It's part of adapting to the new league, he could get away with it in Italy by going toe to toe with attacker, not in this league. Silva rarely go for it in that kind of 1 v 1 situation, he knew he had no legs for it, it's about staying with the attacker. KK won't get faster, he needs and will adapt. Having said that, defenders could use some help from the attackers and MF, who aren't pressing well, the time and space Leeds had to pick out pass were very alarming, and they haven't got any real good passers

I thought he played ok tonight, and second half, was prepared to  bring the ball out, and show some of his obvious passing skills

Still not fully convinced. Haven't really seen him play much before we signed him but I was told we were getting one of the very best CBs on the planet. Very early days of course but I don't see it yet.

This may be harsh but I think, so far at least, he has looked a massive downgrade on Rudiger in every way bar his ability in the air. He looks slower and his passing has been poor imo.

Sterling has done well, looking a good signing though should have double the amount of goals as he misses too many chances.

Cucurella looks massively over priced to me. I did not see the first two games bar highlights I will add but he has looked a downgrade on a fit Chilwell to me too.

Edited August 31, 20223 yr by axman2526

5 hours ago, axman2526 said:

This may be harsh but I think, so far at least, he has looked a massive downgrade on Rudiger in every way bar his ability in the air. He looks slower and his passing has been poor imo.

Sterling has done well, looking a good signing though should have double the amount of goals as he misses too many chances.

Cucurella looks massively over priced to me. I did not see the first two games bar highlights I will add but he has looked a downgrade on a fit Chilwell to me too.

I'm not seeing an upgrade on Rudiger either, not even in the air to be honest. From set pieces, I have noticed that he bumps into teammates a lot. Awareness seems a bit sh*t. Early days, but he seems like a massive downgrade rather than an upgrade or even somebody on the same level as Rudiger.

Always knew how important Rudiger to use to be honest.

Maybe Koulibably still needs time, but so far, he's not an upgrade. 

Not impressed. He looks incredibly dodgy with the ball at his feet, and the way he just let that bloke run behind him when the header hit the post, was criminal.

Still crazy to me how people who had never watched this lad play more than 7/8 times in his career spent the whole Summer calling him a Rudiger Upgrade.

has a David Luiz brainfart in him from time to time

He is a good presence and solid defender, but has a shaky moment in him for sure.  Give him more time to settle and adjust - hasn't played in a consistent backline yet.

The other day I mangled his name into Kaloulibaly. Hope that's not significent.

Just now, Valerie said:

The other day I mangled his name into Kaloulibaly. Hope that's not significent.

Significant or not, that's genius!

Pay that money for a 31 year old then give him a fat contract should be sure he’s the real deal. Unfortunately Bully had no time but money,  so this guy was always a risk. He looks off it, hasn’t exactly brought defensive stability so far. Scored a nice volley though. 
Needs more matches but at Chelsea there’s no time to acclimatize. Makes the stories in the press this weekend saying Rudy was happy to stay but Marina couldn’t be bothered to sign him up before the embargo very puzzling or just lies. 

41 minutes ago, General said:

Pay that money for a 31 year old then give him a fat contract should be sure he’s the real deal. Unfortunately Bully had no time but money,  so this guy was always a risk. He looks off it, hasn’t exactly brought defensive stability so far. Scored a nice volley though. 
Needs more matches but at Chelsea there’s no time to acclimatize. Makes the stories in the press this weekend saying Rudy was happy to stay but Marina couldn’t be bothered to sign him up before the embargo very puzzling or just lies. 

He has not looked good so far, that is for sure.

On 03/09/2022 at 17:20, HazardousChoice said:

Still crazy to me how people who had never watched this lad play more than 7/8 times in his career spent the whole Summer calling him a Rudiger Upgrade.

I have reached the conclusion that a lot of fans are just making things up at this point. Maybe they just want to look good and look like they know what they are talking about, but it's happened too many times now. Bakayoko was the biggest eye opener. From the day we became interested, I had people telling me he was going to be amazing, but every time I watched him, he just looked awful. It was the same with Morata. I could see that technically, Morata was actually pretty decent at times, but you could see a frailness in him, somebody that would struggle when things went wrong.

Then there was Lukaku last season. Fans said he had gone up a level and was now a complete player, this was complete horse sh*t. He was as bad as he was at United and still had the worst touch in the world. He hadn't improved, he was just playing in a league that suited him. 

Pulisic is the same. I thought I was going to be very wrong about him after his first season with us, but it was obviously just a purple patch, he has gotten worse and turned out exactly how I feared he would after watching him at Dortmund. 

Havertz is another, where is this generational talent everybody was hyping him up to be before he joined us?

Every single one of these players that get massively hyped up by the fans has been disappointing in recent years. When was the last time everybody was hyping up a player we signed that actually turned out as good the hype? Probably Kante. Before then it was probably Hazard. The ones that have turned out to be really good are the ones the fans don't hype up so much, the type of player half thought would be good, but the other half wasn't so sure about. Nobody expected Thiago Silva to be as good as he has been for us, most just thought he was going to fill in for a few years and be somebody the young players learned from, nobody expected him to play this many games and arguably be our best player 2 years in a row. Chilwell split the fanbase, I was one of those that thought the money we were willing to spend was crazy, and there were a lot of fans that felt the same way at the time, but he's been mostly excellent.

Is Fofana going to be next overhyped player we have signed for big money? Everybody is telling me how amazing he is going to be. Let's hope they are right, because if they are wrong, then I feel he is going to be a very costly long term mistake. The lack of speed and how easily he was bullied by the Zagreb attacker was a bit of a concern. Everybody was saying he is an easy upgrade on Christensen, but I would have fancied Christensen to come out on top in that situation most of the time, and he isn't exactly the defender you expect to win many physical battles.

On 03/09/2022 at 18:20, HazardousChoice said:

Still crazy to me how people who had never watched this lad play more than 7/8 times in his career spent the whole Summer calling him a Rudiger Upgrade.

Koulibaly was very very good in Italy (and before that). 

How long did it take for Rudiger to be at his peak for Chelsea. How many didn't want him out after a season?

Give the man some time. He just arrived in a new competition, in a new system, in a new Team and not just that. 

Half of the defence is new. The other CB only arrived a couple of days ago. Give them some time to grow some chemistry.

Judging him already in a fresh team that isn't performing well as a whole is realy harsh. 

And aside, Rudiger has so far started from the bench almost every official game. Does that mean he isn't as good as the others? 

Give rudiger some time and he probably will be the fixed CB for Real, but you need to give the players some time to settle in a new team/ competition, etc. before making conclusions.

So many people only see things as they are in a moment of a current emotion. Last year, Mendy was the best goaly of the world for some. Today he is a horrible goalkeeper. 

Maybe last year he was overperforming and this year he isn't fully settled yet. (A whole new defence could be a part of it).  

 

This made me laugh: 

 

3 hours ago, Night-T said:

Koulibaly was very very good in Italy (and before that). 

How long did it take for Rudiger to be at his peak for Chelsea. How many didn't want him out after a season?

Give the man some time. He just arrived in a new competition, in a new system, in a new Team and not just that. 

Half of the defence is new. The other CB only arrived a couple of days ago. Give them some time to grow some chemistry.

Judging him already in a fresh team that isn't performing well as a whole is realy harsh. 

And aside, Rudiger has so far started from the bench almost every official game. Does that mean he isn't as good as the others? 

Give rudiger some time and he probably will be the fixed CB for Real, but you need to give the players some time to settle in a new team/ competition, etc. before making conclusions.

So many people only see things as they are in a moment of a current emotion. Last year, Mendy was the best goaly of the world for some. Today he is a horrible goalkeeper. 

Maybe last year he was overperforming and this year he isn't fully settled yet. (A whole new defence could be a part of it).  

 

Rudiger made an almost instant impact with us, his first season under Conte was good. I don't remember anybody wanting him out, fans loved him. Rudiger only ever had one poor season with us and that was when he had a knee injury that forced him to miss pre-season and the start of the season, then on his first game back, he picked up a groin injury that kept him out for a further 2 months.

My main issue with Koulibaly is a physical issue, the way he moves, his reaction's and agility. It honestly looks like he will get done by anybody that can turn with pace. I saw it in the first game against Everton but ignored it because I thought he was just trying to settle in, then I saw it multiple times vs Leeds and that is when I became concerned. Playing against those teams that play with high intensity looks like it going to be a major issue with him, something Rudiger never had any trouble with because he matched it. Some individual errors like the one that led to the goal conceded yesterday can happen when you move to a new team and I can move on from that, as long as it doesn't become a habit, but the physical issues are not something I think we can just ignore and put down to playing for a different team a new system.

4 hours ago, Night-T said:

Koulibaly was very very good in Italy (and before that). 

How long did it take for Rudiger to be at his peak for Chelsea. How many didn't want him out after a season?

Give the man some time. He just arrived in a new competition, in a new system, in a new Team and not just that. 

Half of the defence is new. The other CB only arrived a couple of days ago. Give them some time to grow some chemistry.

Judging him already in a fresh team that isn't performing well as a whole is realy harsh. 

And aside, Rudiger has so far started from the bench almost every official game. Does that mean he isn't as good as the others? 

Give rudiger some time and he probably will be the fixed CB for Real, but you need to give the players some time to settle in a new team/ competition, etc. before making conclusions.

So many people only see things as they are in a moment of a current emotion. Last year, Mendy was the best goaly of the world for some. Today he is a horrible goalkeeper. 

Maybe last year he was overperforming and this year he isn't fully settled yet. (A whole new defence could be a part of it).  

 

Koulibaly is 31.

We signed him on a massive contract and a big fee for a player of his age despite him only having a year left because we were counting on him making an instant impact.

Young players get time.  Koulibaly really really needed to step in and start performing to a high standard instantly so we really need him to step up.

9 hours ago, Night-T said:

Koulibaly was very very good in Italy (and before that). 

How long did it take for Rudiger to be at his peak for Chelsea. How many didn't want him out after a season?

Give the man some time. He just arrived in a new competition, in a new system, in a new Team and not just that. 

Half of the defence is new. The other CB only arrived a couple of days ago. Give them some time to grow some chemistry.

Judging him already in a fresh team that isn't performing well as a whole is realy harsh. 

And aside, Rudiger has so far started from the bench almost every official game. Does that mean he isn't as good as the others? 

Give rudiger some time and he probably will be the fixed CB for Real, but you need to give the players some time to settle in a new team/ competition, etc. before making conclusions.

So many people only see things as they are in a moment of a current emotion. Last year, Mendy was the best goaly of the world for some. Today he is a horrible goalkeeper. 

Maybe last year he was overperforming and this year he isn't fully settled yet. (A whole new defence could be a part of it).  

 

You reckon Rudiger will in time be a fixed CB for a team that won the CL & La Liga? Can’t see it. Ancelotti has been around the block a lot to understand you don’t mess with a winning formula. His current starting CBs will need to screw up a lot for that to happen. Even the €80m Tchouameni would have been stuck on the bench if they didn’t get an offer from Casemiro for Utd. Think Rudiger made a bad judgment call here.

6 minutes ago, ducavis said:

You reckon Rudiger will in time be a fixed CB for a team that won the CL & La Liga? Can’t see it. Ancelotti has been around the block a lot to understand you don’t mess with a winning formula. His current starting CBs will need to screw up a lot for that to happen. Even the €80m Tchouameni would have been stuck on the bench if they didn’t get an offer from Casemiro for Utd. Think Rudiger made a bad judgment call here.

You might be right. 
but a single injury that keeps one of the 2 a week or 3 out. And if Rudiger then plays 3-5 amazing games can change it. 
surely no guarantee. 
my point was more that you need some time to adjust to new circumstances. Instead of instantly judging someone. Which what you are saying is indirectly confirming. As people who are used to a system / competition in theory perform better. 

Wait, hold on? Are people writing him off already?

Nobody with the exception of Thiago Silva and Reece James have resembled anything close to being good enough this season. The dressing room is in a mess, so many new players and a completely new system for him to get accustomed to.

Rudiger you say? The guy that took 3/4 seasons of being here to actually be good?

Koulibaly will be a great signing for Chelsea.

Also can I add that the protection our CBs get from our midfield is bordering pathetic, Thiago has been brilliant but he also plays in the centre where he gets protected by the R/LCB.

17 hours ago, ducavis said:

Think Rudiger made a bad judgment call here.

I am not sure this is what he will think when he look at his bank account. 

On 07/09/2022 at 11:35, ducavis said:

You reckon Rudiger will in time be a fixed CB for a team that won the CL & La Liga? Can’t see it. Ancelotti has been around the block a lot to understand you don’t mess with a winning formula. His current starting CBs will need to screw up a lot for that to happen. Even the €80m Tchouameni would have been stuck on the bench if they didn’t get an offer from Casemiro for Utd. Think Rudiger made a bad judgment call here.

For me it's the opposite. Evolving winning teams is what keeps said teams on the top.

I remember the Henry/Eto'o/Messi front three broke all sorts of records in Pep's first Barca season but the following year only one was still starting.