Have to say, of all the hype around the youngsters, he's underwhelmed me (along with Hudson-Odoi) with his performances the most this season. Injuries haven't helped him for sure. But if I think about his displays, I can remember his goal against Ajax and some good crosses. But he hasn't put in that stand out overall display YET - I'm not writing him off here - that convinces me he has the position for the long-term. The fact teams seem to be consistently targeting his flank and getting crosses in, is a concern. 

1 minute ago, The Brit said:

Have to say, of all the hype around the youngsters, he's underwhelmed me (along with Hudson-Odoi) with his performances the most this season. Injuries haven't helped him for sure. But if I think about his displays, I can remember his goal against Ajax and some good crosses. But he hasn't put in that stand out overall display YET - I'm not writing him off here - that convinces me he has the position for the long-term. The fact teams seem to be consistently targeting his flank and getting crosses in, is a concern. 

The more I watch him the less I think hes a right back, or defender of any kind. He, like Alonso, maybe would flourish as a wing back in a 5 but he has no positional understanding or discipline. He looks a hell of a prospect as he has a fantastic technical level, pace and size. But I` not sure where he should play.

1 minute ago, dkw said:

The more I watch him the less I think hes a right back, or defender of any kind. He, like Alonso, maybe would flourish as a wing back in a 5 but he has no positional understanding or discipline. He looks a hell of a prospect as he has a fantastic technical level, pace and size. But I` not sure where he should play.

The ease in which sheff utd played around him and Willian on Saturday for the second goal...stuff of nightmares...

34 minutes ago, dkw said:

The more I watch him the less I think hes a right back, or defender of any kind. He, like Alonso, maybe would flourish as a wing back in a 5 but he has no positional understanding or discipline. He looks a hell of a prospect as he has a fantastic technical level, pace and size. But I` not sure where he should play.

He's a right back, when Lampard put him in the midfield he played his worst game of the season. If he were as Alonso he wouldn't be playing at all, he's obviously better.

He's still a 20 year old, his positioning and marking will improve next season, it's ridiculous to say that you don't know where he should play, he's very far from a finished product. Not as good in offense as Alexander-Arnold and not as good in defense as Wan-Bissaka but he's younger and will end up being more balanced in a few years time.

 

Just now, Gol15 said:

He's a right back, when Lampard put him in the midfield he played his worst game of the season. If he were as Alonso he wouldn't be playing at all, he's obviously better.

He's still a 20 year old, his positioning and marking will improve next season, it's ridiculous to say that you don't know where he should play, he's very far from a finished product. Not as good in offense as Alexander-Arnold and not as good in defense as Wan-Bissaka but he's younger and will end up being more balanced in a few years time.

 

Which games has he been good at right back so far? And I dont mean good as in his all round game, his crossing and attacking etc. I mean defensively good. If you read above someone pointed out he was basically moved in to right back in the youth teams out of necessity, it wasnt his natural position. 

And I wasnt equating him to Alonso`s level of player, just that his defensive abilities at the moment are not good enough for him to be our right back in my opinion, but he would be more suited to a wing back in a 5 to make the most of his attacking ability whilst covering his defensive problems.

First game that comes to mind is when he shut down Zaha full time... That's your 20 year old wonderkid stopping a winger at his prime.

I`ll be honest I forgot about eh Palace game. Look, I`m not saying hes rubbish or anything, I think hes a fantastic prospect and of all the youth coming through a the moment he is the one I believe will have a long career with us as a first teamer. I`m just not convinced its going to be as a full back, and like RLC I`m just not sure where he will end up playing. 

Of all the young men who promised a lot for this season he was the most exciting to see, he had better and worse days, but I believe that any elite coach would choose to be able to work with James sooner than any other.
He has physical, technical and personality conditions that can make him an elite player.

A young man with this potential needs a great coach at this age.
A coach who pays attention and fits you in a well-crafted team.

We know well that we have a coach who doesn't understand anything about how to put a team to defend.

So it's inglorious for James. And here I also include Tomori.
Who suffered and much of the same ills.

I believe that with a better coach, Tomori and James would already be much more developed and stable in the starting lineup, I have little doubt about that.

They are the bets that would be worth it. And not CHO, Mount or Tammy, who were sold as stars but will not be football stars.

33 minutes ago, Mr. President said:

Of all the young men who promised a lot for this season he was the most exciting to see, he had better and worse days, but I believe that any elite coach would choose to be able to work with James sooner than any other.
He has physical, technical and personality conditions that can make him an elite player.

A young man with this potential needs a great coach at this age.
A coach who pays attention and fits you in a well-crafted team.

We know well that we have a coach who doesn't understand anything about how to put a team to defend.

So it's inglorious for James. And here I also include Tomori.
Who suffered and much of the same ills.

I believe that with a better coach, Tomori and James would already be much more developed and stable in the starting lineup, I have little doubt about that.

They are the bets that would be worth it. And not CHO, Mount or Tammy, who were sold as stars but will not be football stars.

Jesus f**king christ.... you really dont like Lamps as a coach do you,... 

Dropped tonight.

Looked good when he came on. 

I think he, like everyone else, will benefit and flourish once we have a dominant CB. 

The two crosses he put in late on deserved more

Good call by Frank, Idah was drifting to the right flank to presumably take advantage of Azpi's fatigue. Reece James put a stop to it and Idah moved centrally.

Edited July 14, 20206 yr by the special one

9 hours ago, the special one said:

Good call by Frank, Idah was drifting to the right flank to presumably take advantage of Azpi's fatigue. Reece James put a stop to it and Idah moved centrally.

Thats how I saw it, a good move by frank as Idah was dominating Azpi physically, James came on and that was stopped. His crosses were excellent too.

20 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

On this forum? I disagree - as soon as he has a below his usual standards game the ‘he’s finished’ or ‘not good enough anymore’ posts start & crying for James to play who comes in and inevitably plays even worse but gets praised.
The guys 30 years old. I’m not sure where this myth of players being finished when they get over 30 comes from. Sure their resale value will start to go down but a lot of people reckon Giroud is our No1 striker and class, he’s 33 going on 34 and I’d argue playing some of his best football for us.

Have to embarrassingly admit thatI i thought Azpi was about 32/33 years old.

30 is not old by any stretch, so I was wrong to say we need younger legs. 

16 hours ago, Bonzodog29 said:

Jesus f**king christ.... you really dont like Lamps as a coach do you,... 

Pretty confident they’re not actually a chelsea fan and are on here to wind people up/troll based on the posts that account has been making.

6 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Pretty confident they’re not actually a chelsea fan and are on here to wind people up/troll based on the posts that account has been making.

Either that, or some time in the past Lamps f**ked his missus then wiped his cock on the curtains 🙂 

On 14/07/2020 at 12:25, EdinburghBlue said:

On this forum? I disagree - as soon as he has a below his usual standards game the ‘he’s finished’ or ‘not good enough anymore’ posts start & crying for James to play who comes in and inevitably plays even worse but gets praised.
The guys 30 years old. I’m not sure where this myth of players being finished when they get over 30 comes from. Sure their resale value will start to go down but a lot of people reckon Giroud is our No1 striker and class, he’s 33 going on 34 and I’d argue playing some of his best football for us.

It was a legit concern at the time. He's bounced back amazingly well but the back end of last season and start of this he was showing similar worrying signs Ivan did before he completely collapsed.

That plus James's spell at Wigan (it may be a level below but he's considered by many fans their best ever player which is a big achievement considering Wigan were in the PL for many years and had a good go at the cups even winning one) meant it was understandable the possibility was brought up.

 

MUCH better from James today. The more the game went on, the stronger he got and looked like the player who was head & shoulders Wigan POTY last season.

We need to remember he is only 20 and still has a lot of learning to do but today was a big step in the right direction.

I think he's just played himself back into form, not every gets going immediately like Willian does. I expect him to keep it up for the rest of the season and we'll look much better going into the final games.

MOTM for me, showed a lot of maturity and won the ball back for Mount's goal (Callum take note). His combination play (with Willian and Azpi) and tactical awareness left me beaming. An immense performance.

Edited July 19, 20205 yr by the special one

How can he be so gifted? It's feels like we're cheating by having all this talent 

Benefitted massively from having Azpilicueta support him both vocally and positionally. 

He pressed at the right times, held his position at the right times, and he didnt put a foot wrong all game.

Always knew he was quality. He can be shaky at times and that shouldn't come as a surprise given his age plus a lack of leadership at the back. He's going places, only a matter of time.