I'm just going to copy and paste what I posted to @Nibs in the match thread.

"He is a BIG part of the problem. Repetitive in so many of his tactics and his substitutions, freezing out some players that still had something to offer, talking us down when we were on a good run, sticking with some bang average players regardless of how many poor games they've had. And also KD feckin H. Wtf was that transfer about?

He is just a lower league Pep impersonator without the talent. Pepilini out."

 

I think we all watched a different match

28 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

For as long as I have understood different styles of football, I have always despised the slow, possession based rubbish, and now it feels like I have been cursed to endure it.

This is the thing that probably kills me the most with Chelsea, top teams in the EPL will go 1-0 ahead, then continue with fast movement, fast football until they are at least 2 goals ahead.

Then they might look to control the game for a bit before stepping it up again.

We score and then regress and retreat straight away like 1-0 will be enough to see out the game - we don't keep clean sheets!

When have we ever put a game out of reach by half time - never!

 

I've said it many times before, we are like an Italian team trying to play in the English league but without even the Italian precision passing and movement.

How many times do opposition goalkeepers have the games of their lives against us, hardly ever.

We will happily go 30 or even 60 minutes without an opposition keeper having to make a decent save.

 

This is one of the reasons I think some young academy players struggle here.

We are hardly ever 3-0 up and coasting (the time most other youngsters at top EPL get on the pitch to build up their minutes),

At Chelsea if they are given a chance after sitting on the bench for weeks, they come on when the game is still in the balance which heaps even more pressure on them.

This slow paced football culture at this club is very worrying and annoying. 

If my memory is correct, last season Leicester stuffed a similar type of collapse during the winter team. Eventually they got out of it and reached their promotion target, but that was against weaker teams in their division. I think it's down to teams figured out his game plan, there are players in key positions aren't performing and he's not be able to solve it ( lack of transfer didn't help), and some players really haven't progressed under his leadership. I wouldn't say it's crisis or Enzo out time yet, but his position right now is similar to what Poch was this time last season. 

I have to say it, although Sanchez didn't cost us the game, what's the point of him playing this game? It's an important game, and if Sanchze is not currently number 1 in Maresca's book, why playing him?

17 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

I have to say it, although Sanchez didn't cost us the game, what's the point of him playing this game? It's an important game, and if Sanchze is not currently number 1 in Maresca's book, why playing him?

Hopefully it was just to cement the fact Sanchez is now just our cup goalkeeper rather than our Premier League keeper.

1 hour ago, timetowaste said:

 

I think we all watched a different match

To be fair he is trying to remain positive in public. That's why he said it is a positive we got knocked out so we can focus on the league and conference league.... ;)

1 hour ago, dansubrosa said:

For whatever it’s worth, I absolutely believe sacking Poch was 100% the correct decision.

It was his high intensity training that caused all of the injuries, if he stayed, we’d have 14 injuries now.

What caused all the injuries we had before that then? 

Players were dropping like flies under Lampard, Tuchel, and Potter. 

https://x.com/FelixJohnston_/status/1888201961918394668

The Cobham kids play out of the back with more purpose than our senior players. Pass and move, play it between the lines, attack with purpose, create a goal scoring opportunity. I know they are kids playing against kids, but these are the things you want to take into senior football. We can't have somebody like Maresca coaching them, he will kill them. 

We will probably sell all of these kids to fund less talented kids anyway.

2 hours ago, timetowaste said:

 

I think we all watched a different match

WTF is Maresca talking about he’s f**king delusional!!!

He has been well and truly figured out. Look at how teams setup against us now when we have the ball. They are all doing the same thing.

He doesn’t have a solution either.

Also the players aren’t playing for him like they did for Poch.

I need to stop watching our matches.

Edited February 9, 20251 yr by El regreso

The good news? Maresca won't be at Chelsea this time next season. 

 

The bad news? God only knows who will be.

3 hours ago, just said:

I'm just going to copy and paste what I posted to @Nibs in the match thread.

"He is a BIG part of the problem. Repetitive in so many of his tactics and his substitutions, freezing out some players that still had something to offer, talking us down when we were on a good run, sticking with some bang average players regardless of how many poor games they've had. And also KD feckin H. Wtf was that transfer about?

He is just a lower league Pep impersonator without the talent. Pepilini out."

And I'm just going to copy what I've said before:

1. I was disappointed just before Christmas when we were flying that Maresca came out and said what he said about us not being ready... almost like he was saying forget it this year guys - so they did!
2. Seemed to work ok at the start but I think he's alienated a lot of the players by sticking with certain players that don't deserve a regular spot. i.e. Sanchez, Jackson, Noni, Enzo ... having said that the team is crying out for a decent striker and goalie ... and has been for a long time now - wtf are management doing about getting us some back up. Maresca's other problem is he doesn't appear to have a plan B 😐
3. Will Faulkes : This league is full of teams outperforming their wage bills and the talent in their squads. Chelsea are a long, long way from being one of them.

Unfortunately it's just not working anymore - teams let us have the ball and play in front of them - Maresca thinks we are controlling the game - LOL!

We have to make it more difficult for teams to score against us - starts with a decent GK and CB

And at the other end we have to make it easier for us to score against opposition - starts with a decent CF

And we are never going to score goals by slowly tip-tapping it left, right, back and then up the field to the other end because when we, finally get there, the other team is always ready and in position to defend against us - that is if the opposition haven't taken it off us before we get there, as normally happens, and mounted their own attack!

It's been bloody sad watching Chelsea since Christmas seems we're back in Potter land.

 

 

 

9 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I really didn't think things could become any more boring than that one season under Sarri (Europa League was fun to watch at least) but having Potter and now Maresca in charge has reached new lows that I didn't think was possible. For as long as I have understood different styles of football, I have always despised the slow, possession based rubbish, and now it feels like I have been cursed to endure it.

In football terms, we are West Germany Vs Austria in the 1982 world cup.

This is it for me in a nutshell. Its bad enough that virtually every player is a carbon copy because of the way they a drilled throughout the academy years, the managers are the same.

Any time there is any form of progressive or creative football its criticised as being chaos because of the vulnerability caused. Which is fking ridiculous in itself. Of course you're vulnerable when you attack, that is what creates the entertainment,  its why people watch.

I despise this  textbook, classroom football, full of gutless, painting by numbers, style of sideways, sideways, backwards. Sadly this is a cancer that is rife in football from the youngest of ages in the academy system. Its part of the reason why there are no centre forwards any more

Vibes were quite different back in May weren't they...

Gusto brilliant as an up and down fullback (sh*te now), Nkunku continuing to shine when he was available (sh*te now)

We finally had something to build on with multiple players developing at rapid speed (Gusto, Palmer, Cucurella, Gallagher, Caicedo, Madueke etc) and they ripped it up again to hire someone who's taking us backwards to Potter-ball and in a fast way too!
Absolute shambles.

There's literally zero players who's developed in the right direction since last season and a whole host who's regressed. And thats on the manager so either he gets his act together in a hurry or he's got to go.

He has 2 choices now, change he "philosophy" bo**ocks that blatantly doesn't work, or get sacked in the very near future.

Amazes me that coaches want to now basically coach individuality out of players, make them into robotic system players, football us atrocious to watch now 90% of the time because of it. 

Edited February 9, 20251 yr by dkw

6 minutes ago, dkw said:

He has 2 choices now, change he "philosophy" bo**ocks that blatantly doesn't work, or get sacked in the very near future.

Amazes me that coaches want to now basically coach individuality out of players, make them into robotic system players, football us atrocious to watch now 90% of the time because of it. 

Modern football has turned me into one of those 'things were better in my day' people and I'm only in my 30s. The decline in quality of players in the past 10-15 years is shocking, and one of the main reasons for it is because from a young age players are taught to abide by this soulless subbuteo style football where everyone has to play out from the back and run around like a border collie. Flair players are much less rare nowadays and this is why the vast majority of people will pay to watch someone like Palmer over a Saka.

He has single handedly created this mess...

1) By dividing the team into us vs them. A vs b squads.

2) Alienating players who have unsurprisingly been seemingly desperate to leave (Veiga, Nkunku, Felix, Chukky, Chilly).  It is not a surprise that these wanted out, given the frankly disgusting and disrespectful way they have been treated. I put Trev into this bracket too...

3) Continuing to player players who have been absolutely awful for a prolonged period. The Donkey, Sanchez, Disaster - all getting regular game time, despite never putting in a performance to justify it.

4) Playing players in positions that dont optimise their skills, for the sake of his "principles". Palmer in the middle, has meant there is no space for Chris or Felix, Gusto is hopelessly lost in the system, Enzo is a halfway house of attacking and defedning - with no clear instruction or USP, Noni, Neto and Sancho all flit in and out of the team without ever contributing on a consistent basis. 

It was a simple solve.  Drop Sanchez (now done). Drop Jackson. Move Palmer out wide. Play Guiu up front with Chris behind him. Felix coming in and doing a rotational job.

Now Felix has gone. Guiu is injured. Chris has checked out.  Clusterf**k of a mess

4 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Modern football has turned me into one of those 'things were better in my day' people and I'm only in my 30s. The decline in quality of players in the past 10-15 years is shocking, and one of the main reasons for it is because from a young age players are taught to abide by this soulless subbuteo style football where everyone has to play out from the back and run around like a border collie. Flair players are much less rare nowadays and this is why the vast majority of people will pay to watch someone like Palmer over a Saka.

go and watch chelsea time machine on Youtube.....

 

Its awesome. Zola, Luca, Craig burley, Robbie, Dennis, Grodas....its a joy!

I'm not buying into and defence of Maresca which focuses on the quality of the players he has. A manager has to try and get the best out of what he has. Abd that includes ability, attitude and tactics. With the number of below par players we have I can accept that isn't easy abd there will be poor performances along the way but this is week in week out awful performances.

Just use Brighton as an example. Battered past week. Turn out yesterday with a positive attitude  go one down early but keep heads up, tactically set up well, abd fully deserved the win.

Contrast that with another lifeless performance by us. Same old way of playing, same half hearted effort and same lack of leadership on the park or from the sidelines.

If Maresca stays which i suspect he will then my money is on us finishing about 8th in the league. Yes the players attitude is also sh*te (not all but most) and our transfer strategy for farbtoo long seems to not consider the mentality of the player, however we can't replace 6 or 7 players just now   but we can replace Maresca

11 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

Are you really telling me that 2004 Jose Mourinho wouldn’t get this team to finish top 4?

The team need a really strong character like Jose, to instil belief into the team.

If it wasn’t for Jose, Frank Lampard wouldn’t have 200 goals and John Terry wouldn’t be one of the greatest centre backs ever. A manager in similar ilk to Jose really can get the best out of players like Colwill.

I don’t think the owners are going to go for a character like that unfortunately.

To be fair, 2004 Jose Mourinho had a world class squad at his disposal and in terms of depth we were up there with the best in Europe.

Could Jose get more out of this squad than Maresca? Probably, but not much more. His experience would help, but ultimately there's only so much any manager can do. The shortcomings of the current squad are well-documented, plus Jose with his ego and resume would be at odds with the management from the start and he is not a yes man they can control, so it would never work.

57 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Modern football has turned me into one of those 'things were better in my day' people and I'm only in my 30s. The decline in quality of players in the past 10-15 years is shocking, and one of the main reasons for it is because from a young age players are taught to abide by this soulless subbuteo style football where everyone has to play out from the back and run around like a border collie. Flair players are much less rare nowadays and this is why the vast majority of people will pay to watch someone like Palmer over a Saka.

My son was talking about this very point yesterday.  He still plays semi pro although may be retiring soon. At that level there is a much freer and regular turn over of players. But with astro pitches and the way that junior and youth football is handled nowadays the general standard of player is better. As such the step 3, 4 and 5 clubs will often get players that have fallen out of the system and not made it at pro clubs. They are all carbon copies of each other. Black lads, white lads, southerners, northerners, English, foreign nationals, it doesn't matter, they all have the same physics, they can all run fast and they all play the same passionless football with little if any individuality or football IQ. They have been in a system since the age of 8 and have no concept of anything else. It's a worrying trend as it will just breed apathy in the paying public. Who will want to watch this sh*t.

Big shout to the fans singing on top their lungs at the fetish club last night. 

thought it would be difficult, it was, we made Brighton look like a top-four side. What was served up was unforgivably turgid football. 

Maresca is here until the summer, then he can collect his P45. There is no point in keeping a manager who refuses to adapt his tactics to the players at his disposal. Its going to cost him his job, the club top 4, and we are regressing faster than progressing with him in charge. 

To those who thought Poch was too spursy - I point to our run of games since december and can conclude that under Maresca we've bottled top four and the domestic cups and Poch was a better fit for this squad than Maresca. Maresca is a Spurs manager. 

the season is over, Even if we get top four, Maresca can jog on because the game and tactics will change and he cant. He has proven he is incapable of managing or developing players. 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, nonotnowjim said:

He has single handedly created this mess...

1) By dividing the team into us vs them. A vs b squads.

2) Alienating players who have unsurprisingly been seemingly desperate to leave (Veiga, Nkunku, Felix, Chukky, Chilly).  It is not a surprise that these wanted out, given the frankly disgusting and disrespectful way they have been treated. I put Trev into this bracket too...

3) Continuing to player players who have been absolutely awful for a prolonged period. The Donkey, Sanchez, Disaster - all getting regular game time, despite never putting in a performance to justify it.

4) Playing players in positions that dont optimise their skills, for the sake of his "principles". Palmer in the middle, has meant there is no space for Chris or Felix, Gusto is hopelessly lost in the system, Enzo is a halfway house of attacking and defedning - with no clear instruction or USP, Noni, Neto and Sancho all flit in and out of the team without ever contributing on a consistent basis. 

It was a simple solve.  Drop Sanchez (now done). Drop Jackson. Move Palmer out wide. Play Guiu up front with Chris behind him. Felix coming in and doing a rotational job.

Now Felix has gone. Guiu is injured. Chris has checked out.  Clusterf**k of a mess

Spot on Jim.

I'd also add that when he started this inverted stuff he brought Cucurella into the supporting pivot position allowing the creative midfielders to work with and off of each other in and around the box, which gave Cucurella a new lease of life and gave us more potency.  Now we have Cucurella and his busy hair flouncing around in the half spaces getting in the AMs way. Similarly with the featherweight Gusto. Every attack stops as soon as Sancho or Madueke get the ball and everybody crowds into the space making us go back and around. What tactical masterclass is this bollox.

Well, for the first time since starting to make my own money I’ve actually cancelled my subscription. The way we treat players like Gallagher and Chalobah, the sterile and boring football, the way we get worse with every transfer window , the preferrential treatment to certain players from management, the prioritizing of building a portfolio over squad balance, the blatant disrespect to our fans who spend all their money and time to follow the team - its just not fun anymore. Our games are the only I watch anyways, and even that now feel mostly like a chore. I was nearly there under Sarri, but the transfer ban and Lampard brought the passion back for a while. How fun it was to see all those Cobham graduates finally being trusted! 
Now, after following as closely as I could from afar for 35 years I realize I’m getting more and more negative toward the club so I think its best to at least take a good, long break from it all. 
Wish you guys all the best, take care! 

1 hour ago, abramovich said:

To be fair, 2004 Jose Mourinho had a world class squad at his disposal and in terms of depth we were up there with the best in Europe.

Could Jose get more out of this squad than Maresca? Probably, but not much more. His experience would help, but ultimately there's only so much any manager can do. The shortcomings of the current squad are well-documented, plus Jose with his ego and resume would be at odds with the management from the start and he is not a yes man they can control, so it would never work.

Jose is working with also rans in an also ran division. He's not even at the best club in Istanbul. He was great for us, both times, but his next move should probably be international football. 

I still have faith in Maresca as I believe the problems at Chelsea are far less on him. However, we did have the chance to hire Luis Enrique or Hansi Flick, but we failed to do so. Nagelsman turned us down because he probably knew he wouldn't get the time, or be shown the patience from the fans.