Originally Posted by RichmondBlue:
“Will that make us any stronger ? It was only a week or so ago that everyone was saying how much better we looked at the back.
I didn't see yesterday's game, and have no idea why we have suddenly started conceding goals at such an alarming rate. I suppose we could put Azpil back to his natural position at RB, and try Ivanovic in the centre with Ashley at LB. But to be honest I don't think it would be a massive improvement.
I'm a big fan of Luiz, but he was making a lot of mistakes. I don't think he should be sidelined for the rest of the season though, he has too much natural talent. If Mourinho has no intention of playing him he should be sold and allowed to continue his career elsewhere, he could be lifting the World Cup in 6/7 months !
We could really do with Everton getting something out of today's game. Arsenal moving 7 points clear will start to look ominous, another 3 or 4 points on top of that and they will be difficult to catch.”
Probably not in the long run, but we need to start rotating a bit more. Ivan has been so-so lately so I wouldn't mind seeing him on the bench. And where's Bertrand? Is he still injured or something? For me, Luiz and Terry remain our best CB partnership. But yeah, you never really know which Luiz is going to turn up and that's the most fustrating part. When he's playing well he's a real asset to the team but when he's having one of his 'brain fart' moments...well...you can guess the rest.
Originally Posted by RichmondBlue:
“Yes, I'd like to see Luiz given another chance in midfield as well. Jose does seem to have of faith in Mikel, and wants Lampard to play as often as possible to give us some much needed experience.
I do find Mikel a difficult player to judge. He does some things really well, he's very calm under pressure and can hold the ball in tricky situations. But if he wanders over the half-way line, he's done for if the opposition break. He's one-paced, and that pace is set to dead slow. If Mourinho can get him to stay disciplined and just sit in front of the back four, he might be able to fill-in at the back when Luiz is making his cavalier foward runs from CB ?”
Just lol. Is he really that slow or is he just lazy? (not sure which I'd prefer tbh). It's so infuriating seeing him casually jogging back - I can't recall one moment where he's ever made a full bursted run to tackle/win the ball back in our half. Contrast that to Ramires, who even after 85 minutes will still make a Usain Bolt-esque run to stop a counter attack. I used to be a Mikel lover but you can really see his limitations as a player at times. Ramires didn't have a good game at Stoke but he's been playing so many games lately. It doesn't help that we can't really rotate him because if we have a Mikel/Lamps partnership, we look slow and laboured.