I think Nice is probably right here too. Ideally we want width because everyone one of our mids are central mids so naturally the gravitate centrally. With Willian, Pedro, Pulisic, and CHO we have natural width. I think once we're healthly we need to play with two of the four wingers and a 3 man midfield meaning we have 6 for 3 spots. Ross is easily the yth best, which isn't a bad thing. Ideally Kova can fill either spot for Kante/Jorginho if we with 2 base for the midfield or he can fill Jorginho's spot as the anchor. That leaves RLC and Mount and RLC offers everything while Mount offers goals and his engine. There are plenty of matches too. Having options is a good thing.
Players always say nice things about other players. These sorts of pronouncements are completely meaningless.
i've been going back in forth in my head on how a midfield three could work with both RLC and Mount in it. i believe it would with Kante at the base. it would be pretty similar to the Lamps, Essien, Ballack days in it's make up with Mount, Kante, and RLC. that was an amazing midfield at the time, would something like that work now in this league? i think it might be able to, as both Mount and RLC are more overall athletic than Lamps and Ballack were (meaning a little more mobile and dynamic in their movements). should be mentioned though that both jorginho and kovacic have stepped their games up quite a bit from the Sarri tactics, kovacic in particular.
I absolutely think it could with Ruben playing deeper and Mount more advanced. I know Mason isn't polished yet, but worth noting his pressing is superb and he's been responsible for really quite a few counters. More than anything, we'll have options, and that's a good thing to have. And as to your point about Kovacic and Jorginho, they've been really good and there isn't any reason that one if not both can play.
Um....Essien was never very good as a dm though. Also, you’re massively underselling Lampard and especially Ballack as athletes - they were certainly not any worse than Mount or RLC, neither of whom have shown great pressing or defending ability. Against terrible sides that midfield might work, but I think we’d really struggle against any side that can counter effectively or contest the midfield. RLC, despite his size, has never been a very combative player. I don’t think a midfield 3 of RLC and Mount works well without an elite DM who sits (which isn’t really want Kante is best at). We would also need a good passer there, which we had with Lampard, and I’m not at all convinced that RLC or Mount have that skill yet. Of course, this all goes to my “let’s pump the brakes on the Mount hype” angle to an extent.
Roberto Martínez described Barkley as a mix of Paul Gascoigne and Michael Ballack. England manager Roy Hodgson has said that Barkley's "pace and power" as well as his "excellent technique" are reminiscent of Paul Gascoigne. Barcelona midfielder Xavi said in November 2014 that Barkley is good enough to play for the La Liga club, praising his physical and technical qualities. Yes, 5 years ago. He was an impressive 19 year old. I still think he has something to offer us as a squad player. We are only 3 games in. We should not believe too much of the Mount hype and nor should we invest too much in the Kovacic has changed and totally transformed hype.
We have 3 samples under 3 managers with Ross. He is a decent player, but he's a squad player. The other thing with Mount is that Frank trusts him. We'll continue to wait for Barkley to develop and based on a large sample size, it won't happen or he isn't going to be drastically different than he is now. And that's okay.
The problem with Barkley is he hasn't really progressed much since he was 19. This was part of the game against Leicester where he makes a mazy little run across their defence before laying the ball off to someone for a shot... So I can see having him around as another body who, in truth, will offer a LOT more of a goal threat than any of the other 3 midfield options we have available right now, (IOW until RLC, CHO, etc. get back). As to whether he should be a regular started, that I'm not sure about and I don't think Frank is either. The thing to bear in mind here is that Frank intended to start Pedro rather than Ross. That should tell us something.
but essien played as a DM quite a lot that season in that midfield. it was the debate at the time. should Mikel hold with Essien in the RM or should essien hold with ballack at RM. that's what made it hard because you had three elite midfielders all having to compromise a little of what they were great at to accommodate all of them. considering that they did a fantastic job. a lot of people at the time thought ballack would come in and take minutes from frank but they found a way to make it all work. though i do get your point. but mount CAN press, really well actually. and RLC has started to use his size and become much more physical the last year. now, again i do agree that it doesn't mean he'd suddenly become a defensive master but i think he could adapt and i've seen him play that way more when he was at CP and playing in the middle on occasion. either way we'd have a long way to go before this was some sort of locked in starting midfield. as for Kante not sitting, it's not all about sitting. essien didn't sit when he played that role either, but certainly the conte version of kante could play that dm role. but, to be clear, i've expressed my own doubts on this working or not by how i introduced the argument in the first place. i was actually asking the question.
Oh, I am not saying that Ross should be a regular starter. He is a squad player. Not sure Frank see's Barkley as a regular and Sarri didn't either. We can all remember that Sarri switched Kovacic and Barkley with regular. . .regularity. Pedro. Not a massive Pedro fan tbh, never have been. But we need our more experienced players to help anchor our younger players. Keep us on an even keel.
Indeed it could, and there would be merit, to a degree, in said argument. However, I (personally) believe that Lampard sees a future Lampard((esq) player in Mount. Jorgi and Kovacic are excellent players but will most likely never be that midfielder getting into the box to score, a trait that I believe Lampard sees as a basic element of his managerial tactics. I also believe that eventually as the season rolls along, he'll have Kante drop into the space directly in front of the back four. Now, there will come a situation when RLC comes back as to where his best position will be.I have always thought he would be the heir to the "lampard role"...now I wonder. Now, dont get me wrong, RLC still has a hell of a lot to prove, but he has the undoubted potential imho, and we did do quite well when Lampard played the middle with a certain German Captain. This, of course, would really need us to change formation I suppose. Who knows what Lampard has in mind when the walking wounded come back.
Oh wow mate... Pedro, I believe, is a class act, pure skill and guile and one of the most underrated (overlooked) players in the league.
outside of his hilarious backward runs, he's been incredibly important to this team and one of the more clutch players in the squad with some incredibly huge and important goals. certainly something you can't say of willian even though he has his qualities. also an incredible player to have an a mentor to someone like pulisic with his workrate and commitment. not to mention he one of the most successful players by trophy count playing the game right now outside of the more obvious superstars.
I agree that I think Lampard hopes Mount will be a great player for us and likely sees him as the starter, but he’s also managed him for an extra year. I’m not sure he will be, but then I’m not suggesting my possible best midfield at the moment is set in stone. Jorginho isn’t a nailed on starter, especially if Sarri isn’t the manager. We’ll see how RLC does in the new system. Lots of possibilities!
Pedro is a very useful player, so long as you don’t expect him to be creative. Classic 4-3-3 forward.
I like Pedro. Pedro is consistent and occasionally produces something special. He also suffered from comparison by being in the same squad as Hazard which causes some to look down on him and judge him on the wrong criteria. I have no problem at all with him still getting plenty of minutes in this team and passing on his work ethic and experience to the, increasingly numerous, younger players in the squad. I certainly don't wince when I see his name on the team sheet unlike some others in the squad.
I have always been in the Willian is better than Pedro camp. Willian being faster more direct and the ability to hit a nice free kick. I have always found Pedro a little midget-y. I know, short people are people too. . . .
Yes I managed to see the last hour or so live I was up on my feet shouting at the TV. I could not believe it when Lyon dropped the ball for the runout. An how I laughed when the Aussies had no reviews left for the Stoke's lbw A great weekend of sport appart from Ireland rugby
to be fair it took quite a while for me to fully appreciate pedro's value to the team and recognize what he's achieved in his career. but at the end of the day he's been a more consistent performer of the two for chelsea.
Not sure about that. Data indicates otherwise. But yes, Pedro of late has been good and I appreciate him as a squad player. Willian ended the 2014–15 season having appeared in 36 of Chelsea's 38 league matches as the club won its fifth league title. · Chelsea Player of the Year: 2015–16 · Chelsea Players' Player of the Year: 2015–16 AND 2017–18
You can’t pass him the ball and expect him to just “do stuff”. He’s very different from Hazard that way - or even Willian. But as someone who makes good runs and plays very well in a structured system, Pedro is great. I don’t mean by that he doesn’t have good technique. I’m also not sure why suggesting that Pedro isn’t an especially creative player is “lunacy”, but ok.