Kovacic is an odd one. He has an unusual ensemble of abilities (and he's certainly not alone in that within our squad) which lead me to wonder what exactly his best position is. 

He's an effective dribbler and has quick feet, he would also be good enough off-the-ball to play as a modern number 10... except he never scores, and has no incision or final ball. 

He's "technical enough" to play in central midfield under Sarri, but his positional sense is awful, and he isn't effective enough at transitioning the ball from defence to the forwards. 

He's quick enough and a good enough dribbler to play out wide, but, again, he has no end product.

Where exactly does he fit?

 

Kovacic is the sort of player you’d want to keep possession and see out the game. Otherwise no he doesn’t offer much. Disappointing really I think he’s capable of much more.

3 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

Kovacic is an odd one. He has an unusual ensemble of abilities (and he's certainly not alone in that within our squad) which lead me to wonder what exactly his best position is. 

He's an effective dribbler and has quick feet, he would also be good enough off-the-ball to play as a modern number 10... except he never scores, and has no incision or final ball. 

He's "technical enough" to play in central midfield under Sarri, but his positional sense is awful, and he isn't effective enough at transitioning the ball from defence to the forwards. 

He's quick enough and a good enough dribbler to play out wide, but, again, he has no end product.

Where exactly does he fit?

 

Hes like James Milner but with no end product.

1 hour ago, big blue said:

Hes like James Milner but with no end product.

He’s just a sh*t John Obi Mikel!

2 hours ago, Munkworth said:

He’s just a sh*t John Obi Mikel!

Kovacic makes JOM look like a cross between Baggio and Van Basten in the final third. 

8 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

Where exactly does he fit?

On the bench? 

I don't think he suits our system at all. He's asked to play a very static role holding and circulating possesion. Where he was best at Madrid was having a genuine holder behind him so he could dribble and carry the ball through pressure.

With only Jorginho behind him he can't do that with the same freedom. I think when we bite the bullet and move Sarri on and NGolo back to deep midfield he would make a good partner for him in a 4-2-3-1 or as the second midfielder (I like to think of it as the Ballack role) in a 4-3-3 leaving the other central player licence to get forward more and create. 

I thought he was our best player today, i know at one point it was a bit sketchy he might get a second yellow card but thought he did well.

He was better today and got better as the game went on. But still doesn't give us enough IMO and he was lucky not see red which would have made it difficult for us.

A couple of times his expert dribbling skill helped us get out of United deep press at our end, which is only something he and Hazard can do (Luiz can do it a little, I suppose).

9 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

I thought he was our best player today, i know at one point it was a bit sketchy he might get a second yellow card but thought he did well.

I thought he was poor until about 10 minutes until he was bought off. He came to life, but you barely notice him on the field most of the time.

1 minute ago, Scott Harris said:

I thought he was poor until about 10 minutes until he was bought off. He came to life, but you barely notice him on the field most of the time.

He was work rate was good, he was the only one showing aggression and making tackles, passing was good and a few times he dribbles past players and opens up space. Everyone one else were average, i just wish he could score a few more goals.

He was OK today but still doesn’t offer enough to actually buy him from Real Madrid.

If a player is going to block RLC's path into the first 11 they need to be a lot better than Kovacic.  I don't see much difference in quality between the 2 (Ruben probably edges it), which confuses me as to why a loanee is getting more game time than an actual Chelsea player.  We can do better.  I wouldn't sign him if we have the chance.  We need players with an end product Kovacic has zero.

15 minutes ago, DarkMata said:

If a player is going to block RLC's path into the first 11 they need to be a lot better than Kovacic.  I don't see much difference in quality between the 2 (Ruben probably edges it), which confuses me as to why a loanee is getting more game time than an actual Chelsea player.  We can do better.  I wouldn't sign him if we have the chance.  We need players with an end product Kovacic has zero.

I suspect he was in today due to Emerson being ill and with Alonso being his replacement we needed more m/f cover to support Alonso.

So I think this is more about supporting Alonso rather than Kovacic being judged to be the best midfield option generally. 

He’s average. Same as always, he is a very talented player with the ball at his feet. The problem is when he gets too far forward he gets a nose bleed. He just doesn’t offer enough in a game for me. He had one great bursting run through the midfield, if he done that more often he’d be a cracking players but 99% of the time he goes for the safe option. 

2 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

He’s average. Same as always, he is a very talented player with the ball at his feet. The problem is when he gets too far forward he gets a nose bleed. He just doesn’t offer enough in a game for me. He had one great bursting run through the midfield, if he done that more often he’d be a cracking players but 99% of the time he goes for the safe option. 

I agree, and I know people don't like to hear this, but Kante has that problem too. He's great at bursting forward with the ball, but when he get's to the final third, he losses his composure. I don't think Kante or Kovacic are ever going to fully adjust to the roles they are being asked to play.

5 hours ago, jack_super_class said:

He was work rate was good, he was the only one showing aggression and making tackles, passing was good and a few times he dribbles past players and opens up space. Everyone one else were average, i just wish he could score a few more goals.

Jack, you are trying super, super hard. I admire that. He has a lovely face. But when you add it all up, minus 2, and move the decimal point, what does Kovacic bring to the party? sh*t beer and crap music.

2 words 

two bob 

(hopefully the transfer ban holds and him & Higuain go back to whence they came from.  Imagine if it doesn’t and the club signs both of them up on this clown of a managers say so).

For me one of the worst players to ever play for us.. contributes f**k all, and just to rub salt in the wounds keeps out RLC who has provided us with some FORWARD passes, and very importantly GOALS !!
Him and Higuan should share the cab home.

I rated Kovacic so much and while he was a teenager at Inter, I was hoping we would sign him. I remember, when he came off the bench to make his first appearance for Chelsea this season and played for 20-25 minutes, he was the best player on the pitch. His dribbling skills and 1-2 play with Hazard was phenomenal. I thought they would be dynamite together and I thought he would be scoring the odd few goals and providing lots of assists and incisive passes. Sadly, like most of our team, he has stagnated or gone in reverse. I can't remember a good performance since that opening appearance. Maybe I am too harsh of a critic but if we're going to let Hazard go to Real Madrid, we better get something better in return than a 100m euro fee and Kovacic, he is a wasted body imo. 

13 hours ago, chelseablueboy said:

For me one of the worst players to ever play for us.

Bit extreme 

On 28/04/2019 at 18:56, Scott Harris said:

I thought he was poor until about 10 minutes until he was bought off. He came to life, but you barely notice him on the field most of the time.

Exactly how I saw it. After 50 minutes and thinking when are we taking off Kovacic and bringing on RLC. Then, as you say, despite the fact Kovacic was a red card waiting to happen, I'm thinking, who should we take off as Kovacic has upped it a few gears and looks one of our better players.

On 28/04/2019 at 18:59, jack_super_class said:

He was work rate was good, he was the only one showing aggression and making tackles, passing was good and a few times he dribbles past players and opens up space. Everyone one else were average, i just wish he could score a few more goals.

Trouble is, that aggression very nearly meant we were reduced to 10 men. United should definitely have had at least one red card, but Kovavicic was also lucky - another day, another ref, he could have gone.

As others have said, at times he looks great. Produces a bit of skill, comes away with the ball leaving opponents trailing. But it never ends up with anything. He then tends to not know what to do next or just loses the ball and that's a reason I don't like him playing deeper as he loses the ball far too often (as does Barkley to be fair).

1 hour ago, Nibs said:

Exactly how I saw it. After 50 minutes and thinking when are we taking off Kovacic and bringing on RLC. Then, as you say, despite the fact Kovacic was a red card waiting to happen, I'm thinking, who should we take off as Kovacic has upped it a few gears and looks one of our better players.

Trouble is, that aggression very nearly meant we were reduced to 10 men. United should definitely have had at least one red card, but Kovavicic was also lucky - another day, another ref, he could have gone.

As others have said, at times he looks great. Produces a bit of skill, comes away with the ball leaving opponents trailing. But it never ends up with anything. He then tends to not know what to do next or just loses the ball and that's a reason I don't like him playing deeper as he loses the ball far too often (as does Barkley to be fair).

It seems he could do with rebalancing his risk-taking on the field away from tackling, where he’s almost reckless (obviously he should tackle but maybe be a bit more careful), in favour of the areas he should excel in: dribbling a bit, having a shot, having a go...it’s just he seems terrified of making a mistake and therefore chronically risk-averse. He could really do with scoring a goal - even just a tap in - as it might unlock him.

39 minutes ago, Dean said:

It seems he could do with rebalancing his risk-taking on the field away from tackling, where he’s almost reckless (obviously he should tackle but maybe be a bit more careful), in favour of the areas he should excel in: dribbling a bit, having a shot, having a go...it’s just he seems terrified of making a mistake and therefore chronically risk-averse. He could really do with scoring a goal - even just a tap in - as it might unlock him.

Totally agree.

That said, the reported fee Madrid are going to be wanting if we were able to sign him, it's far too much so I really don't want us to sign him and I would rather see the likes of RLC, Barkley, Ampadu and Mount all play ahead of him.