On ‎20‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 09:11, kennypaul said:

I think we need a left back who can cross a ball!

Why, no f**ker can win a header.

If he does end up coming to us, I hope to god someone takes him clothes shopping as soon as he gets here ...

Rather have Robinson.

I've not been impressed any time I've watched him. He got overrun against us and I observed similar things against Villa in those League Cup semis. 

Halstenberg from Leipzig is the guy for me. Tall and athletic, smart and a good defender. In his prime. He'll likely be Germany's LB at Euro2020.

Edited February 9, 20206 yr by Spiller86

Sadly, I think Chilwell is hyped more than he warrants.  I don't think he's the answer to our needs 

Michael Cox: Chilwell’s acceleration offers Chelsea exactly what they need

 

The easiest way of explaining Chelsea’s pursuit of Ben Chilwell is very simple — Frank Lampard wants a left-back capable of both attacking and defending.

Until now, Lampard’s options haven’t ticked both boxes.

Marcos Alonso was signed on the strength of his performances at wing-back for Fiorentina and was the greatest beneficiary of Antonio Conte’s switch to 3-4-3 early on in his first campaign as manager. Over just shy of four seasons with Chelsea, Alonso has 20 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League, a hugely impressive return, but in a defensive sense he is constantly bypassed too easily.

Cesar Azpilicueta, more of a natural right-back and certainly capable of tucking inside to play in a back three, has also featured on the left. He was regularly deployed there in the second Jose Mourinho era, when Mourinho wanted a solid defender to largely remain in position and allow Eden Hazard the freedom to attack solo. But while Azpilicueta has developed into a good crosser from the right, he offers little in an attacking sense when fielded on the other side.

Then there’s Emerson Palmieri, who doesn’t quite offer the requisite level either with or without possession — he was hauled off after just 34 minutes when Chelsea travelled to Arsenal in December, the starkest sign that Lampard isn’t convinced.

Chilwell is a more complete left-back — solid defensively, a good crosser and, in particular, very useful at attacking transitions.

His pace isn’t necessarily the first thing you notice when watching Chilwell play, but his combined acceleration and speed of thought have been extremely useful in helping Leicester City switch from defence to attack with just a couple of touches.

Here are a couple of examples.

The first comes from a 3-1 defeat away to Arsenal early last season, when Claude Puel was still in charge. Leicester scored the opening goal that Monday night, which is in the books as a Hector Bellerin own goal. The credit, though, goes almost entirely to Chilwell.

With Alexandre Lacazette playing as Arsenal’s right winger, Chilwell spotted an opportunity to storm past the striker when Wilfred Ndidi had possession in the middle.

 

Again, it’s not necessarily the speed of Chilwell’s run that proves crucial but the timing of it. Ndidi’s pass is perfectly weighted, Chilwell takes the ball past Bellerin with his first touch, gets in behind, and then his attempted cross deflects off the Arsenal right-back and trickles in.

 

 

Leicester went from having the ball in midfield to having the ball in Bernd Leno’s net, essentially courtesy of a good run and a good first touch.

Here’s another example, from August’s 3-1 victory over Bournemouth. This time, Chilwell doesn’t need to make a run, but it’s the same principle. A Bournemouth cross is headed clear and he collects a bouncing ball inside his own half.

 

He controls it with his first touch and moves forward a little, before launching a huge pass over the top for a typical Jamie Vardy run.

The ball is so well weighted that Vardy doesn’t even need to take a touch — he simply watches it bounce and then lobs it over Aaron Ramsdale to make it 1-0. Again, there’s a neat efficiency here, no touches are wasted.

While team-mates Vardy and Ayoze Perez collected hat-tricks on the night, Chilwell was arguably Leicester’s most impressive player in the famous 9-0 thrashing of Southampton in October — he was involved in the first seven goals, getting the first himself.

That goal, although ultimately a rebound from a saved shot, was another example of his ability to arrive at the right place at the right time — when Ndidi plays this square pass, Chilwell is out of shot and James Maddison thinks the ball is for him.

But Chilwell’s burst of acceleration means he suddenly comes into the picture, plays the ball first-time for Harvey Barnes, and then is on hand to tuck home the rebound.

Chilwell later showed his crossing ability, not merely showcasing technical quality to whip the ball into the box, but demonstrating great vision to pick out Perez, making a run from the opposite flank to the far post, where he volleyed home.

Chilwell has benefited from having a good on-pitch relationship with many of his Leicester team-mates. Ndidi, as well as often finding Chilwell on the run with some good passes, has also offered cover when he’s stormed forward on the overlap. Maddison, when fielded from the left flank, drifts inside to open up space. It’s easy to imagine him developing similar relationships with N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount or Hakim Ziyech in these respects.

Chelsea don’t quite have a striker as adept at making runs into the left-hand channel as Vardy, however, while Chilwell has also benefited from the good passing range of his centre-backs. He often used to sprint onto the end of Harry Maguire’s straight passes in behind — Chelsea don’t have such an obvious defensive playmaker since David Luiz’s departure last summer.

Chilwell has generally been solid without possession since breaking into the Leicester first team. He notably struggled against former team-mate Riyad Mahrez in Manchester City’s 3-1 victory just before Christmas, although this was partly because Kevin De Bruyne was making his typical runs into the channel just inside Chilwell and, much like many other sides this season, he was faced with having to track two runners simultaneously.

It’s also worth pointing out that Chilwell, along with Hamza Choudhury, was dropped for the 2-1 loss away to Burnley in January after turning up late for a training session, although this appears to have been an isolated incident.

His acquisition would be a good upgrade for Chelsea rather than a truly game-changing one, but with the 23-year-old on one flank and Reece James, who isn’t 21 until December, on the other they would have their full-back options sorted for much of the next decade.

 

 

 

Leicester fans view of a potential transfer to us...

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/leicester-city-chelsea-transfer-chilwell-4191188.amp?__twitter_impression=true

Safe to say they're thinking they're going to get another Drinkwater style jackpot for a player they don't rate.

Edited June 4, 20206 yr by Spiller86

There is a trend of young able English players. Everyone seems like a world beater. There will be sh*te ones in the bunch.

Some of the figures floating around for him are insane. He's a 40m player at best. 

Edited June 5, 20206 yr by bisright1

I do still like the idea of Chilwell, but part of the appeal is no doubt because he's another young Englishman to add to our up-and-coming group. 

He is better than Emerson for me and had proper pace and can be quite direct.

That said, in this new market - he is a 45m player and not an 80m. 

 

I am kinda blah on Chilwell, especially given the rumoured price tag of 70+ million. If we can get the price down, then yeah I'm okay with it. But from what I have read today gives me hope. It sounds like Chelsea are focusing on their top targets but aren't going to be bent over backwards. I can see Leicester not budging on the rumoured price as well as they're not a club that get's pushed around and aren't really in a position to need to sell. Of course if Chilwell starts pushing heavily for the move then maybe that can assist us in getting it down.

In all honesty, Chilwell, Tagliafico or Telles I feel would be solid buys.

 

Edited June 5, 20206 yr by chiefBlueCFC

I really hope this falls through & we end up prioritizing Tagliafico

33 minutes ago, Imran_CFC said:

I really hope this falls through & we end up prioritizing Tagliafico

If only to annoy the Ajax supporters around me a bit more 🤭

Chilwell had a decent start to the season, but he's faded a lot since. I don't feel that he would be that big of an upgrade on what we already have. I would even argue that our current left backs are better than he is in some areas.

All comes down to price for me. Could he turn out to be a really good player for us? Potentially.

This situation we are in has hit basically every club in the pocket. If the foxes still want 80mill plus would be a pass for me.

This is not the same market it was before Covid and that was a steep price to begin with. No it is just ridiculous given we are getting two players for that price.

I would go for Telles for half the price instead. We still need a quality central defender that is comfortable moving the ball out of our defence under pressure.

42 minutes ago, comtrend said:

I would go for Telles for half the price instead. We still need a quality central defender that is comfortable moving the ball out of our defence under pressure.

I think left back is important but I tend to agree that a left footed centre back and proper keeper are bigger issues right now. Alonso is actually handy in a back 3 and Dave is capable on that side. Emerson was also great last year. He is still capable.

3 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Chilwell had a decent start to the season, but he's faded a lot since. I don't feel that he would be that big of an upgrade on what we already have. I would even argue that our current left backs are better than he is in some areas.

He's a bit of a jack of all trades. I think Frank sees him as someone who could grow into a world class left back though. He has all the physical attributes.

My feeling is that if the fee is reasonable we'll buy. I have an odd inkling that Roman might just be going to use the relaxation of FFP for COVID to pump some money in himself with no consequences. We've also got our money from sales. Could be an interesting window.

3 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

I think left back is important but I tend to agree that a left footed centre back and proper keeper are bigger issues right now. Alonso is actually handy in a back 3 and Dave is capable on that side. Emerson was also great last year. He is still capable.

He's a bit of a jack of all trades. I think Frank sees him as someone who could grow into a world class left back though. He has all the physical attributes.

My feeling is that if the fee is reasonable we'll buy. I have an odd inkling that Roman might just be going to use the relaxation of FFP for COVID to pump some money in himself with no consequences. We've also got our money from sales. Could be an interesting window.

I actually trust kepa I think he will come good 

1 hour ago, SFL82 said:

I actually trust kepa I think he will come good 

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one haha

Speaking of Chilwell. Someone posted this of all touches against Liverpool. I chuckled but I think it confirms what everyone has been saying:

 

I personally dont mind him, my only concern is the money being rumoured. I wouldn't pay anything over 40 million as mentioned by adam a few posts ago.

Leicester apparently want £80m for him. Can’t see Marina paying that. 
 

£40-50m max

I’d rather we looked elsewhere but under £50m I’d be OK.

 

If Ashley Cole rates him, then that’s good enough for me. He’d know about top quality LB’s!

Edited June 6, 20206 yr by EdinburghBlue

17 hours ago, JM7 said:

Leicester apparently want £80m for him. Can’t see Marina paying that. 
 

£40-50m max

Yeah from all the reports about Marina, she is known to be a hardline negotiator and does waver much on her set goal post

We need a very good left back but I am not impressed by Chilwell. He looks the part; young English, pacy, likes to go forward. Maybe he just looks too much a fit. I feel if you give Emerson a run of games he can produce everything Chilwell can.

I dont see this happening unless we pay silly money which i dont see us doing. He has 4 years left on his contract aswell, wouldn't say he's desperate to leave Leicester as they are doing well.