4 hours ago, El regreso said:

I have been so detached the last month haven’t watched or looked at anything related to Chelsea.

Not so long ago I would have said you're not a proper Chelsea supporter. But now I totally get it and there are many who feel exactly the same, including myself.

On 07/03/2025 at 10:44, RMH said:

He needs to go, I agree, but together with the SDs and the board. We have an expensive team full of mediocre players, players that do not run the channels or move at all, they just stand waiting for the ball to arrive at their feet. Players that are mid table quality. What we're seeing is partly because of Maresca and partly because of a lack of quality throughout the team.

Sanchez

Chalobah Tosin Badiashille/Colwill Gusto/Cucurella

Caicedo/Fernández James

George Palmer/Sancho KDH

Mheuke/Nkunku

I mean, do we expect much from the above lineup? The tactics are not very good, but other than Caicedo, James (out of position but did well) and Palmer, we've got a mix of championship players (Sanchez, KDH, Badi), mid table players (Chalobah, Tosin, Colwill, Gusto, Cucu, Enzo, Nkunku) and youngsters. The way we play is sh*t, but the quality is also sh*t.

And the problem is that we rely on those youngsters that are coming in the next one or two seasons and who are going to settle into the team with the above players becoming their seniors!! It's just so sad how the board is showing that they've got no f**king clue about how to rebuild a team that was champion of Europe right before they came.

Many of these player are not mediocre. The manager’s system makes them look mediocre.

Big difference

Levi Colwill: "I think with Maresca, the way he thinks about football is light years above everyone else.

FWIW

1 hour ago, 19seventyone said:

Many of these player are not mediocre. The manager’s system makes them look mediocre.

Big difference

Really? Please, elaborate who do you think that is not a midtable/championship player in that lineup other than those I mentioned.

29 minutes ago, RMH said:

Really? Please, elaborate who do you think that is not a midtable/championship player in that lineup other than those I mentioned.

The fact that you have two players in your list of mid table players that have won a World Cup and the Euros between them tells me all I need to know.

Most of these players are being stifled in Maresca’s system.

Do you really believe Nkunku is a mid table player? Gusto as a wing back rather than this inverted sh*te?

Is it more likely that every player in our squad is mid table or Championship bar Palmer, Caicedo and James or is it more likely the Manager is the issue? You know the manager that shoehorns half of the starting 11 into positions in the team that don’t play to their strengths.

The players aren’t immune to criticism but the manager is the fundamental issue on this run we’ve been on since Everton away in December.

And let’s remember that this squad of Championship and mid table Premier players should be sitting fourth in the league tomorrow afternoon. If you are right in your views above then I would have thought you’d be singing the praises of our clearly over performing squad ?

Edited March 8, 20251 yr by 19seventyone

Our wingers more than any other players are stifled by Maresca’s football imo.

38 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Our wingers more than any other players are stifled by Maresca’s football imo.

And the full backs apart from Cucu

1 hour ago, 19seventyone said:

The fact that you have two players in your list of mid table players that have won a World Cup and the Euros between them tells me all I need to know.

Most of these players are being stifled in Maresca’s system.

Do you really believe Nkunku is a mid table player? Gusto as a wing back rather than this inverted sh*te?

Is it more likely that every player in our squad is mid table or Championship bar Palmer, Caicedo and James or is it more likely the Manager is the issue? You know the manager that shoehorns half of the starting 11 into positions in the team that don’t play to their strengths.

The players aren’t immune to criticism but the manager is the fundamental issue on this run we’ve been on since Everton away in December.

And let’s remember that this squad of Championship and mid table Premier players should be sitting fourth in the league tomorrow afternoon. If you are right in your views above then I would have thought you’d be singing the praises of our clearly over performing squad ?

So you think that Enzo is a world class player because Argentina won the World Cup. No need to say any more. I disagree, as many have in this forum. He’s not shown anything after his first game against Liverpool. Since then, he’s been mediocre no matter what Argentina has won. I love Cucu, and he’s one of our best players (and I loved that he was great at the euros), but he’s not top class as a defender. Great as inverted fullback but not a top defender.

Te rest:

Sanchez - do you really think that he’s anything more than mediocre or championship level?

Chalobah - do you think that he’s more than a bench option in a top 4 team, aka a mid table team starter?

Tosin - let on a free from Fulham, I mean, do you think that he’s more than midtable team player?

Badiashille- interested to know your opinion on him… but he’s sh*t.

Gusto - had a good season last season, and I expect top players to show their quality however they’re played, and he hasn’t. He’s not more than a bench option in a top team.

KDH - again, what’s your opinion about him? He’s a championship level player.

Sancho - done nothing since his first time at Dortmund. Not a top player, mediocre output.

Nkunku - what has he shown in a Chelsea shirt? Werner was a top class player as well in the Bundesliga and at least he gave his all for Chelsea.

Anyway, I’m glad that you think that we’ve got a top team, I think that it’s not. The manager is not up to it but the team is also full of mediocrity.

8 minutes ago, RMH said:

So you think that Enzo is a world class player because Argentina won the World Cup. No need to say any more. I disagree, as many have in this forum. He’s not shown anything after his first game against Liverpool. Since then, he’s been mediocre no matter what Argentina has won. I love Cucu, and he’s one of our best players (and I loved that he was great at the euros), but he’s not top class as a defender. Great as inverted fullback but not a top defender.

Te rest:

Sanchez - do you really think that he’s anything more than mediocre or championship level?

Chalobah - do you think that he’s more than a bench option in a top 4 team, aka a mid table team starter?

Tosin - let on a free from Fulham, I mean, do you think that he’s more than midtable team player?

Badiashille- interested to know your opinion on him… but he’s sh*t.

Gusto - had a good season last season, and I expect top players to show their quality however they’re played, and he hasn’t. He’s not more than a bench option in a top team.

KDH - again, what’s your opinion about him? He’s a championship level player.

Sancho - done nothing since his first time at Dortmund. Not a top player, mediocre output.

Nkunku - what has he shown in a Chelsea shirt? Werner was a top class player as well in the Bundesliga and at least he gave his all for Chelsea.

Anyway, I’m glad that you think that we’ve got a top team, I think that it’s not. The manager is not up to it but the team is also full of mediocritY

Seriously mate stop attributing statements to me that I haven’t said.

At no point have I said Enzo is world class. He was however an integral part of a team that won the World Cup. I think he is an excellent player who has struggled with the speed of the game here. A player who could still do well in a 4-3-3.

I agree with much of what you say about Cucu. He is one of the few players who have improved under the system we play but he isn’t the greatest left back. Top clubs would definitely be interested though.It’s quite telling when you think of the full backs we had at the club at the start of the season and only Cucu was suited to the role. Time will tell if James can do it but Maresca has said he sees him as a 6.

I also never said we had a top team. What I believe is Maresca tactically is a one trick pony. I believe he stifles players because each has a very specific role to carry out before they can even think about expressing themselves. I remember Maresca being unhappy when we were winning games earlier in the season because we lacked control. He’s now “very happy” apparently!

It’s this stifling that you believe makes all of our squad mid table at best. I believe it makes some very good players look distinctly average. I’m sure I’ll be right on some and so will you.

Saying Sanchez is a Championship level keeper depends on if you want him to play with the ball at his feet. He’s actually a decent keeper by traditional metrics but Maresca went half a season asking him to play football. He’s one I think is a mid table Premiership player. He’d probably do well in Spain or Italy.

Trev is exactly what you said he is hence why we want to sell.

I like Tosin. He’s probably been our most reliable defender recently.

Gusto has high potential but isn’t great when inverted. Plenty of top sides would be in for him if we were to sell. There were times last season where people were saying Reece who?

KDH I’m not going to argue too much with other than to say his level is above Championship. He was Leicester’s best player when they won it which suggests he could step up. He was never ever going to play regularly for us though.

I’d put all of our wingers and attacking midfielders into the same bracket. All have huge potential and all have the capability to play for top clubs. It’s been said by others on here how Maresca’s tactics don’t get the best out of any of them. Felix, Nkunku, Noni, Sancho, Mudryk and maybe even George look really restricted under Maresca. Again, I think this says a lot more about Maresca’s system than the ability of the players.

I’m as pissed off as you are about our performances and the actuality is it’s probably a mixture of both our views but I believe under a different manager you’d see we do have top players. Just now? Too many square pegs in too many round holes.

Peace.

19 hours ago, Nibs said:

Not so long ago I would have said you're not a proper Chelsea supporter. But now I totally get it and there are many who feel exactly the same, including myself.

It’s the hope that kills me. I start at +100 every match and by the end of it I feel -50.

Todd, Bluco have sucked the joy of football out of me. It’s like dying by a 1000 cut’s slowly.

I don’t want to feel like this anymore!!

Back to playing Sanchez ffs

3 wins on the bounce in spite of Maresca.

The worrying thing is that was the last our easy games for a little while and the performances have looked poor.

Can any of us see us getting anything from Arsenal (a), Brentford (a), Spurs (h)?

Before anyone says spurs, they will have all of their injured players back when we play them.

You can only hope that Jackson comes back and finds his form again. we’re struggling to create chances and score.

16 minutes ago, JM7 said:

The worrying thing is that was the last our easy games for a little while and the performances have looked poor.

Can any of us see us getting anything from Arsenal (a), Brentford (a), Spurs (h)?

Before anyone says spurs, they will have all of their injured players back when we play them.

You can only hope that Jackson comes back and finds his form again. we’re struggling to create chances and score.

Brentford away is a hard one to call as their home form has fallen off a cliff, just like our away form.

25 minutes ago, JM7 said:

The worrying thing is that was the last our easy games for a little while and the performances have looked poor.

Can any of us see us getting anything from Arsenal (a), Brentford (a), Spurs (h)?

Before anyone says spurs, they will have all of their injured players back when we play them.

You can only hope that Jackson comes back and finds his form again. we’re struggling to create chances and score.

I think we can beat Arsenal and Brentford but not Spurs for the reason you mentioned.

32 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Brentford away is a hard one to call as their home form has fallen off a cliff, just like our away form.

What makes you think that we can grind out a result vs Brentford? We can’t score or defend. This team is quite soft.

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

3 wins on the bounce in spite of Maresca.

We had 20 shots and they had 3, it was hardly a poor performance.

It'd be winning in spite of the manager if we got dominated and nicked a goal through superior quality.

4 minutes ago, JM7 said:

What makes you think that we can grind out a result vs Brentford? We can’t score or defend. This team is quite soft.

Well their last six home games have gone like this for them :

And our last six away games look like this : and I highly doubt we'll be replacing that first D with a nice green W at Arsenal next week !

Based on that form, I'm not sure either team will have enough to get 3 points, so it's got "draw" written all over it ... or "score draw" more likely :-)

17 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

We had 20 shots and they had 3, it was hardly a poor performance.

It'd be winning in spite of the manager if we got dominated and nicked a goal through superior quality.

Stats don't tell you everything. We barely tested the keeper and I can't think of any moment where we created a proper chance. They were just half chances.

21 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Well their last six home games have gone like this for them :

And our last six away games look like this : and I highly doubt we'll be replacing that first D with a nice green W at Arsenal next week !

Based on that form, I'm not sure either team will have enough to get 3 points, so it's got "draw" written all over it ... or "score draw" more likely :-)

Ipswich had not won at home before, or since, we played them.

5 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Ipswich had not won at home before, or since, we played them.

Exactly. Every game we play seem to have a “first” or “haven’t scored in ages moment”

1 hour ago, Drogba1 said:

We had 20 shots and they had 3, it was hardly a poor performance.

It'd be winning in spite of the manager if we got dominated and nicked a goal through superior quality.

Did you watch the game? Barely challenged Leicester and the only chance we had of scoring was a penalty or our full back having a pop from 25 yards against a championship level side. Our standards are on the floor, Maresca running about and fist pumping after nearly drawing with such a dreadful team. We’re pathetic and it stems from the manager, I don’t care how many passes the CB’s can make between themselves. The players don’t have a clue how to break down a defence, what are we even doing in training if we can’t break down f**king Leicester.

How long before the "f**k Maresca-ball" chants then?

33 minutes ago, Zeta said:

How long before the "f**k Maresca-ball" chants then?

The fans have gone for the more traditional British method of just loudly tutting and groaning when the ball gets passed back

All of the “fake optimism” by the club will be revealed in the next few games. Beating Southampton, Copenhagen and Leicester is not a true test of anything.

Let’s see if Marcesca can beat Arsenal and Brentford away before giving it large.

Does anyone honestly expect us to get any points from those games?