I thought both James and Chalobah were a breath of fresh air in defence last night. Seeing a defender with actual strength again has been sorely missed, and we had that in James, he moved the ball well too and is always a threat with his crossing. Then there's Chalobah who wasn't just positioning himself better than our other CB's, but the confidence in his passing from the back was very noticeable too. He moved it quick and with confidence.

1 minute ago, Scott Harris said:

Then there's Chalobah who wasn't just positioning himself better than our other CB's, but the confidence in his passing from the back was very noticeable too. He moved it quick and with confidence.

Funny that, we were told he could not play in Marescas system....

Can we spend 10M to keep his legs healthy?

Edited January 21, 20251 yr by Deino

3 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I thought both James and Chalobah were a breath of fresh air in defence last night. Seeing a defender with actual strength again has been sorely missed, and we had that in James, he moved the ball well too and is always a threat with his crossing. Then there's Chalobah who wasn't just positioning himself better than our other CB's, but the confidence in his passing from the back was very noticeable too. He moved it quick and with confidence.

Well said.  Taking the opposition into account, this was the first game in a long time where our defense was keeping everything infront of them, rarely chasing the ball from out of position.  I still consider James and Chalobah to be young (as they are), but alongside Tosin and Cucu, the experience and calmness did show.  The delema now is what to do if Colwill is fit - reinsert over Tosin, Trev or leave unchanged.  One thing I would be certain to go is keep Trev in the side. 

Distant relative?

Dropped Madueke for James. Easiest ever fantasty football decision ive ever made. James if he stays fit will score and assist more than madueke between now and end of season. 

I love Jackson but my love for James is stronger. 😂

One love Mofos. 

 

On 21/01/2025 at 17:32, PhilH930 said:

Well said.  Taking the opposition into account, this was the first game in a long time where our defense was keeping everything infront of them, rarely chasing the ball from out of position.  I still consider James and Chalobah to be young (as they are), but alongside Tosin and Cucu, the experience and calmness did show.  The delema now is what to do if Colwill is fit - reinsert over Tosin, Trev or leave unchanged.  One thing I would be certain to go is keep Trev in the side. 

Chalobah played right sided CB at Palace. If Colwill is back Tosin gets dropped and Chalobah x Colwill play together imo. 

Which is hilarious that we've spent 341.2M on defenders since the new owners came in and our best back 4 will consist of 3 Cobham lads and Cucurella.

9 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Chalobah played right sided CB at Palace. If Colwill is back Tosin gets dropped and Chalobah x Colwill play together imo. 

Which is hilarious that we've spent 341.2M on defenders since the new owners came in and our best back 4 will consist of 3 Cobham lads and Cucurella.

Why not go all in for the full house ?

James - Acheampong - Chalobah - Colwill

11 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Why not go all in for the full house ?

James - Acheampong - Chalobah - Colwill

Upgrade on Cucurella? Music to my ears. 

Really did not like the excuses he was coming out with after the city loss.

Out of all our players he is the one who should push us to get back to our standards. Cobham raised, a major player in the end of the Roman era, grew up with JT, Lamps, Drogba etc to look up to and learn from.

You need to lead better, speak better, Reece. Do not accept this level, it is not acceptable.

On 24/01/2025 at 03:56, Ukraine Bolt said:

Upgrade on Cucurella? Music to my ears. 

Really there is no reason that backline cannot work and work well, while we insist on having an inverting fullback. 

Reece inverts, leaving arguably our best back 3 of the season:

 

Acheampong 

Chalobah

Colwill

This guy is elite in how he can affect a game. He had a ten-minute spell tonight where he bossed it and it looked like he was back to his old self. Please stay fit. 

7 hours ago, bluetrooper said:

This guy is elite in how he can affect a game. He had a ten-minute spell tonight where he bossed it and it looked like he was back to his old self. Please stay fit. 

Funny, I felt exactly the opposite. Thought he looked rusty and leggy last night. Little bit disconcerting how he struggled to keep up with the West Ham player when he picked up the yellow card. The hamstring issue always at the back of his mind?

 

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

Funny, I felt exactly the opposite. Thought he looked rusty and leggy last night. Little bit disconcerting how he struggled to keep up with the West Ham player when he picked up the yellow card. The hamstring issue always at the back of his mind?

 

I agree, he wasn't at his best. The whole Chelsea side was so slow to get into gear last night, that first half was a tough watch. I'm not sure the frustration inside the stadium helped...

On 04/02/2025 at 07:20, Nibs said:

Funny, I felt exactly the opposite. Thought he looked rusty and leggy last night. Little bit disconcerting how he struggled to keep up with the West Ham player when he picked up the yellow card. The hamstring issue always at the back of his mind?

 

Yeah, he has lost a bit of pace. I was thinking about the period after going behind. Literally everything for about ten min went down the right and through James... I just really enjoyed seeing that. he still has it. 

He was roasted for pace but he is an intelligent enough player to probably learn and not get done by staying a yard off. 

that hamstring is going to plague him for a while until he has enough sprints under his belt. I was wincing in the first half when he went over.... 

40 minutes ago, bluetrooper said:

Yeah, he has lost a bit of pace. I was thinking about the period after going behind. Literally everything for about ten min went down the right and through James... I just really enjoyed seeing that. he still has it. 

He was roasted for pace but he is an intelligent enough player to probably learn and not get done by staying a yard off. 

that hamstring is going to plague him for a while until he has enough sprints under his belt. I was wincing in the first half when he went over.... 

I don't think he has lost pace, it's not something he ever really had. What James has is power, that is what helped him keep up with quick players in the past, he did it to Sterling in the Champions League final many times. He was good at using his body to get between quick attackers and slow them down to his pace.

Maresca apparently sees him as a CM. Interested to see who he starts when everyone is fit.

Lavia seems crucial for press resistance, Caicedo is undroppable, Reece is Reece and Enzo is clearly being groomed into being the face of the club. Santos to make a return in Summer too.

5 players that should be starting fighting it out for 2 positions unless Maresca mixes it up.

5 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Maresca apparently sees him as a CM. Interested to see who he starts when everyone is fit.

Lavia seems crucial for press resistance, Caicedo is undroppable, Reece is Reece and Enzo is clearly being groomed into being the face of the club. Santos to make a return in Summer too.

5 players that should be starting fighting it out for 2 positions unless Maresca mixes it up.

Reading between the lines, Santos looks a likely candidate for a summer sale, especially off the back of a good loan. No-one is going to buy sick note Lavia or James, and Caicedo and Enzo could only be sold for a big loss given how much Eghbali overpaid for both, so that surely leaves players like Andrey, and Ugochukwu too, on the chopping board ?

10 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Reading between the lines, Santos looks a likely candidate for a summer sale, especially off the back of a good loan. No-one is going to buy sick note Lavia or James, and Caicedo and Enzo could only be sold for a big loss given how much Eghbali overpaid for both, so that surely leaves players like Andrey, and Ugochukwu too, on the chopping board ?

Yeah seems inevitable that Santos gets sold, annoyingly because we overpaid so much on Enzo. Hopefully Madrid come in for him.

26 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Reading between the lines, Santos looks a likely candidate for a summer sale, especially off the back of a good loan. No-one is going to buy sick note Lavia or James, and Caicedo and Enzo could only be sold for a big loss given how much Eghbali overpaid for both, so that surely leaves players like Andrey, and Ugochukwu too, on the chopping board ?

Zero chance of that happening. Everything points to him, Estevao & Petrovic being integrated into the first team.

35 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Maresca apparently sees him as a CM. Interested to see who he starts when everyone is fit.

Lavia seems crucial for press resistance, Caicedo is undroppable, Reece is Reece and Enzo is clearly being groomed into being the face of the club. Santos to make a return in Summer too.

5 players that should be starting fighting it out for 2 positions unless Maresca mixes it up.

Won’t be surprised to see a switch to a 4-3-3

5 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Zero chance of that happening. Everything points to him, Estevao & Petrovic being integrated into the first team.

Won’t be surprised to see a switch to a 4-3-3

I think Estevao is easy enough to integrate, as any of Madueke/Neto/Sancho/Mudryk(ban) could be sold quite easily.

Same with Petrovic, there's no one really blocking his path.

Santos seems to have a lot better/high value individuals in his way. 4-3-3 would be nice, like the Chelsea of old but where does Maresca put Palmer then? Doesn't seem to like him out wide.

52 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Maresca apparently sees him as a CM. Interested to see who he starts when everyone is fit.

Lavia seems crucial for press resistance, Caicedo is undroppable, Reece is Reece and Enzo is clearly being groomed into being the face of the club. Santos to make a return in Summer too.

5 players that should be starting fighting it out for 2 positions unless Maresca mixes it up.

Of course he does. God forbid you play a fullback at fullback.

51 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Zero chance of that happening. Everything points to him, Estevao & Petrovic being integrated into the first team.

Won’t be surprised to see a switch to a 4-3-3

I admire your faith in BlueCo !

1 hour ago, Remodez said:

Of course he does. God forbid you play a fullback at fullback.

Might be in the minority but I think the switch to the middle of the park will do him a lot of good in the long run. The last few games he has played at RB he has struggled to keep up with the opposition winger when he has been beaten with pace. Kimmich at a point was the best RB on the planet, he transitioned to CM and has been brilliant in that role for Bayern.

13 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Might be in the minority but I think the switch to the middle of the park will do him a lot of good in the long run. The last few games he has played at RB he has struggled to keep up with the opposition winger when he has been beaten with pace. Kimmich at a point was the best RB on the planet, he transitioned to CM and has been brilliant in that role for Bayern.

Our midfielders need to cover a lot of ground in this system, I would argue this is worse for someone as injury prone as Reece. I also just don't think he offers more than any of our other midfielders in that position.

He's still our best right back regardless so should be playing there.