Nathan Ake

still at the club but without a contract according to wiki ... although I thought his neck was better?

 

I imagine Holebas will lower himself to our level for 90 minutes if QSF asks nicely

 

We joke but from watching the highlights, Holebas was being prepped to come on when Ake was down. Then Ake just rose from the dead leaving Holebas to wander back to his seat

 

Either that or Anya reverting to LB again

 

Anya I'm sure. Only played there two games ago.

 

And what a resounding success it was...

 

Might be worrying a bit but with Ake being Dutch u21 captain, the new Chelsea manager being Dutch, and Chelsea struggling and could see us as competition for a European place..

I hope they don't take him back, he was great today, best left back display I can remember in Watford colours..

 

Would love for him to be signed permanently but..... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/12057710/Nathan-Ake-I-still-believe-I-can-make-it-at-Chelsea.html

:doom:

 

I think we all know Chelsea hold all the cards in this one. But if they tell him he has no prospect of achieving that aim and they're happy to accept a bid for him he'll be off.

 

Having him ineligible to play against Chelsea on boxing day due to terms of loan deal is going to be massive.
Definitely going to be missed. Anya at LB I would assume? Best option in there sadly. Fingers crossed...

 

Awesome player. Getting better and better, and then better still. Would love it if we could keep him.

 

I'd rather put Holebas there. Get him in the shop window for a match that we don't really care too much about and never planned to pick up points in. If he (and we) does well then the number of suitors increases. If we don't do well then it's no biggie for us as we've got 20 more matches to pick up 12 points in

 

Now we're a decent Premier League team Holebas might actually want to play for us. His recent inclusions in the squad suggests he might be showing a bit more willingness to get into the team in training.

 

Whilst I feel he is a better option for LB, it seems perhaps a long shot for him to be starting under the "play them when they are 100% ready" mentality Qique is implimenting. I hope he does start and plays a blinder, can't see Anya playing any better!

 

Still very naive defensively I think, drawn far too central twice that I noticed today, he won the tackle one of the times (partly due to a lack of vision by the Liverpool player) but definitely got done the other time. Still improving with every game though and has solid potential.

 

I agree that his decision making at times needs some work and he benefitted from a poor touch and vision in the tackle you refer to. Great young talent though and a player who continues to get better and better

 

I disagree that he's "very naive defensively" - he wouldn't be in the team and we wouldn't look so solid if he was. I presume the occasion he "got done" was when they spread the ball and Henderson had a shot tipped over? If so, I don't even think he got done, he was close enough to close Henderson down and he only got past him with a lucky ricochet in the tackle.

Every full back will got caught out of position a couple of times a game. Nyom often gets on the wrong side of players and has to use his pace to get himself out of trouble - is that naive too or is it something we only say about young players? I would say there was a problem if he kept playing people onside or getting caught up the pitch, not that he's tucked in when the opposition spread the play. He looks like a quality full back already to me with the potential to be very, very good.

 

I'd buy him, providing Chelsea aren't too silly about the asking price

Best left back we've had for a very long time

 

One way or another a change in necessary for Chelski. Holesbas is rusty & his attitude questionable. Anya's not really a fullback. Bring in the excellent Behrami & go 3-5-2. Just because QSF hasn't played that formation yet doesn't mean he can't or won't.

 

Or just play Britos at left back and bring Prodl back in.

 

That would be my first choice if he's fit, the fact he wasn't on the bench yesterday makes me think QFS might not go down this route.

 

Seriously ? A match that could keep a winning streak going. A match that could keep us near the European places in the league. A match that could earn us more points to keep us further from relegation.

 

I knew this was coming. We've said it from the start, the players have also said it from the start. This was a throwaway game and can still be treated as one because, as I've said, we've still got 20 more matches to pick up 12 points in. As for the whole European places thing, 20 games is a huge amount of games and a draw/loss to Chelsea will not affect us mentally

 

I understand the point, but I disagree.

We're in a position that nobody would have realistically expected when we first saw the Xmas fixtures. Of course we viewed them as no-brainers at that time.

But now we're on a roll. We have confidence. We have momentum. I know we are likely to lose another game at some point, but I wouldn't want to see us do so willingly. It is too easy to go on a losing streak and find ourselves dropping down the table.

I also think that Spuds & Cit-eh would feel more confident playing us if we've lost to Chelsea.

 

We have to play our best 11 irrespective. Just a call to make on what that best 11 is given Ake is out and we have 2 matches in 3 days. I too think he might move Britos to LB plus Behrami will play at least one of the two games.

 

WD Sport are reporting they will have good news about him at 10.30pm.

Which either means, Chelsea will let him play or he's definitely staying til the end of the season, or he's going to be in the full Dutch side or he's getting married or he's having a kid...or something else.

 

He plays at left back. Who else plays left back? That's right, Sheffield Wednesday's Daniel Pudil. Fernando Forestieri is also at Sheffield Wednesday. They both scored yesterday, this is the good news.

 

How did I not see that?

 

Chelsea say he can play if we promise not to beat them

 

Whatever it is, it will be underwhelming.

 

Where did you hear this? Can't see it on twitter

 

It's going to be so lousy like he got the player's player of the match at training today or they served his favourite desert at the canteen today

 

http://www.wdsport.co.uk/2015/07/live-rolling-hornets-news-bites/

 

Chelsea can't let him play. It's a standing PL rule that a player on loan can't play against his parent club. More likely WD40 are about to announce he will possibly not be recalled in January according to a club source.