Last chance for Chimbo to impress?

[hughy]

As we all know by now, Hutton is ineligible for the Uefa Cup. We also know, that we only have two more games before the CC Final, both in the Uefa Cup, meaning Hutton wont feature in either. Anyone think this should give Chimbonda added incentive to give better performances against Slavia in both legs knowing that he could well be in for a shot at a place in the CC Final?

Or...maybe not? To make this worth-while, who'd you go with for the 24th - Chimbonda or Hutton?

 

[SpurSince57]

I would think there's a fair chance Chimbo will play at LB in the final.

 

[hughy]

Christ, I hope not. He hasn't had a bad couple of games there, but he's ridden his luck a couple of times. If Gilberto or Lee are available, I'd play either of them before Chimbo at LB. Even Gunter, possibly.

 

[yanno]

Or...maybe not? To make this worth-while, who'd you go with for the 24th - Chimbonda or Hutton?

SS57 is correct. Hutton RB, and Chimbo LB, for the CC final.

 

[Legend10]

SS57 is correct. Hutton RB, and Chimbo LB, for the CC final.

Barring injuries I can't see it any other way.

 

[Stoof]

Christ, I hope not. He hasn't had a bad couple of games there, but he's ridden his luck a couple of times. If Gilberto or Lee are available, I'd play either of them before Chimbo at LB. Even Gunter, possibly.

Firstly you want Gilberto despite never seeing him play a minute in a Spurs shirt. And secondly you prefer him, to Chris Gunter who has already played against United for us.

I don't get Spurs fans, I really don't.

 

[Legend10]

Christ, I hope not. He hasn't had a bad couple of games there, but he's ridden his luck a couple of times. If Gilberto or Lee are available, I'd play either of them before Chimbo at LB. Even Gunter, possibly.

Gunter can't play in the CC.

Expect to see him next Thursday though with either Lee or Gilberto as the FB's

 

[SpurSince57]

That depends a lot on tomorrow's result. We didn't exactly cruise through against Slavia last year—in fact they arguably gave us a tougher time than anyone we met before Sevilla, certainly the Bucharest Christmas Shoppers. Hence Gus's words today. I'm confident we'll win, but whether or not we'll win by a big enough margin to make the home leg a formality isn't so certain.

 

[yanno]

As Legend10 pointed out in another thread, Chelski are likely to play a 4-3-3 in the final, with Joe Cole, Drogba and Anelka as their front three. This means our LB will have to deal with Anelka. Chimbo is the logical choice.

Gilberto has not played a nanosecond of top-flight English soccer yet. I have high hopes for him, but his reputation is as a technically gifted player with a great left foot, as happy at LM or even in the Number 10 role as at LB. In other words, throwing Gilberto in at LB against a striker like Anelka for his first taste of English soccer would be pretty high risk...

 

[hughy]

Firstly you want Gilberto despite never seeing him play a minute in a Spurs shirt. And secondly you prefer him, to Chris Gunter who has already played against United for us.

I can't actually see your point, there.



So basically, what you're saying is I'm supposed to put confidence in an 18-year-old left-back, who is barely Premiership material just because I've seen him in a Spurs shirt 3 or 4 times? I might not have seen Gilberto in a Spurs shirt, however, I do know that he has made hundreds of appearances at a high club level at left-back, and a number at international level at left-back. Surely, even if it was to make his debut for us this would give you more confidence than Gunter, who has only broken in to the full team immediately because of our lack of full-backs, and has looked particularly shakey for us in the few appearences he has made.


I want to know where your logic is, Stoof.

 

[Stoof]

I can't actually see your point, there.

So basically, what you're saying is I'm supposed to put confidence in an 18-year-old left-back, who is barely Premiership material just because I've seen him in a Spurs shirt 3 or 4 times? I might not have seen Gilberto in a Spurs shirt, however, I do know that he has made hundreds of appearances at a high club level at left-back, and a number at international level at left-back. Surely, even if it was to make his debut for us this would give you more confidence than Gunter, who has only broken in to the full team immediately because of our lack of full-backs, and has looked particularly shakey for us in the few appearences he has made.

I want to know where your logic is, Stoof.

It's relatively simple, hughy. Gilberto has never played for us. Gunter has (well the Gunter thing is irrelevant for this really, given that he is cup-tied, which I didn't know).

It's pretty obvious that you don't choose a debutant in a final? Especially as we're trying to win the thing.

By all accounts Gilberto has been AWOL since he's signed - he wasn't even at the training ground the other day (see Cock On Ball podcast) where everyone else was. So, excuse me for choosing a known quantity that put a sterling performance in against United over an untried 31 year old who hasn't played for a month before signing for a new club in a new league.

Kaboul had a whole season in Auxerre before coming here - and he didn't exactly set the world alight. Any player takes time to acclimatise to the league if they've come from abroad.

 

[mrboombarrakoomba]

SWP will tear apart Chimbo in the carling cup final.

 

[nidge]

Kaboul had a whole season in Auxerre before coming here - and he didn't exactly set the world alight. Any player takes time to acclimatise to the league if they've come from abroad.

To be fair you can't compare Kaboul joining us as a young player still learning his trade and Gilberto who is a very experienced pro in one of the top leagues in Europe and with 22 cap for his country.

Still to be fair I wouldn't start Gilberto in the CC Final either. :lol:

 

[SpurSince57]

If Anelka is playing on the right Lee will be out-powered, especially in the air. From the physical aspect, Chimbo is the obvious choice. O'Hara is also a possibility, given how well he did against Ronaldo, but I'm pretty sure Juande will go with Chimbo.

As Stoof says, no matter how good and experienced Gilberto is, a major final is not the place for him to make his debut. I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking the Bundesliga is the standard it was a few years ago. It's not.

 

[ggibbs1971]

Here is the list of those going to Prague: Cerny, Robinson, Chimbonda, Lee, Kaboul, King, Woodgate, Huddlestone, Rocha, Zokora, Tainio, Jenas, Malbranque, Lennon, O'Hara, Berbatov, Bent, Keane, Taarabt.

Also the injured are as follows: Michael Dawson (hamstring) and Kevin Boateng (hamstring) have joined Gilberto (calf), Gareth Bale (foot) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) on the sidelines.

Both items from teamtalk.

 

[ggibbs1971]

Official web site also says that Pekart is traveling with the team.

 

[General Levy]

To be honest, it doesn't matter what Chimbonda does, he will be leaving in the summer, as we wouldn't have bought two RB's otherwise.

 

[yanno]

SWP will tear apart Chimbo in the carling cup final.

Good job he'll be playing against Anelka, then... :wink:

Having said that, I'm struggling to think of an occasion when I saw an opposition winger tear Chimbo apart. I can remember Chimbo losing concentration and losing his man, but not a tricky player going past him time and time again. Indeed, given that Alan Hutton managed to accumulate around eleven yellow cards in half a season playing against dross Scottish wingers, I'd rather have Chimbo or YP Lee playing up against a quality winger...

 

[chinaman]

I do not understand why so many are against Chimbo. His form in the earlier part of the season might have been lower than the standard he set last year; but the same can be said of the entire squad barring Keane, Steed and Jenas.

His form has picked up quite a bit lately and he's been doing well covering as an emergency CD and also LB.

I guess he'll play LB in the CC Final with Hutton on the right.

 

[stemark44]

I have not been a big fan of Chimbo for most of the season but from his last couple of games at left back it appears that he has pulled his finger out of his arse!