FanPost

Under the WAGNHoscope: Branislav Ivanovic [Evaluated]

Shaun Botterill

His name is Branislav Ivanović and the WAGNH community have responded about what they liked and disliked about the Man Bear.

What you loved:

  1. Defensive Ability - While he may not be great going forward, he's a beast defensively. Been a rock at the back.
  2. Consistency - Rarely has a bad game. While he doesn't set the field alight alot, he does his job well and doesn't have off-days often.
  3. Attitude - Aggression on the pitch, cool off it. Plays for the club, runs his heart out and doesn't complain. He has the most minutes played among all outfielders in our last two seasons. He also is a good guy off the pitch and has helped Serbian people in disasters and floods.
  4. Versatility - Can play as a centreback and rightback and is very good in both roles.
  5. Aerial Threat - Monster in the air. Used as a target man at times and also a great asset in corners. Gets big goals. His brace against Liverpool, goals against Napoli and Benfica.

Best comment goes to FrostyMouse:

Ivanovic always gives it his all and you can see that he cares more than a lot of players in the league do. He's Bran Bear. Strong in the air and can pop up and score a header now and then, plus he can even make a one time finish once every 10 years. Doesn't react to provocation. This isn't related to on-field activities, but he does a lot of work in Serbia and helps out with disasters, quite charitable.

What you loathed:

  1. Offensive Threat - Very poor offensive threat, close to zero. It becomes a problem when teams mark everyone else and let him have the ball.
  2. Crossing - Being a converted centre-back, his crossing isn't anywhere near up to the mark. Even lower half teams now have let him have time on the ball to cross. Appalling crosser and could have been arguably one of the best right backs ever if he was a good crosser of the ball.
  3. Pace - Isn't the fastest player and at times has been caught out by pacy wingers.
  4. Future - With the signing of a new leftback, he looks likely to be a bench option (a very solid one at that) for right back and centre back.
  5. Shooting - Like his crossing, not his best facet. Though it's more forgivable than his crossing.

Best comment goes to Habanc:

His pace is dropping, however, and as an RB that made him very susceptible to being exploited by pacey wingers. Most games he would be fine, but still allow a few threatening throughballs find a winger on our right flank. Additionally, he was often suspect on defending the counter, due to his lack of pace. He was consistent in his crossing ability, which was pretty woeful. I could always expect him to drill five or six crosses into an all-too-happy centerback's head.

Conclusion: Ivanovic has been a loyal servant of the club and has a fantastic mentality on and off the pitch. He's a brilliant defender and has been very consistent in his years at Chelsea. However, his attacking contribution has been very poor and with the rise of Cesar Azpilicueta, his future looks likely to be a 3rd choice centreback and a 2nd choice rightback.
In the poll, Ivanovic's average rating turns out to be 7.5. In WAGNH's community ratings, Ivanovic was rated 6.6.

We will use a poll now to decide the next player voted. If it's a tie, it's my choice whoever is chosen. If you want someone else, mention in the comments (and vote the option "Anyone else" so I can see how many of you want a different player - and if someone has mentioned the name of the player in a comment you want then rec his comment).

Eden Hazard is the next to be evaluated. Click here to see his initial thread and evaluate him.

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any sort of approval process. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions held by the editors of this site.

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