1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Oh Mois

He drank the Rosenior waffle kool-aid.

I think it's time to acknowledge the elephant in the room that no-one outside of a few fans has really spoken about. Caicedo has been absolute trash, most of the season and looks a shadow of himself. In previous seasons he was box to box, putting in loads of effort, making crucial tackles, driving the ball forward. Basically all season he has looked like he isn't trying. The most we get out of him is some 5 yard passes back and forth, or a mis-timed challenge to give away a foul. Obviously, most of the team have been awful, but he seems to be flying under the radar. If it was a case that he was still trying his best and things weren't working - fine. But he has looked uninterested for 6-8 months.

4 minutes ago, Zeta said:

I think it's time to acknowledge the elephant in the room that no-one outside of a few fans has really spoken about. Caicedo has been absolute trash, most of the season and looks a shadow of himself. In previous seasons he was box to box, putting in loads of effort, making crucial tackles, driving the ball forward. Basically all season he has looked like he isn't trying. The most we get out of him is some 5 yard passes back and forth, or a mis-timed challenge to give away a foul. Obviously, most of the team have been awful, but he seems to be flying under the radar. If it was a case that he was still trying his best and things weren't working - fine. But he has looked uninterested for 6-8 months.

He, like many, have suffered courtesy of the chaotic tactical and selection balls-ups that have blighted us this season. He has proved his quality. He will be back.

Needs a midfield partner and steady defence behind him. 30+ games next season need to involve the same back 4 with Caicedo and Santos infront.

Hes basically played without a midfield partner for a season and a half, minimum.

during which weve played a huge amount of games, its hardly surprising hes struggled of late after carrying the team for 12 months.

Caicedo. The second best defensive midfielder in the modern history of Chelsea. With Makalele coming in at no.3.

He was brilliant and comfortably our best player in the first half of the season.

On 20/05/2026 at 22:45, TheCeleryKing said:

Caicedo. The second best defensive midfielder in the modern history of Chelsea. With Makalele coming in at no.3.

1. Essien

2. Kante

3. Makelele

4. Caicedo

5. Matic

6. Jorginho

7. Diarra

8. Obi Mikel
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

9. David Luiz

10. Bakayoko

On 20/05/2026 at 18:30, Zeta said:

I think it's time to acknowledge the elephant in the room that no-one outside of a few fans has really spoken about. Caicedo has been absolute trash, most of the season and looks a shadow of himself. In previous seasons he was box to box, putting in loads of effort, making crucial tackles, driving the ball forward. Basically all season he has looked like he isn't trying. The most we get out of him is some 5 yard passes back and forth, or a mis-timed challenge to give away a foul. Obviously, most of the team have been awful, but he seems to be flying under the radar. If it was a case that he was still trying his best and things weren't working - fine. But he has looked uninterested for 6-8 months.

Something snapped after that Arsenal red card. He carried Maresca's failure of a system on his back prior to that moment, but in fairness a lot of his moments were last-ditch, inch-perfect. It wouldn't take much to put anyone off that rhythm. More concerning is that his attacking ability has evaporated. He was the only one we had who could carry the ball at pace in midfielder, and that has gone too. I don't think it's a coincidence that the more freedom Fernandez is allowed in attack, the more Caicedo's game suffers.

We need to sign a proper DM and let him take the 6/8, box-to-box role.

2 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

1. Essien

2. Kante

3. Makelele

4. Caicedo

5. Matic

6. Jorginho

7. Diarra

8. Obi Mikel
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

9. David Luiz

10. Bakayoko

How dare you miss out on magnificent Maniche....

2 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Something snapped after that Arsenal red card. He carried Maresca's failure of a system on his back prior to that moment, but in fairness a lot of his moments were last-ditch, inch-perfect. It wouldn't take much to put anyone off that rhythm. More concerning is that his attacking ability has evaporated. He was the only one we had who could carry the ball at pace in midfielder, and that has gone too. I don't think it's a coincidence that the more freedom Fernandez is allowed in attack, the more Caicedo's game suffers.

We need to sign a proper DM and let him take the 6/8, box-to-box role.

He was driven into the ground by the witless buffoon playing him completely isolated in midfield as Enzo wandered around up the pitch, sometimes sort of making a bit of an effort to get back and support him defensively, but never with much success., Hes played 2 years of non stop football in the highest of energy role, basically hes knackered.

9 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

1. Essien

2. Kante

3. Makelele

4. Caicedo

5. Matic

6. Jorginho

7. Diarra

8. Obi Mikel
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

9. David Luiz

10. Bakayoko

I would have the Kante twins at no.1 tbh. But yeah they are all prett freaking good. Although Diarra? i would skip entirely.

On 22/05/2026 at 05:48, SydneyChelsea said:

1. Essien

2. Kante

3. Makelele

4. Caicedo

5. Matic

6. Jorginho

7. Diarra

8. Obi Mikel
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

9. David Luiz

10. Bakayoko

Makelele, Kante and Essien are world class tier.

Everybody else is so far below them that it's not even fair to compare.

Edited May 23May 23 by Scott Harris

Makelele and Matic the only traditional DMs there tbf.

To be honest needs to step his game up massively and he gets a very easy ride within the fanbase compared to others.

He’s been absolutely hopeless for half of his time here. Strange because in the middle 18 months before Christmas this year he was top quality.

2 hours ago, Dubair said:

To be honest needs to step his game up massively and he gets a very easy ride within the fanbase compared to others.

He’s been absolutely hopeless for half of his time here. Strange because in the middle 18 months before Christmas this year he was top quality.

Agree with this. Can think of 5-10 PL midfielders consistently performing better than him. His passes aren’t as crisp as they were, and the needless fouls and yellows are frustrating. Didn’t he miss four games thru suspension this season.

Needs to up his game significantly next year. Hopefully Alonso can get him firing again, and playing with a decent partner and full backs.

Lose to Germany and he's finally getting that rest he's earned.

5 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Lose to Germany and he's finally getting that rest he's earned.

Caicedo has been awful for a while now and I think he is burnt out. Football is a mess, it's impossible for some players to play at their best in what could be a once in a lifetime tournament because the schedule has demanded too much from them.

9 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Caicedo has been awful for a while now and I think he is burnt out. Football is a mess, it's impossible for some players to play at their best in what could be a once in a lifetime tournament because the schedule has demanded too much from them.

Yeah I’d ease him into preseason as well. Hopefully we get a new CM & Santos start until Caicedo is ready.

Fair points - we’re going on 7-8 months now following the red card vs Arsenal. He lost his rhythm / timing after that red card, with the rash and late tackles remerging. After Maresca left he seemed to lose his energy also.

Needs a break. His ceiling is higher than what he’s doing and we have to get him back there.

On 21/05/2026 at 22:48, SydneyChelsea said:

1. Essien

2. Kante

3. Makelele

4. Caicedo

5. Matic

6. Jorginho

7. Diarra

8. Obi Mikel
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

9. David Luiz

10. Bakayoko

Pretty good list; Mikel wouldn't make the list for me. And David Luiz would be higher as a DM. Luiz was too dumb to listen to Jose and move to midfield permanently—he was young enough for that at that time too.

Bakayoko would only wish he had the few MotM David Luiz got when played in midfield under Jose. Feb 2014 at the Etihad with Luiz and Matic in the middle comes to mind.
Bakayoko was one of the worst midfielders I've ever seen play, don't think he should be making any lists. ☺️Luiz was a good player—just not a very good CB—and IMO could perhaps have become a very interesting ball-winning or b2b mid, but I guess we will never know.

Ah! and it would be Essien and Kante tied in first for me.

1 hour ago, PhilH930 said:

Fair points - we’re going on 7-8 months now following the red card vs Arsenal. He lost his rhythm / timing after that red card, with the rash and late tackles remerging. After Maresca left he seemed to lose his energy also.

Needs a break. His ceiling is higher than what he’s doing and we have to get him back there.

Is it though? I suspect what we see is what we get with him at this point. He's 24 now—which is usually peak age for balancing physicality with tactical know-how. He's a ball-winning midfielder to his core; I just don't see him developing into a very different player at this point.

Edited June 21Jun 21 by acaeus

3 hours ago, acaeus said:

Is it though? I suspect what we see is what we get with him at this point. He's 24 now—which is usually peak age for balancing physicality with tactical know-how. He's a ball-winning midfielder to his core; I just don't see him developing into a very different player at this point.

Fair, although I think he still has room to mature and improve his positional play and reading. Maybe a better reference would have been form, and by that measure he is playing well below what we know he is capable of.

It's funny - I recall seeing him play for Brighton in Atlanta the summer he joined Chelsea during some Premier League summer series. He clearly knew he was moving on, and barely broke sweat on the pitch. Why I mention this is right at the end of the season I saw the exert same lack of effort, validated before I could even get the words out by my dad saying "that is exactly what we saw in Atlanta".

All that to say I know he is capable of better, and we need him back at that level.

8 hours ago, acaeus said:

Is it though? I suspect what we see is what we get with him at this point. He's 24 now—which is usually peak age for balancing physicality with tactical know-how. He's a ball-winning midfielder to his core; I just don't see him developing into a very different player at this point.

Well of course it is, weve seen him play much better than the last 6 months, and he did it for around 2 seasons. He has played pretty much every single game available for nearly 3 years, and often as a single midfielder alongside a player that left him isolated constantly, he carried the team for 6 months as easily the best midfielder in the premier league.

9 hours ago, dkw said:

Well of course it is, weve seen him play much better than the last 6 months, and he did it for around 2 seasons. He has played pretty much every single game available for nearly 3 years, and often as a single midfielder alongside a player that left him isolated constantly, he carried the team for 6 months as easily the best midfielder in the premier league.

Sure, I agree he can return to his best form.

I wasn’t referring to form, though. The post I replied to suggested that Caicedo has a much higher ceiling as a player, which for me would require his game to develop in entirely new directions. I just don't see that specific knack in him; I don't see him becoming a Declan Rice type, for example. Yes, he'll remain a strong player within his own characteristics, but we were discussing his ceiling—his ultimate potential as a player.

BTW, "Best midfielder in the league" goes into personal preference and what one values the most in the game; for me Rice is the better player. One who values controlling tempo will say Rodri would be better as well. Gravenberch is looking pretty good lately too. I don't see Caicedo as this "best" midfielder myself—being honest here.

Edited June 22Jun 22 by acaeus

6 minutes ago, acaeus said:

Sure, I agree he can return to his best form.

I wasn’t referring to form, though. The post I replied to suggested that Caicedo has a much higher ceiling as a player, which for me would require his game to develop in entirely new directions. I just don't see that specific knack in him; I don't see him becoming a Declan Rice type, for example. Yes, he'll remain a strong player within his own characteristics, but we were discussing his ceiling—his ultimate potential as a player.

The post said he has a "much higher ceiling than were CURRNETLY seeing".