16 hours ago, guddy69 said:

What are you trying to misconstrue from this post.. They play in similar positions. 

But there are no other points of comparison. I cannot see any comparison between David Luis and Ampadu for good or bad characteristics.

22 hours ago, Gol15 said:

 

He's a quality youngster. Has really shone in all the games I've seen him play, for us, for Wales and in that game at Spuds when he was CB. Great strength and confidence on the ball, and excellent passing ability. Has huge potential, and I'm delighted we'll have him next season.

Height means absolutely nothing in modern football. We've got Zouma, Rudiger and Christensen which are 3 beats on paper(OK, Christensen is just tall) and how many goals did they score in total the last season? I remember two from Rudiger in a draw with Leicester and this should be it. 

Christensen has 0 goals and he's been around for a long time. Zouma's second period is drought as well. 

Boy, oh boy, these 3 are terrible. 

Edited August 19, 20205 yr by Droopy

26 minutes ago, Droopy said:

Height means absolutely nothing in modern football. We've got Zouma, Rudiger and Christensen which are 3 beats on paper(OK, Christensen is just tall) and how many goals did they score in total the last season? I remember two from Rudiger in a draw with Leicester and this should be it. 

Christensen has 0 goals and he's been around for a long time. Zouma's second period is drought as well. 

Boy, oh boy, these 3 are terrible. 

I wouldn't go that far, it's still useful for certain positions but it's not as critical as it used to be.

I don't understand why you're using their low goals-scored stats as an argument for height not being important for centre backs. That is some strange logic.

There are plenty of CBs that are 6 foot flat like Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva..

Ampadu has played so few games in his career he's still mouldable, I've mostly seen him as a DM for us so can't speak for his ability as a CB.

Height means absolutely nothing in modern football. We've got Zouma, Rudiger and Christensen which are 3 beats on paper(OK, Christensen is just tall) and how many goals did they score in total the last season? I remember two from Rudiger in a draw with Leicester and this should be it. 
Christensen has 0 goals and he's been around for a long time. Zouma's second period is drought as well. 
Boy, oh boy, these 3 are terrible. 

It means something. In the Premier league at least. Most of the opponents can hurt you and many squads are built for size traditionally. Granted that is only part of defending. Frank publically said that himself so if he believes it it means Chelsea will address that problem.

If you don't have the size you need the personality. Our defenders lack of it. Someone like Christensen should just add some balls to his game. Thiago Silva who is linked to us is just over 1.80 but he really goes into players. He refuses to lose the battle. Zouma currently is valuable to us because of his size. Tammy is tall but he commands no one. He needs to bulk up a bit and really start battling opponents. We could use his height.

20 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

But there are no other points of comparison. I cannot see any comparison between David Luis and Ampadu for good or bad characteristics.

Apart from the very similar hairdos (which has now been chopped off) I think there are similarities.

Both can play in a defensive midfield position as well as centre half. Both of them have decent distribution.

I always liked what I saw of Ampadu. (Amps?) He looks confident on the ball and seems to have leadership qualities. Its something we need at the back right now. I question if its wise to use him for his leadership skills when he has just had a shocker of a season at Leipzig. Its a real shame but at 19 he can go out on loan again this season. I know he wants to be in the squad and I really want him to be a success at Chelsea but a successful season on loan at somewhere like Derby, Forrest of Brentford would be good for him. Leipzig didn't play him and it was a wasted season. He played a blinder against Spuds in the CL but that was it. 

Maybe he will really impress Frank in preseason but its a short one this year and we already have plenty of youth in the squad. Its a tough decision when we really need some tried and tested quality at the back.

Jesus he was never this big before was he? Bearing in mind that Giroud and Ruben are 6'4 and 6'3 I think, he doesn't look that far off them! Gained a bit of mass as well by the looks of things... Do we really need Declan Rice if we already have him?

It was always a concern (much like Gilmour) that he doesn't have the physical size to play his position as he'd just get overrun, but things look different now

1 hour ago, driller97 said:

Jesus he was never this big before was he? Bearing in mind that Giroud and Ruben are 6'4 and 6'3 I think, he doesn't look that far off them! Gained a bit of mass as well by the looks of things... Do we really need Declan Rice if we already have him?

It was always a concern (much like Gilmour) that he doesn't have the physical size to play his position as he'd just get overrun, but things look different now

He's actually a couple of inches shorter since he cut his hair.

Definitely bulked up, but not unusual to fill out a bit in your late teens. Still don't think he's much over 6 foot though ... he looks like he is standing a bit in front of OG and RLC in that photo, which distorts the comparison in his favour.

If he was around 6'0 before I wonder if he really managed to grow over 5cm, he's still shorter than RLC in that picture but not more than 5cm, Giroud should be taller than RLC by 2-3cm but that's not seen on the picture at all as they are dead even.

Dont really see much growth myself, although its difficult to tell in that picture. He was about 6ft before, and if RLC is 6ft 3in, he looks about the same as he was.

Maybe bulked up a little bit though, as to be expected at his age. 

I think people are counting that flat top afro as a couple of inches! 

What was the penalty for today? Didn't see it.

33 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

What was the penalty for today? Didn't see it.

2:43. 

It was a stupid tackle really. Ampadu will need to cut that out of his game if he is ever going to be top player.

33 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

What was the penalty for today? Didn't see it.

They were shoulder to shoulder. Brighton player had the ball on his right and Amapadu on his left shoulder. 

Ampadu reaches across with his right leg, his inside leg, and clipped the Brighton players left leg. 

I thought it was legit. 

MOTM Last Night for Wales:

Ethan Ampadu v Finland

90 Mins played

89 Touches

76/78 Passes (96%)

4/5 Long balls

4/4 Ground duels won

2/3 Tackles won

1 Interception

4 Clearances

1/2 Aerial duels won

2 Possession lost

He might be MOTM in another 100 useless matches but as long as there is something at stake I don't want his hotheaded actions in front of the worst goalkeeper in the world. 

Just now, Droopy said:

He might be MOTM in another 100 useless matches but as long as there is something at stake I don't want his hotheaded actions in front of the worst goalkeeper in the world. 

FFS.

Interesting that he wants to fight for a place in the squad this season. 

I can't see that he'd get much if any playing time in midfield because I just think there's already too many players for those positions but he's got to be in with a chance for getting minutes at CB. Silva is likely to play most games but the other spot is very much up for grabs and I'm not convinces any of the CBs from last season will nail the starting spot for themselves.  

1 hour ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Interesting that he wants to fight for a place in the squad this season. 

I can't see that he'd get much if any playing time in midfield because I just think there's already too many players for those positions but he's got to be in with a chance for getting minutes at CB. Silva is likely to play most games but the other spot is very much up for grabs and I'm not convinces any of the CBs from last season will nail the starting spot for themselves.  

Regarding midfield, depends how we set up, and what injuries we have ... plus he's probably the only true defensive midfielder in the squad at the moment ... Kante and Kovacic certainly aren't that, and Jorginho and Gilmour are more of a deep lying playmaker. The rest of the midfielders are attacking midfielders.

He's a decent centre back as well from the glimpses we have seen. Would probably improve hugely and quickly with a run of games as well ..

I can certainly see why Ampadu thinks it's worth hanging around ....

I can see Ampadu - Silva pair work. There is no better teacher than Silva. After seeing Rudiger struggle last night in Germany defence I feel he might have a chance.

9 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Regarding midfield, depends how we set up, and what injuries we have ... plus he's probably the only true defensive midfielder in the squad at the moment ... Kante and Kovacic certainly aren't that, and Jorginho and Gilmour are more of a deep lying playmaker. The rest of the midfielders are attacking midfielders.

I think we might player closer to a 4-2-3-1 this season so you'd have a similar midfield dynamic to Fabregas Matic we had in the 14/15 title winning season. 

Kovacic, Kante, Jorginho, Gilmour, Mount, RLC and maybe at a push Barkley (though I think he is going to leave) can all probably play in that midfield position so I don't see Ampadu getting minutes ahead of any of them personally. 

35 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I think we might player closer to a 4-2-3-1 this season so you'd have a similar midfield dynamic to Fabregas Matic we had in the 14/15 title winning season. 

Kovacic, Kante, Jorginho, Gilmour, Mount, RLC and maybe at a push Barkley (though I think he is going to leave) can all probably play in that midfield position so I don't see Ampadu getting minutes ahead of any of them personally. 

Gilmour has yet to return from injury and get match fit, half the forum claims RLC gets injured every 5 minutes, and Kante every 10 minutes (and doesn't suit any system), Barkley blows hot and cold, Jorginho is supposedly too laboured, that leaves Kovacic and Mount to be rested now and again. I see plenty of opportunity for Ampadu 

Edited September 4, 20205 yr by Valerie

27 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Gilmour has yet to return from injury and get match fit, half the forum claims RLC gets injured every 5 minutes, and Kante every 10 minutes (and doesn't suit any system), Barkley blows hot and cold, Jorginho is supposedly too laboured, that leaves Kovacic and Mount to be rested now and again. I see plenty of opportunity for Ampadu 

Plus if Frank picks his team alphabetically then young Ethan has a great chance...

But I agree with FC, I just dont see a place for him in the match day team at the moment, he will be 4th choice for every position at best. Though I`m always very happy to see a player who wants to stay and prove themselves to fight for a place in the team rather than pull a "Scott Parker".

1 hour ago, dkw said:

Plus if Frank picks his team alphabetically then young Ethan has a great chance...

But I agree with FC, I just dont see a place for him in the match day team at the moment, he will be 4th choice for every position at best. Though I`m always very happy to see a player who wants to stay and prove themselves to fight for a place in the team rather than pull a "Scott Parker".

I think Ampadu should stay and I reckon he will get some game time because of his versatility. None of his competition in Central Defense (Beyond Silva) is convincing, and with players like RLC still trying to find their best after injury he may get chances in midfield too. His loan experience last season was not the best so I don't blame him for wanting to stay.