8 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Don't we have any reserve team options?

You think the first team is young, I’ve not seen any U21’s that look ready. What happened to Hato?

He’s a loss, no doubt BUT with Hato’s recent performances it’s not the end of the world. We can get through those games without Cucu.

28 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

He’s a loss, no doubt BUT with Hato’s recent performances it’s not the end of the world. We can get through those games without Cucu.

A fit Santos will help too

Needed a prolonged rest regardless

Wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't return until after the international break.

Recent injury aside, he hasn't looked that great since December.

Come the summer he will probably be our most sellable asset. He would be one of the few Boehly-era signings that might actually command a raw profit if Real Madrid were interested, as Mendy looks like he is falling out of favour and the 23-year old Alvaro Carreras should really be an understudy.

1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Recent injury aside, he hasn't looked that great since December.

Come the summer he will probably be our most sellable asset. He would be one of the few Boehly-era signings that might actually command a raw profit if Real Madrid were interested, as Mendy looks like he is falling out of favour and the 23-year old Alvaro Carreras should really be an understudy.

Don't think we make a profit on him, actual profit we should make book value profit.

With 2 years left in summer, coming on 28 and on big wages seems like the prime time for BlueCo to sell. They've made their feeling quite clear about players not running down deals and 2 years being the cut off.

2 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Recent injury aside, he hasn't looked that great since December.

Come the summer he will probably be our most sellable asset. He would be one of the few Boehly-era signings that might actually command a raw profit if Real Madrid were interested, as Mendy looks like he is falling out of favour and the 23-year old Alvaro Carreras should really be an understudy.

How? He has been brilliant, and has most of the attributes Cucurella lacks. Cucurella looks more like an Atletico buy than a Madrid player.

Cucurella is far better than Hato at present and it missing him for those big games will be a serious loss. He has locked down the left hand side and I think a lot of what he does defensively now goes unappreciated, because it's expected. If Cucurella had been on instead of Hato in the West Ham game from the start, I doubt we would have been 2-0 down.

By no means do I think Hato is a dud, but I find it surprising that people are considering we sell Cucu now. When our left hand side is already weak, why would you take out the strongest player.

Cucurella was great when the team was built around him for him to invert and box crash, but he always has been and always will be a limited footballer. If we are going back to more traditional roles for the full back, we should be looking for someone more athletic down that side.

This was bound to happen and I even said it in a match thread right before Maresca left. I think Maresca did not rate Hato at all because he rotated most of the squad prior to him leaving the club, yet Cucurella was playing every three days for both club and country and Hato was not getting any minutes from the bench. Cucurella's minutes were very poorly managed during that November - December period when Maresca rotated most of the squad.

48 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Cucurella was great when the team was built around him for him to invert and box crash, but he always has been and always will be a limited footballer. If we are going back to more traditional roles for the full back, we should be looking for someone more athletic down that side.

Diagnosis: nappy brain.

On 17/02/2026 at 19:48, petre ispirescu said:

This was bound to happen and I even said it in a match thread right before Maresca left. I think Maresca did not rate Hato at all because he rotated most of the squad prior to him leaving the club, yet Cucurella was playing every three days for both club and country and Hato was not getting any minutes from the bench. Cucurella's minutes were very poorly managed during that November - December period when Maresca rotated most of the squad.

And I don't blame Maresca. I can't remember what game it was, Hato barely looked like a PL player

On 17/02/2026 at 11:16, SydneyChelsea said:

Recent injury aside, he hasn't looked that great since December.

Come the summer he will probably be our most sellable asset. He would be one of the few Boehly-era signings that might actually command a raw profit if Real Madrid were interested, as Mendy looks like he is falling out of favour and the 23-year old Alvaro Carreras should really be an understudy.

Probably overplayed. I am honestly not surprised Cucurella hammy blew the moment he played as attacking fb/wb.

9 hours ago, Bob stark said:

And I don't blame Maresca. I can't remember what game it was, Hato barely looked like a PL player

Probably because in typical Maresca fashion he had Hato, a 19 year old, playing 3 roles in 1 with his bastardized inverted fullback bull sh*t.

13 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Probably because in typical Maresca fashion he had Hato, a 19 year old, playing 3 roles in 1 with his bastardized inverted fullback bull sh*t.

If I want to be honest, hato shouldn't be here. He should have stayed in A**x for at least another season or stratbrough (probably complicated because his fee is around 35).

11 hours ago, Bob stark said:

If I want to be honest, hato shouldn't be here. He should have stayed in A**x for at least another season or stratbrough (probably complicated because his fee is around 35).

He's looked more than competent in the vast majority of games he played for us.

12 hours ago, Bob stark said:

If I want to be honest, hato shouldn't be here. He should have stayed in A**x for at least another season or stratbrough (probably complicated because his fee is around 35).

No it's the perfect time. He'd be demanding to start had we brought him in a season or two, and we'd still have no way of knowing if he'd make the step up.

He's highly touted as one of, if not the best young rising left backs in Europe. Having him come in, learning off a seasoned vet like Cucurella, whilst learning what it takes to play for a top club is ideal.

I think outside of the Garnacho/Badiashille sabotage game he’s been more than solid every time he’s played for us.

Don’t see him as a lineup changing downgrade when he does deputise for Cucu as some other replacements are.

Big fan of this, one of our most senior players speaking out against the ownership model. Hopefully it gives the others the confidence to do it as well so we can finally start seeing a change.

26 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Big fan of this, one of our most senior players speaking out against the ownership model. Hopefully it gives the others the confidence to do it as well so we can finally start seeing a change.

Welcome to Strasbourg 2026/27 Marc Cucurella

1 hour ago, timetowaste said:

Big fan of this, one of our most senior players speaking out against the ownership model. Hopefully it gives the others the confidence to do it as well so we can finally start seeing a change.

I like this too but I feel that the only change that will come out of this will be these players jumping ship/getting sold.

5 minutes ago, yaz said:

I like this too but I feel that the only change that will come out of this will be these players jumping ship/getting sold.

Yeah, this is nothing to cheer about. It only means the key players doesn’t have any belief in the “project” and in turn will be seeking to leave. This is why I was concerned about the Enzo comments, these things spread quickly

Good speech until he started simping for Maresca. Not surprising as its the only manager that would be willing to build the entire attack around him to cover his deficiencies.