Levi Colwill | The next Rio Ferdinand?
- Thread starter Amadaeus
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He’s not even played top level football for Chelsea yet and he’s being compared to Rio Ferdinand. 
He’s not even played top level football for Chelsea yet and he’s being compared to Rio Ferdinand.
Rio has also not yet played top level football for Chelsea.
Chelsea has some amazing young players, but those type of skillset aren't meant to win the league or even competiting for top honors, moreso to adopt a manager philosophy and develop into elite players that in the future can compete for the title and top honors.
I do not believe anyone believes that chelsea with this team will challenge for the title or is guaranteed a top four positions. They may sneak into a top four positions, but that is based on if another team stumbles. With such realistic expecting of competing and getting a champion league place, I believe Pochettino can attain that with such a squad with amazing young talent that needs guidance. The expectation is for chelsea to play much better football than last season and I m sure that is something Pochettino can easily achieve as he did it with a more dysfunctional unit at psg. Even though the individual quality isn't close to the one he had at psg, he has a much better team that is more capable of playing as a cohesive unit. Moreover, to change the environment and mindset so these chelsea players knows they are capable of competing at the highest level. With the player he has, i dont not see chelsea doing badly next season. As such, I do not fear that he will fail.
The only way he fails is if there is a major injury to som e of his key players and if Bohley and his recruitment team doesn't get him the right players.
So far, he is still 3/4 players short of having the team he needs, but the window is still open. Chelsea defense is sorted, but they still need a goalkeeper, a right attacking midfield, and Caicedo. I would say a striker as well, but they already bought jackson and I believe Pochettino can develop him into a top player.
So, I m not concerned about Pochettino failing if those criteria aforementioned happens
I think after his u21 winning performances and his loan its reasonable to think the manager would at least play whoever is performing the best in training out of him and Badiashille for the LCB role. Fofana is lucky that he's the right footer against 2 left footers, so he might get in the team because of that at times
Badiashille has played RCB before I believe.
Boy is quality and its natural for him to question whether he will play a role in team coming season especially euro places up for grabs in national team.
But not worried much about him. Three years are remaining in his current contract. Management prepare new contract for him.
Its upto him to grab his place permanently in the team. With Koulibally sold he get clear path from pre season onwards.
Pochettino also has option to play him or badiashile in DM position like he did with dier at spurs. Both defenders are very good on the ball, having good passing range, having good tackle and provide physical presence in middle of the pitch.Since matic sold we lacked physical presence in middle of the pitch. Also free up enzo to move further forward.
If Caicedo deal not materialised above option cant be ruled out.
He should. He's done his loans, proved he's capable. Better player than Fofana for me, who's coming off the back of two years of serious injuries and Chelsea paid 70m for him after only 30 odd PL games for a poor Leicester team.
You’re beyond parody. Impossible to take anything you say seriously. Does this bother you at all?
Genuine question. Has there ever been 2 cb pairing who are both left footed? Considering both Badiashile and cowil are left footed.
I can see Pochettino using him the same way he used Dier and the way Pep Guardiola uses Stone for City. However, that isn't his natural position and it will take time for him to adjust to his new role in a team with a new manager. I do not think Chelsea want that chaotic scene so early in the season with a team that has barely played a lot of games together. It is better that Pochettino gets Caicedo and play Colwill in the position he is more comfortable with and slowly adapt him to a defensive midfield role with playing with a three in the back system as illustrated below.
-----------Fofana - Costa - Badishelle/Cucarella
--------------------- Caicedo - Colwill
James ------------------Enzo------------------------------Chilwell
-----------Cherki ------------ mudryk/nkunku
------------------nkunku/jackson
When i m right almost all the time with my opinions, why does it matter what others think? I still haven't seen anymore prove me wrong in an opinion that I m adamant about.
Badiashile played right center back as well.
With caicedo i dont think we will use badiashile/colwill in dm position like he did with dier.
Yes the evolving team structure like pep used stones alongside rodri its not impossible for us too. But at chelsea we have attacking wing backs so may be overkill with that formation if caicedo signed.
Who have you put in the centre of defence?
I think he means Diogo Costa the Porto GK and then some kind of back 3 with Badiashile and Cucurella rotating for one spot. That’s what I’ve managed to decipher so far.
I don't believe it is overkill, and as seen by Pep, last season with the way he utilized stones with rodri it provides good balance between the defense and attack. Caceido is a defensive monster, he will be able to cover the right back position and the central mid position in that role as James can play more of a right midfield position. Colwill can easily slide back in defense and also occupy a more progressive defensive midfield position with two cb behind him. One of the cb, can easily cover the gap on the left side since they are naturally left footed (that is one reason I added Cucarella there, as he has shown he can play lcb role, albeit I would prefer Badishelle). That formation will give your wing backs the license to roam forward as they please and give you number in the midfield. It is what pep utilized towards the end of last season and Chelsea has the team to use such a formation, although the quality of player is much different and they would need a proper number 9 and a creative monster like cherki in the attack.
Diogo costa. Chelsea need a modern goalkeeper. Costa will play as a sweeper. Onana would have been more ideal, I do not understand why you guys ended your pursuit of him. Even though kepa goalkeeping stats are better, onana is a better ball handler with his feet. I feel that would have transformed your team, but I m happy United are getting him, but Pochettino lost out on a transformative player.
This has nothing to do with right and wrong and everything to do with you turning yourself into a laughing stock. Seriously, take a step back. Think about how you’re coming across. It’s embarrassing to watch.
This new Chelsea fan is going to be so fecking annoying all season.
I think he might mean Silva.
Can't think of one off the top of my head but I don't think it matters too much. Many great central defensive partnerships have been made from 2 right footers like Terry & Carvalho.
As the quote says, "Foolish people laugh at things they do not understand, producing the sound of braying donkeys." Those who laugh just can't comprehend some of the things I say because it is beyond their basic understanding of football.
Can we start the Amadaeus prediction thread to track this?
I'm very interested to see how often Poch deploys Colwill in centre midfield.
I really prefer this eng gen to the golden gen.
Stones & colwill ball playing with protection of rice,gks like ramsdale or pope, fbs like james, shaw, wingers like saka & rashford with AM like foden or grealish.
Shame its all looked after by southgate, can see maybe carrick growing in to a good role.
Stones & colwill ball playing with protection of rice,gks like ramsdale or pope, fbs like james, shaw, wingers like saka & rashford with AM like foden or grealish.
Shame its all looked after by southgate, can see maybe carrick growing in to a good role.
Yes you are right but problem is they didnt use wing backs. We have reece and chilwell and able subs in gusto and hall. They are very good attacking wise but still they are defenders. It will make them fully focus on attack thats not nature to them.
Never implied that Pochettino will definitely colwill in midfield. Just stated that it is an option and showcased how it can be done.
Yea, pep used Silva and grelish as their wide attackers/wingback in that system. Kyle Walker as his rcb/rb or akanji/ake as the lcb/lb. I feel that if pep had better wing backs, he would have preferred to have used them in the role that he used Silva and grelish. Chelsea has better wingbacks then Manchester city, as such the formation pep used may work better at Chelsea. James and Chilwell are proficient going forward, not as good as Silva or grelish, but they can still put in some decent number in that more advance position. What they have over grelish and Silva is that defensive awareness, so Chelsea will be more solid in such a formation than city was.
Even though James and Chilwell will be more focus on attack, which isn't natural to them, it does give them more energy to support the attack and improve the team attacking impetus, rather than when they played as rb/lb where they had to focus on supporting defense as well. With caicedo and colwill as the cdm similar to rodri and stones, it provides more support to their attacking exploitation than they would have in a back four with them as the rb/lb. Not saying that this formation above should be there main formation, but moreso should be considered against stronger opposition away.
I recall US managers using left-footed CB pairing at times*, can't recall seeing it at club level or for a top national side. For the US, it would be two from Agoos, Berhalter, Bocanegra, and Gibbs. Usually, one of them was at LB (except Berhalter) but sometimes the manager would put both left footers in the middle.
*Not counting the times they were using three defenders at the back.
Sorry, as a person who coaches football for real, I'm more confident to tell you that this pokemon setup wouldn't work and here is why:
- The whole idea of inverted full back or centre half joining in to create a double pivot is to have some sort of midfield box to control the middle. Here you have one of the most talented players in your squad, Enzo, in "no land zone" and Mudryk to play between the lines where Enzo would be much more effective due to his ball progression and creativity.
- To control midfield that way it is not enough just to have numbers, you have to pin opposition wide to create more space in the middle. In this setup you will have to heavily rely on James and Chilwell to maintain width on both sides which will leave you too vulnerable once you are facing a defensive transition - you have no one to shut the space down once ball is lost and it's highly unrealistic to expect that James and Chilwell can do it all alone.
- This "illustration" with Costa (GK) in between two centre halves is doable for a limited time/phase, f.e. kick off, unless you really expect Costa to be that high. In this scenario you have a very narrow base to play around an opponent of two centre half which increases chances to lose the ball close to your goal.
- Colwill is perfect as a wide centre back on the left side of the three man base similar to how Ake is playing for City and Martinez is playing for us. It would be such a shame to use that kind of talent differently.
You just know he's going to say Poch was let down by Chelsea when he inevitably gets the sack. The twerking has been a thing for a long time.
Hope his mouth is not as big as Rio's.
Absolutely fecking spot on - just don't hold your breath for a response.
The notion of pushing Enzo up out of a hypothetical double pivot with Caicedo where they fit perfectly together is beyond idiotic - especially because it's apparently a way to keep playing 3 at the back without any of the actual benefits in terms of team structure?
Yeah, to be fair I don't want your club to be back next season, but it would be such a crazy thing to waste talents like Enzo and Colwill in such unfamiliar positions and weird circumstances, without any clear benefits for a team.
We, ordinary mortals, with an average knowledge of football at least know where the best position for a player is.
Yeah, to be fair I don't want your club to be back next season, but it would be such a crazy thing to waste talents like Enzo and Colwill in such unfamiliar positions and weird circumstances, without any clear benefits for a team.
We, ordinary mortals, with an average knowledge of football at least know where the best position for a player is.
In fairness I think you know a lot more than I do given your experience and even I can see how silly this would be - personally I find your perspective to be hugely interesting, especially when it comes to implementing ideas on a practical level versus what might be seen on film! Hope for your sake you don't run into me at a pub because I think I'd talk your ear off.
Regarding the post in question, I can very much appreciate your conflicted position - on some level it is immensely frustrating to see a side continue to shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly, but on the other hand it also can be extremely funny. Whilst I do acknowledge that from a neutral perspective it would be absolutely hilarious to see Chelsea line up in such a manner, I am personally very glad that it seems vanishingly unlikely.
Obviously though this is a conversation between two luddites who are concerned merely with simple things like "what a player is good at" and "what a player is bad at" and "how do make team play good" as opposed to the grand sweeping vision of how players fit into the broader Pochettino masturbatory material being developed in this thread - shame on us nonbelievers!
That might be true but not necessary, but at least you are realistic and respectful. The fact that you can learn something new about everyday and that it can be from the most unexpected sources is a real beauty of this sport. For example, I learned how important it can be to use someone with great long shots against low blocks watching our local handball team !
Practical level on the pitch is the most important thing because it's one thing to have an idea of how you want your team to play, but a completely different story is to actually sell that idea to players and to train in the way to accomplish that. But that is where man management and creativity comes into the equation.
The part of running into you at the pub is actually funny because I would gladly talk for hours about football as in my local place it is very rare that you can talk about football at that particular level. But if you want you can always contact me in private.
As for conflicted opinions, they are my whole life being a Manchester United fan but admiring Pep from a coaching point of view. I was always against full backs having to run like mad machines just to create overloads in wide areas - I used to tell my players that goals are in the middle of the pitch for a reason and Pep's recent tactics are the closest it can get to committing players centrally with less vulnerability in wide areas. As long as it's funny to watch other rivals failing, I can't get away without thinking what would I do if I'm facing that particular situation. Same also goes for giving respect and credits where it is due.
But yes, we are terrible for not buying that Pochemon, sorry Pochettino esque vision and I'm glad that we get ETH instead of him - hope that this won't bite me in the future.
I love how your opinion is based on a formation you do not even know how it will be deployed. Enzo being in no man zone, shows the amount of knowledge you have.
Enzo position is a hybrid of a number 8 and number 10 in this system. It will be a number 8 when Colwill slot in as the centerback in the 3 and it will be as a number 10 when colwill is playing as the more advance cb. Mudryk is played as the lw/lf where he excelled at with Ukraine. I do not see how Enzo being deployed there is much better than Mudryk as Mudryk has more of the capability to run in behind the defenders and also provide an wide attack outlet on the flank.
There will not be any vulnerability with James and Chilwell maintaining the wide during defensive transition because Caicedo or colwill or badiashile can slot in to cover the role left vacant by the fullback when going forward, with Enzo deployed as an 8 to make up the numbers in midfield. It is a dynamic system that you don't seem ro grasp without explanation. I m sure you thought Pep formation wasn't going to work as well, and this system is almost exactly similar to that one.
The illustrations of Costa playing between the centerback is just to highlight him being a sweeper keeper and more of a modern keeper. He will not actually play that advance.
Colwill can be more perfect in the stones roles that pep has at city. Of course colwill can also fit in that role, but in this system, that role belongs to Badiashile/Cucarella, who have attributes that is fitting for that role.
I love how you said that this formation will have the team losing by 3-0 without any hard evidence. Everything you said get thrown out the window with such a claim as this system is solid defensively and in possession. I know people keep trying to take me on, but this was a desperate attempt.
Against Spain u21s was the first time I watched him properly. The lad looks absolutely class. Everything is so effortless. Looks to have a good future ahead of him.
I dont know why some outrightly said certain structure wont work.
Any system will be great if you have perfect personals to take the position and play well. Tuchel s version of 3-4-3 just an example. It was great as long as reece,chilwell and kante were fit. They give that system perfect balance in all areas from defense to attack.
For us nkunku and enzo combo will be a trump card and pochettino should build team around them to enhance their potential to benefit the team.
In that sense pochettino is lucky. He dont need to worry about mount or havertz position when he implement the play structure because they were played in our attack for three years.
I am very much optimistic about chelsea coming season with the way our squad building up.
Your "style" is neither solid defensively or in possession. The way you imagine Enzo and Mudryk positioning just exposes how clueless you are. A hybrid of 8/10 mostly occupies half space in between the lines, a place where you put Mudryk in your previous illustration. If not, they on occasion go in wide areas to recieve when winger go inside, which hampers the space for your wing back to progress.
To certain systems and roles to work out for players first of all you need to create a space for them. In this particular post you have described Mudryk as "wide outlet" while also describing Chilwell to maintain width on the left side. So where is the space created for Chilwell ? Or Mudryk is not a wide outlet anymore ? Because it wasn't illustrated like that in your post I replied originally. Also, there is no point of having left footed centre back, whoever he is (Cucurella, Badiashile or Colwill) and Mudryk as a wide outlet if you have your wingback in the patch of the direct passing lane to Mudryk.
Maybe it looks doable to you on paper but there are so many contradictions in practice. With your setup you give your own players a headache and your opponent an easier job to defend with many players occupying the same spaces, while you leave yourself so vulnerable on counters. It's simple disfuncional at the best.
You have failed at basic things and you are in denial. I tried as much as possible to help you and to be polite with my previous reply, but do me a favour and just ignore me and continue to live in your very own Disneyland. I'll pray to God that Poch can buy into your fascinating ideas.
Don't know, maybe because I'm too realistic ? Seriously dudes, this is not FIFA or FM.
EDIT: Even simulation like FM will be aware and warn you about those things.
I never played FIFA or FM in my life. It's opinion forum and I felt chelsea have personalities to implement city structure or pochettino' s spurs structure. Both were already implemented in pl effectively.Don't know, maybe because I'm too realistic ? Seriously dudes, this is not FIFA or FM.
EDIT: Even simulation like FM will be aware and warn you about those things.
Pep s interview with Rio ferdinand before cl final against us he clearly explained how chelsea operated and his present city structural play not much different to tuchel s chelsea.