’s made out to be.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and he’s clearly not everyone’s cup of tea as a player. 

One thing I feel compelled to push back on is this idea - frequently voiced- that he doesn’t care, has. A bad attitude. It just doesn’t square with what those who’ve worked with him have said. They all praised his attitude - notably Potter too, and Kova response to Potter sacking was really classy. Find me a manager who didn’t share this view. 
 

I think this started with the World Cup. There was this idea that Kova was faking an injury. Then he miraculously played well for Croatia, returned only to have a terrible season for us. I agree the optics aren’t great. I don’t think he was faking an injury though. He’s a good lad, with a good attitude who I think must hate the way this season has gone. Even if you take at face value the criticism re World Cup, it’s worth bearing this in mind:

- WC is a big event that happens only once every four years.

- Kovacic comes from a small country that, unlike the UK, Germany, gets very few chances to represent itself/achieve something on the world stage. Sticking strictly to football, it’s a country that once had a strong league, which has since been decimated by globalisation (im not saying it could have been otherwise but this was definitely a casualty). So this really is the only stage. Smaller countries take the WC more seriously for these reasons, and that’s why I think they punch above their weight at tournaments.. anyway, the bottom line is - of course he’s gonna care a lot about the World Cup!! 
 

Then ask yourselves whose fault it is. Like Chelsea’s woes, it’s the powers that be that carry the blame - in the case of the WC, the corrupt governing body that plonked it right in the middle of a season. It really beggars belief. The corruption has reached a point where it’s doing real damage to the game. 
 

Anyway, in summary - everyone is entitled to their opinion. I understand why some don’t rate Kova. I am, however, convinced that he - like many other players we have - is much better than what we’re currrwntly seeing and that is not all his/their fault we’re not seeing that.

on the attitude thing, before criticising a player, a)  remember that they are only human and b) ask yourself how you would behave in their shoes. 

He's simply a redundant footballer. For Madueke's goal, I had to double take because I was surprised it was Kovacic that played that pass and not Enzo. Just how many times in Kovacic's career has he played passes like that? Great assist but this part of his game has been severely lacking his entire career. Last good assist he made off the top of my head was the Lukaku goal against Villa. 

He's limited in the final third and don't get me started on him defensively. He's not a good ball winner and for all of his experience, in the defensive transition he runs for the sake of running. His awareness is zero. Doesn't see if he needs to pick up a man, just blindly runs. 

I can see why they don't want to renew his contract. There are far more influential CMs on the market this summer. 

5 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

There are far more influential CMs on the market this summer. 

And we can't afford any of them. Had we been even remotely sensible both Caicedo & Rice could have been realistic targets for us this summer but now they are both too expensive for us. Both are better players than Kovacic, but you know what? They are both a lot better than Enzo Fernandez as well so maybe we should look to get rid of him too? Because he's looking like a bit of a fraud out there as well.

 

13 minutes ago, OriginalS said:

And we can't afford any of them. Had we been even remotely sensible both Caicedo & Rice could have been realistic targets for us this summer but now they are both too expensive for us. Both are better players than Kovacic, but you know what? They are both a lot better than Enzo Fernandez as well so maybe we should look to get rid of him too? Because he's looking like a bit of a fraud out there as well.

Not one CM in the market this summer will have more influence on the ball than Enzo Fernandez. This is the one signing I can hold hand on heart saying we did the right thing in getting him. Not going to let a season being managed by a man out of his depth and a man pretending to be a manager sway my perception on certain players. I suppose our team were full of frauds just months before we won the Champions League with relative ease. This is what happens when a top manager comes in. 

Even if we are priced out on Rice and Caicedo, there is Lavia, Kone, Thuram, Ugarte, 

5 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

He's simply a redundant footballer. For Madueke's goal, I had to double take because I was surprised it was Kovacic that played that pass and not Enzo. Just how many times in Kovacic's career has he played passes like that? Great assist but this part of his game has been severely lacking his entire career. Last good assist he made off the top of my head was the Lukaku goal against Villa. 

He's limited in the final third and don't get me started on him defensively. He's not a good ball winner and for all of his experience, in the defensive transition he runs for the sake of running. His awareness is zero. Doesn't see if he needs to pick up a man, just blindly runs. 

I can see why they don't want to renew his contract. There are far more influential CMs on the market this summer. 

And yet there are those amongst us insisting Kovacic is a complete midfielder (althogh they have gone a bit quiet of late!)

Have never bought into the hype of Kova. Okay squad player but has never contributed anything like enough and definitely needs moving on in the summer as we rebuild. Hate being envious of rivals, especially London ones but compare Kovacic to Odegaard (well actually don't). The gooners picked him up for something like £30m and he has helped transform them. Great player and if he is worth £30m that must make Kova worth about £30 quid!

3 minutes ago, Nibs said:

And yet there are those amongst us insisting Kovacic is a complete midfielder (althogh they have gone a bit quiet of late!)

Have never bought into the hype of Kova. Okay squad player but has never contributed anything like enough and definitely needs moving on in the summer as we rebuild. Hate being envious of rivals, especially London ones but compare Kovacic to Odegaard (well actually don't). The gooners picked him up for something like £30m and he has helped transform them. Great player and if he is worth £30m that must make Kova worth about £30 quid!

I've been skeptical of Kovacic since Sarri. 

26 minutes ago, Nibs said:

And yet there are those amongst us insisting Kovacic is a complete midfielder (althogh they have gone a bit quiet of late!)

Have never bought into the hype of Kova. Okay squad player but has never contributed anything like enough and definitely needs moving on in the summer as we rebuild. Hate being envious of rivals, especially London ones but compare Kovacic to Odegaard (well actually don't). The gooners picked him up for something like £30m and he has helped transform them. Great player and if he is worth £30m that must make Kova worth about £30 quid!

I’m still here :). Anyway he won’t be around next season so you can rejoice. But you might not get the rebuild you crave so be careful what you wish for. 
 

the whole thing is broken. Is there a player in our ranks who hasn’t been woeful? 

I’ve always liked Kovacic, he’s definitely not a complete midfielder but his biggest asset was beating the press. He could dribble like Eden Hazard at times, which I thought was crucial for our play style.

We haven’t seen that side of him at all this season and I’m not sure why. I find it hard to believe he’s completely lost it but he has been shockingly bad this season. Right at this moment I feel like I don’t really want to see him here next season.

3 minutes ago, Dean said:

I’m still here :). Anyway he won’t be around next season so you can rejoice. But you might not get the rebuild you crave so be careful what you wish for. 
 

the whole thing is broken. Is there a player in our ranks who hasn’t been woeful? 

You weren't on your own Dean!

Kova has had decent games and shown flashes of brilliance but it's been few and far between and I'm just fed up with the same old, same old averageness of it all and Kova is just one of many. We need a fresher, hungrier looking squad next season and break from this rut we are currently in and won't get out of if we keep the main culprits.

Midfield needs balance and in my opinion Kovacic doesn't offer any. For year s now I have been amazed of how a player with such great dribbling ability is that poor in the attacking end. 

29 minutes ago, Dean said:

I’m still here :). Anyway he won’t be around next season so you can rejoice. But you might not get the rebuild you crave so be careful what you wish for. 
 

the whole thing is broken. Is there a player in our ranks who hasn’t been woeful? 

It was rumoured that TT started pre season by asking who wanted to stay at the club, and who wanted to leave. Then he apparently kept picking players who said they wanted out.

I would be very interested to know which, if any, of our players would say that they 100% want to be here and fight for the shirt next season.

I am pretty sure more would say they want out than to stay.

6 hours ago, OriginalS said:

They are both a lot better than Enzo Fernandez as well so maybe we should look to get rid of him too? Because he's looking like a bit of a fraud out there as well.

In the top end percentile for almost every relevant stat for position and averages 11 succesful long passes a game (when i last checked a couple of weeks ago).

Yes he's dropped off a bit last few weeks but to call him a fraud is ridiculous. Seems to me you're never going to take to him because he replaced Jorginho.

Can I also point out the irony of you talking about a world cup winner like this barely a month after accusing me of "having an agenda against winners".

11 hours ago, axman2526 said:

It was rumoured that TT started pre season by asking who wanted to stay at the club, and who wanted to leave. Then he apparently kept picking players who said they wanted out.

I would be very interested to know which, if any, of our players would say that they 100% want to be here and fight for the shirt next season.

I am pretty sure more would say they want out than to stay.

Come on Axman! 😂 that TT bit. the only important word there is “rumoured.” You see it surely. How does that square with anything else we know about Kovacic? Or TT for that matter? 
 

The wanting to stay thing is a two-way street. If the fans don’t want him there but instead want to scapegoat him based on utterly false premises - well…

Besides, I can say with confidence that there is not a single player in our ranks that “100 %” wants to stay. Taking that further, there isn’t a single player in the modern football era that will unconditionally fight for any shirt. 

12 hours ago, Nibs said:

You weren't on your own Dean!

Kova has had decent games and shown flashes of brilliance but it's been few and far between and I'm just fed up with the same old, same old averageness of it all and Kova is just one of many. We need a fresher, hungrier looking squad next season and break from this rut we are currently in and won't get out of if we keep the main culprits.

Fair enough, though I think the “few and far between” isn’t quite accurate. He was probably our most consistent player for three seasons. Btw I didn’t actually ever describe him as a “complete midfielder”:) but I do feel compelled to defend kova. Broadly I don’t think anyone’s merits can be properly assessed based on this season. 

8 hours ago, Dean said:

Fair enough, though I think the “few and far between” isn’t quite accurate. He was probably our most consistent player for three seasons. Btw I didn’t actually ever describe him as a “complete midfielder”:) but I do feel compelled to defend kova. Broadly I don’t think anyone’s merits can be properly assessed based on this season. 

@Bob stark did. 

Which to this day still makes me chuckle. 

Kova is still a very, very good player. I expect our directors to get a good fee for him. His book value is only 8mill, his sale should help our FFP situation.

He should not play again this season, don't need him picking up a bad injury.