I´m not saying he will ever reach his level but some of Rojo's criticism reminds me of the Ricardo Carvalho first year thread on Shed End forum. The crying about Gallas made the forum unbearable.
16
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 26
- Clean sheets
- 8
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 6
I´m not saying he will ever reach his level but some of Rojo's criticism reminds me of the Ricardo Carvalho first year thread on Shed End forum. The crying about Gallas made the forum unbearable.
If he turns out half as good he'd still end being a fantastic defender. Especially with the standard of modern defenders.
Scares the feck out of me. Hope for some big improvement in the oncoming months.
David Luiz was mostly very good for Chelsea with the odd brain fart. I can see Rojo being the same. I'm not one of those who think David Luiz is a joke.
My point wasn´t about ability. My point was about the lack of patience towards some players in the first season at the club. Some of the Carvalho criticism in that first year was very unfair. Found it funny how some forum members had to "swallow their words" during the following years. Some wanted him out after 6 months! Look how it turned out
I've just thought about this, I have been a member of that site since it was formed (2006), Carvalho joined Chelsea in 2004. Are you thinking of another Chelsea forum?
The one that had Loz as moderator. That Shed end forum wasn´t formed in 2006. In the Ranieri days, it was already around. This one here http://www.theshedend.com/ The kick Carvalho out to play Gallas debate was amusing. They loved Paulo Ferreira though
* sry for the off topic
I was a member (since 1997!) of a site called the "Chelsea Supporters Registry" which pretty much shut down in 2006 (it stll exists as a broken, crappy site). A few of the reguars (including the excellent Loz) set up The Shed End, which has ben going ever since.
Anyway, back to Rojo. He has a really shitty tattoo of a diamond on his neck.
a couple of dodgy passes at the start. the he settled down and was fine.
I used to read the forum in the first two Mourinho years (too much free time in Law School). It was amusing. Then i got bored. It wasn´t a big forum but it had quality.
Yeah that tattoo is as bad as his crotch pants collection.
Thug life innit.
I recall when we bought Evra and vidic both looked off the pace but by the end of the season they were worth their weight in gold.
I would give Rojo till the end of the season before branding him "a mistake waiting to happen"
I would give Rojo till the end of the season before branding him "a mistake waiting to happen"
There were at least three occasions where he got caught next to a teammate and let the opposition player run through (case in point being Hazard's burst through for the 1v1). Needs to sort that out and clear everyone out if needs be.
He has been very poor so far, he is quick and quite strong but doesn't seem to have positioning skills to succeed at CB in a top league. It's still early days and he is only 24 but it's nonetheless worrying because we needed a quality defender from the get go.
He's not been very poor at all. Absolute nonsense.
Very poor is probably stretching it but he has been poor.
Everyone has been better than Evans this season.
I think he's been fine, and is improving. People just need to think back a few years to Vidic and Evra's first seasons here. He's at a further disadvantage in that he spoke no English when he arrived. He hasn't been poor, but part of me thinks he might be committing himself a bit less because LvG spoke about improving his discipline when he arrived as I think he got a few red cards in Portugal. Also consider that his CB partner has been chopped and changed almost every game. It's beyond ridiculous and far from ideal that he hasn't been able to form a solid partnership with someone at the back. He was also half the price of Mangala and looks twice as good imo (famous last words before the derby?! 
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)Personally thought Rojo has done alright! Not a world beater but for someone settling into a new league and a team with lack of cover etc, no solid partnerships. Think he's done well.
It seems to be true what we've benn told from Protugal. Sometimes he has bad positioning and is to hasty at times. I like his attitude, no nonsense defending / tackling a bit like Vidic. Hopefully, at 24 he should, he can still improve on hs game.
He had some brain farts, misplaced passes,but overall he has been fine, certainly not very poor.
And surely having a differend CB partner hasn't helped him at all.
I think he'll improve.
And surely having a differend CB partner hasn't helped him at all.
I think he'll improve.
What positional problems are you talking about? The only errors I have seen him make have been with the ball not without it. Funny enough, I am actually very confident in him with the ball on his feet. He plays these lovely passes between the midfield lines that I used to enjoy from Carrick in 12/13.
I've seen a lot of positives. Good in the tackle, calm on the ball, good carrying it out, good distribution. He's a natural footballer and natural defender.
His positioning is the only thing that has let him down at times for me and that will improve when he gets a more permernantly partner and improves communication. People forget that as a Centreback you are never working alone. Everything you do needs to be reflected by your partner so if he gets drawn out to close someone down or make a tackle, his partner needs to be ready to come across and cover the space behind him. Similarly, if he steps up to play the offside trap the whole back line need to be on the same wave length. Any individual mistake being made in defence so far is only being amplified by the fact the rest of the defence aren't sharp enough to cover for the error.
Vidic at his peak used to step up to go for a header or make a tackle just inside his own half and Ferdinand knew to position himself accordingly to sweep up should it go wrong. so far this season there's been a few times where that hasn't happened and it leaves the acting defender looking worse than they actually are as the opposition seems to be scoring with every chance they get.
I just watched the Neville/Carragher analysis on our game and Carragher highlighted Rojo's involvement in the goal with how he took Terry out of the equation. Not sure if it was intentional but it was smart play.
Exactly. The fact he's been looking in any way competent with a different CB alongside him in almost every game he plays is huge credit to him. You couldn't dream up a more challenging scenario for a CB who is trying to bed into a new team, in a new league. He's been coping admirably IMO.
I agree with it mostly but more than just his positioning, I feel how he turns off at times or does not realize danger till very late is what concerns me about him more.
He has a risky pass in him, which perhaps comes from being rushed into a pass.
Entirely agree, joining a new team and settling in is hard enough at times. A new league, a new language, and no stable partner must make things incredibly difficult. No wonder he looks a little "lost" at times, but when he has to defend 1 on 1 or make an interception he does really well. I have been pleased with him so far, apart from a few loose passes he has been OK.
He will make mistakes. That comes with the territory for all centre-backs at a new club/league. Remember Vidic's first few months at United? Like I said, though, the fact he hasn't made more mistakes despite the turmoil in our defence (constant changes to formation and personnel) this season does him a lot of credit.
He is playing with a new partner almost every game, knows very little English, new to the league and the club.
He has been good so far, could be a better yes but what he is going though would be very hard for any Center back to do.
He has been good so far, could be a better yes but what he is going though would be very hard for any Center back to do.
Not denying any of it. And I totally agree with what you say about Vidic but he came in January and that is always tough for any player, let alone a CB who has just moved country and does not know the language. Also, mistakes are made by the best and I am hopeful he will iron them out but I was just pointing out the deficiencies I noticed when he has played. Case in point, that time when Hazard was through on goal, he was caught watching the whole play instead of anticipating it or preparing himself to at least block Hazard's progress. Hazard just skipped past him while Smalling tried a last minute tackle. The whole thing made me feel that he was caught out there and that is something which I have noticed a few times with him.
In my opinion, playing at CB requires the greatest level of adjustment when coming to the Prem. Much more physical with a lot of long-balls, so I reckon he just needs some time to adapt.
Usually I would probably hate his type of player if he was playing for some other team, but as long as he stays fit I am happy with him. That's how low standards Smalling, Jones and Evans have set up here with their injuries.
Fair point, this. We'll have a much better idea of how good, or bad, our defence really is when we've managed to get them playing for a proper run of games. We just need to pray that they can remain fit.
I quite like Rojo so far. He's not without faults but the raw materials are there.
How does everyone compare Mangala to Rojo from THIS season's performances?
Precisely. Barring the Leicester game, he's appeared fairly confident too. Also easy to forget that he's still only as old as Smalling. Still at least 3 years from his peak IMO.
I've only watched him for two games and both times he appeared a bit worse than Rojo. Obviously it's too early to pass a judgment on him either
fwiw, Vidic & Evra didn't look united quality this soon into their united careers...
Vidic was also 24 when he signed for us, iirc.
Physically there is no comparison with the portuguese league. Portuguese football technically it´s very challenging but not in physical terms. In England players are much stronger. Like i said previously, in Portugal most of the teams don´t play with a big physical unit up front. it´s mostly mobile forwards or even adaptations. Another thing is that Rojo played for Sporting (and since we are a big club) most of the teams (except for Porto, Benfica and Braga) play in very defensive setups and center backs (excluding the set pieces) have to deal with counter attack football. I think he was more comfortable with that.
Haven´t been following Mangala's career but there has been some echos in the portuguese media about him struggling. Yesterday there was an article in "A Bola" about Allardyce criticizing him and saying they were exploiting his frailties. Also blaming Pellegrini for the lack of tactical support. Last year in Portugal Rojo was better than Mangala. Garay and Rojo were the best centerbacks in the league.