Which CB in "their prime" who was remotely available is as good as Silva even at 36?
Chelsea 2020/21 - General discussion
- Thread starter duffer
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Not in place if Silva but as a partner to him.
Azpilicuetta is solid, good, reliable backup mate. He’s not Bissaka on the ball and he’s not inexperienced like Brandon Williams.
Zouma looks very good this season, tbf. I think Chelsea mainly need to get Silva's replacement right mid-term, and that's their starting CB duo sorted.
James has been one of our primary creators this year - while Azpi can do a job, he's clearly past his best and even at his peak he never produced in the attacking third the way Reece has this season. It'd definitely be a massive loss if true.
If a right back with only 2 league assists is one of your primary creator then that’s very concerning.
Watch them play and you'll see why that is.
Once they finally get the ball into the opponants half they find themselves with too many players who can't make an insisive forward pass or beat players to open up a defence, so they passing it to James for a lump into the box is pretty much all they have as an attacking option.
Furthermore, they haven't even beaten a team above 12 place yet.
Chelsea and Lampard' are fortunate that Arsenal and Arteta are performing even worse and getting most of the negative headlines, but I highly doubt Lampard will survive the axe if they loose to West Ham and Arsenal.
I got it because I saw it as well but the guy only had 2 assists. Losing player who had only 2 assists is really not big deal for your creative department.
Two assists but he's been robbed of many more by players missing sitters from his chances.
Just another reason why the assist stay can be misleading (unless you get obscene figures like KDB or Cesc) the other end of the scale will be Matic who a good number of "assists" in Conte's title winning season by happening to be the one who passed to Hazard before he scored a wonder goal or was the one who passed to Pedro before he hit one in from 30 yards.
Key passes and chances created are a better barometer of true creativity than assists, until what qualifies as an assist is better defined they're good for fantasy football and that's about it.
It is misleading if we are discussing whether he‘s good or no. But I’m not saying he’s not good player. I was pointing out the fact that your manager is making him as the main creator is very concerning. He only produced 2 assists and isn’t even in top 10 of highest xA. You need to find different way there.
I have genuinely never come across someone so obsessed with another club and their signings. Its weird
Yeah i remember once Antonio Conte wound him up so much he was on the Chelsea thread of that season ranting about him while United were playing.
What's even more bizarre is it wasn't even the season we pissed the league (this happened), it was the following one when we were struggling
It is misleading if we are discussing whether he‘s good or no. But I’m not saying he’s not good player. I was pointing out the fact that your manager is making him as the main creator is very concerning. He only produced 2 assists and isn’t even in top 10 of highest xA. You need to find different way there.
He's not the main creator - ideally he's more like our tertiary creator behind Ziyech and Pulisic. Given injuries to the former two against Everton, he was generally our best attacking outlet and it's telling that we lost that game.
He's not on TAA's level as a creator in that he can't be the primary creative player for a team with aspirations, but he's absolutely a weapon & a key element of our attack. Losing him would be a catastrophe unless we dramatically reorganize things (e.g. Chilwell overlapping far more, or Havertz as the left sided 8 doing overlaps to combine with Ziyech).
All of a sudden down to about 8th. Really tight from 3rd down to mistake. Especially with 3 games coming in the next 10 days or so.
Being 8th means nothing really when there is only 3-4 points separating about half the league.
I think Reece James would be the one player I'd take from Chelsea given what we need, his age, the fact that he's English etc. He's basically got that position for as long as he wants it.
Far more concerning is surely the fact you don't seem able to do much against top half opponents.
Statistical quirk. Not concerning in the slightest.
I remember Chelsea were in great form at the start of last season but their fixture list was extremely generous. As soon as some tough games came up you immediately started dropping points. Looks like there might be more to it than it just being a 'statistical quirk'.
If you consider Southampton, Wolves and Burnley away extremely generous, then you're right. Those are tough games though, we have failed beat two of them this season - all 3 of them ended up on more than 50 points last season.
United's home record this season was another statistical quirk that you're now beginning to correct.
Well, that was during Southampton's extremely wobbly period in which they lost 6 out of 8 games and drew the other two, one of the losses being the nil - 9 at home to Leicester. Burnley? Really? I think you're slightly clutching at straws. Wolves is a tough game but one any of the 'top' teams will be wanting to win, especially those gunning for top 4 and beyond.
Not really. Are we talking about top half teams or actual top 4-6 teams? Seems like you're moving the goalposts slightly. The statistic you were referencing was Chelsea not being able to beat any decent (or top 10) teams this season, which is a statistical quirk because we beat loads of them last season and literally any other season you care to look up.
I'm not, actually. When you beat Southampton away they weren't a top half team, neither were Burnley or Wolves. Southampton were 18th, or 19th, as were Wolves. Burnley finished 10th and Southampton finished 11th, Wolves 7th. I just don't think you can point to those games and deny that that run of games was easy, particularly given the form of the teams at the time.
What was your original point? That we can't beat top half teams this season, yes? So that's not a statistical quirk or an analomy that will likely correct itself when we actually beat lots of them last season and any other season?
Imagine if you still had Lamptey in the ranks!
Chelsea will beat West Ham tomorrow night and then this chat about them not being a top half team will be put to bed
Livramento is waiting in the wings and that boy can play. If James is out for a few games or longer, I hope he gets a shot in a game.
You know they've lost it when you're not even posting but the locals are still seething and talking about you in their teams own thread 
I think Chelsea will have a good season. Not top 3 obviously but around 4-5th. I’m not sure that Will be enough for Lampard to stay for another season since they finished 3rd last season without Werner, Havertz, Ziyech, Silva and Mendy. Abramovitch wants a serious title challenge after that heavy investment for sure. And who can blame him?
It's a very good point, though Lamptey seems to be limited to a role as a wing back currently. I'd love to have him as an option though - given James' ability to play in midfield, I think Lamptey would be a valuable option not only as squad depth but for adding something else.
Get out of here with your 6 goal inspired reverse jinx attempts!!!
Unfortunately the case of Lamptey is the downside to having so many top young players coming through, some will slip though the net simply because there's not enough room. Hopefully he goes abroad instead of one of our top six rivals but I have a feeling he will be at United within two years unfortunately.
Likewise will probably happen with one of Gallagher or Anjorin unless Havertz completely flops.
It's not just the lack of wins though.
Not a single goal in their matches against the decent teams.
Just as alarming should be their performance against Wolves.
They were only in the game while Wolves sat back and contained, but as soon as Wolves stepped up a gear in the second half Chelsea were found wanting with their midfield and defence ripped apart numerous times, especially Chilwell and James. Their keeper is also starting to look wobbly after a good start at the club.
Lampard took over a team which finished 3rd, won a Euro trophy and were unlucky not to win the Carrbao cup as well.
Two years on and they still look half a new team away from even challenging Livepool, or a new manager who can produce something better out of this rather disjointed assembly of players.
Yeah for sure I can't blame the lad for feeling he was ready to contribute because he obviously is. For him in particular I think he has to play at wing back and would always be limited as a fullback - I'd say a team like Wolves would be great for him.
Gallagher is quite the prospect - hope he's given a shot. Perhaps we can move on some of our deadweight to Arsenal - given the credible links to Jorginho this doesn't seem an outlandish proposition!
Losing your tertiary creators shouldn’t be a catastrophe though. Weakened the team but not catastrophic as He’s not like our Bruno or your KDB or your Grealish or your Kane. It’s more like what if arsenal losing Saka, will it even make big difference to their performance despite of the player being one of their best player so far?
They finished 4th last season, behind United...
Well, of those top 3 creators only Pulisic is fit now (and has to managed closely given his injury history). I also am of the opinion that Azpilicueta is pretty much past it, though obviously I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.
He’s not your top 3 best players. He’s not even your top 3 most assists provider. Mount is even above him in term of xA. Again, I don’t know where is this big loss, people like to find excuses.
I mean obviously you haven't watched us play enough then. James has consistently been a vital attacking outlet all season whilst being a rock defensively. Also it's zero surprising that an 8 who plays centrally and takes set pieces has accumulated more xA than a right back - Mount has also played more minutes.
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Well in fairness, look at the leap Stones has made next to Ruben Dias.