3 minutes ago, DiegoHavertz said:

Doesn’t the problem lie on Sanchez for actually kicking the ball long rather than use his composure and pass to a defender?

I would rather Sanchez hoof it to the top of the East than trust him to pass to a defender!

4 hours ago, evissy said:

Where did he blame the fans?

Sorry mate BUT he did, he blamed the second goal on the Chelsea fans for forcing Sanchez to go long from a goalkick, he should be blaming Colwill for standing there and allowing the bloke at the back post to get a free header

2 minutes ago, Mod said:

I would rather Sanchez hoof it to the top of the East than trust him to pass to a defender!

Yes the clear answer is don’t play Sanchez this is all on the manager why wasn’t jorgensen playing… even kepa has better stats then Sanchez this season lol less errors too

39 minutes ago, Caps_Lock_King said:

Sorry mate BUT he did, he blamed the second goal on the Chelsea fans for forcing Sanchez to go long from a goalkick, he should be blaming Colwill for standing there and allowing the bloke at the back post to get a free header

He should be blaming himself for keeping on playing that fraud of a goalie. Of course all the fans are going to moan and scream him to go long after he gave the ball to Ipswich within the first 10-15 minutes! He’s a liability with the ball at his feet, so after having seen him giving the ball away once again, we get restless and scream for him to hoof it long. After that pass to the Ipswich player I called him from the MH things I wouldn’t dare to write here.

I don’t think the fans will ever take to him now no matter what he does. He’s been too stubborn and hasn’t improved a single player. They have all gone backwards!!

3 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Ok - I will take the bait....

Let us begin with the foundational structure. A team committed to recycling is essentially engaged in a carefully choreographed ritual of positional oscillation—players ebb and flow across zonal channels, each movement a brushstroke in a vast tactical mural invisible to the untrained eye. The pivot (or "regista," if you're sipping grappa and overusing Serie A YouTube compilations) orchestrates this symphony from the central nexus, often shifting the ball from one flank to the other with surgical lateralism. The idea is not to break lines per se, but to coax them into breaking themselves.

Now, the crucial mechanics of recycling hinge upon the sacred trust between centre-backs and their midfield lieutenants. Here, the ball is often transferred backwards—not out of fear or indecision, but as a calculated act of strategic regression. The objective? To manipulate the opposition’s pressing structure into overcommitting, thus creating ephemeral vacuums of space between their compacted lines. In simpler terms: draw them out, then play through them.

This act—this brave, almost sacrificial retreat—is often misinterpreted by the pub-going masses as “pointless passing around the back.” But these backward passes are, in truth, encoded invitations to chaos, subtle lures for the press, like moths to a very slow, sideways flame.

Key to this operatic recycling process is the role of the inverted full-back, a player whose existential purpose is to appear where no full-back should, drifting infield with the ghostly menace of a Victorian spectre. These players receive the ball under pressure, rotate it back to the centre-half, who shifts it again, only for the ball to return to where it started—like Sisyphus with a shinpad.

At its best, the process yields an almost tantric release: the opposition is drawn out, their shape dismembered, and in a moment of divine alignment, the ball finds itself at the feet of the creative fulcrum (the 8.5, if you will) who slots it between two bewildered centre-mids to a marauding wing-back that nobody saw coming. The ball was recycled; the universe realigned; your number nine is suddenly through on goal. He misses, of course (it is Jackson after all), but that’s not the point.

Indeed, to question the backwards pass is to question quantum mechanics, to doubt the flow of time, to fundamentally misunderstand that control is not the same as progression. Possession is, above all else, a philosophical state. It's not just where the ball is, but where it could be in five passes if you just believe hard enough.

However—and here is the grim irony of it all—there comes a moment in every recycling sequence when the metaphysical gives way to the agricultural. When the inverted pivot has inverted one too many times, the deep-lying playmaker is lying a bit too deep, and the goalkeeper, caught in a recursive loop of back-passes, begins to contemplate life outside the six-yard box. At this point, when the press becomes pressier than pressed ham and there are more red shirts around you than at a Manchester United testimonial, there is only one universally acknowledged recourse. The ancient law of the game. The great tactical reset.

And that, dear Zeta, is when you must abandon all pretense of philosophy and remember the first commandment of playground, park, and pub , and premier league football alike:

If in doubt, hoof it out.

Fantastic. NNNJ's opus.

Just watching Monday night football and Carragher has pointed out that the Chelsea fans aren't taking to Maresca and his style of football and it's been building up all season. If the pundits are now realising it surely Maresca is on borrowed time.

https://x.com/skysportspl/status/1911839074945540575?s=46

Edited April 14, 20251 yr by timetowaste

27 minutes ago, RMH said:

He should be blaming himself for keeping on playing that fraud of a goalie. Of course all the fans are going to moan and scream him to go long after he gave the ball to Ipswich within the first 10-15 minutes! He’s a liability with the ball at his feet, so after having seen him giving the ball away once again, we get restless and scream for him to hoof it long. After that pass to the Ipswich player I called him from the MH things I wouldn’t dare to write here.

Lucky for you that you were in the MH.

No man should be shouting out ladypart names in the middle of his own living room...........apparently 😳

2 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Just watching Monday night football and Carragher has pointed out that the Chelsea fans aren't taking to Maresca and his style of football and it's been building up all season. If the pundits are now realising it surely Maresca is on borrowed time.

But the whole analysis, whilst somewhat accurate, failed to introduce an important piece of context that @RMH referenced in his post. Sanchez had already had one brain fart thus unsettling the back line and the fans. Whilst this sterile, gutless and impotent style of football is being foisted onto us by this crap manager, we're not all complete luddites. We can also see the benefits of developing football moves from the back, but with this lot there is no pattern, just a bomb scare of a keeper and a group of technically mediocre defenders, so there will always be anxiety from the stands.

2 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

But the whole analysis, whilst somewhat accurate, failed to introduce an important piece of context that @RMH referenced in his post. Sanchez had already had one brain fart thus unsettling the back line and the fans. Whilst this sterile, gutless and impotent style of football is being foisted onto us by this crap manager, we're not all complete luddites. We can also see the benefits of developing football moves from the back, but with this lot there is no pattern, just a bomb scare of a keeper and a group of technically mediocre defenders, so there will always be anxiety from the stands.

Yep, it took less than 5 minutes for his first pass straight to an Ipswich player, then just before that long ball the build up from the back almost cost us a goal. The fans don't want it and the players don't want it.

1 hour ago, evissy said:

I think he just said what is 100% correct. He's coached enough times at the Bridge to sense if the boos or other negativity affects his players though you don't really have to have half senses to figure it out.

Some fans booed to tell we don't like it and Maresca told what he thinks it did. Not sure there is criticism. I think the fans know what they do by booing.

And again you can boo if you pay the ticket and Maresca can speak as he is trying to protect his players.

The negativity towards him is just so overwhelming here it feels like he is named Adolf and is from Austria.

You should explore a job with the Trump or Putin administration.

At no stage have I witnessed Maresca taking any sort of responsibility for our crash in form since Xmas.

“The players aren’t ready”

“We played well” after several defeats. Even the games we’ve won since Xmas we haven’t played well.

“I want the fans to be entertained” whilst boring every single fan (maybe apart from you) to the point of anger.

“The environment “ is a backhanded dig at the fans whilst not taking any responsibility for said style of play.

Maresca out!

1 hour ago, evissy said:

I think he just said what is 100% correct. He's coached enough times at the Bridge to sense if the boos or other negativity affects his players though you don't really have to have half senses to figure it out.

Some fans booed to tell we don't like it and Maresca told what he thinks it did. Not sure there is criticism. I think the fans know what they do by booing.

And again you can boo if you pay the ticket and Maresca can speak as he is trying to protect his players.

The negativity towards him is just so overwhelming here it feels like he is named Adolf and is from Austria.

I can't listen to a word he says any more, and haven't watched a press conference of his for weeks.

What's the point ?

He routinely lies, changes his story ... and when he isn't doing that he just talks a load of sh*t.

I have far better things to do with my time.

It beggars belief that BlueCo could be happy with what he is serving up for us.

28 minutes ago, 19seventyone said:

You should explore a job with the Trump or Putin administration.

At no stage have I witnessed Maresca taking any sort of responsibility for our crash in form since Xmas.

“The players aren’t ready”

“We played well” after several defeats. Even the games we’ve won since Xmas we haven’t played well.

“I want the fans to be entertained” whilst boring every single fan (maybe apart from you) to the point of anger.

“The environment “ is a backhanded dig at the fans whilst not taking any responsibility for said style of play.

Maresca out!

I don't follow your logic here but I am guessing there is none.

He has said he is responsible for this and that many times. I think he's been pretty cool headed all his time here and answered pretty well in pressers.

7 hours ago, evissy said:

Where did he blame the fans?

What else do you think he meant when he blamed 'the environment' ? The weather conditions, air pollution on the Fulham Road, stratospheric warming in the upper atmosphere ? Of course he meant the fans.

What he doesn't seem capable of realising or accepting is the fact the growing disenchantment and anger is not so much aimed at the players on the pitch, but at him for his appalling tactics and team selections. He is way out of his depth but won't accept it, instead he blames the fans. That's never going to end well. In his defence I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the idiots who recruited and appointed him but of course they will never be held accountable.

Take Maresca Tactics like our front of shirt sponsor, Non f**king existent!!!!!

Us booing won't make Maresca change. Leicester fans tried that and he told them to do one.

Its just a matter of time before he's shown the door now things are turning uglier towards his 2 bob tenure

the owners, maybe not Bully who favored MP, have a conundrum in their greedy little germans, CWC starts June 14th two and 1/2 weeks after EPL completes

CWC completes July 14th a week after pre season usually commences, the owners desperately need a big chunk of the prize money on offer for next seasons accounts

Sacking him now or at seasons end would make getting hold of some / a lot of that loot more riskier, plus the fans wont be booing in the CWC if performances are pants, all tourists/ plastics mostly, so from a strategic business viewpoint cant see him getting the tic tac after its over. Owners may think hmm we had a distraction from last season in the summer so well sneak him back into Cobham see what reception he gets in 2025-26

Obviously the players need at least 2 weeks off after the tourney and we are then at the start of August. Hopefully the club would run a pre season in parallel with CWC featuring players not in the USA. Charity Shield is on Aug 9th, EPL begins Aug 16th , Unless they have a new manager lined up to start after the tourney I doubt they will pull the trigger on him then barring a complete collapse in the tourney. Their mindset perhaps, give him until Chrimbo 2025. Bottom line i FEAR we are stuck with this clown for more months and more matches and more misery.

(speculation obviously but FFS get rid of him already)

15 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Been saying the same thing for months now. Nothing is going to change as long as the squad remains as unbalanced as it is now. If the summer targets are Delap, Guehi, Garnacho and some other 21-22 year olds and the board keeps their strict rules in terms of wages, then we should slowly accept our faith of becoming the new Arsenal, but the one post the building of the Emirates when they were skint and had to pay for the stadium debt. Still, that team was always guaranteed the 4th place and a marquee signing every once in a while, something that is harder to achieve nowadays given that all clubs have tons of money to spend and top players do not accept 100k per week wages anymore...

This is the reality. Our transfer dealing has been more about good financial number aka bargain, agent favor, we have the same agent, young potential player.

21 hours ago, Nibs said:

I was only thinking haven't seen any post from Argo of late. What happened there - has he actually left?

Me too. He hasn't been signed in for over 2 months. I was thinking where has he been myself..

23 hours ago, Nibs said:

I was only thinking haven't seen any post from Argo of late. What happened there - has he actually left?

No idea Nibs, I just noticed the other day, was mostly bantering not sure if that's the reason he's left, hope he's ok though.

18 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

More defending of the fraud - and excuses (young team).

I will say it again - I don’t care if we lose, but I want to see Maresca let the players play and have a go….not the boring and predictable dross he is serving us up.

It isn’t about the score or losing that has made me/us lose faith in him - but instead the complete inability (or inclination) to change the way we are playing (slow and predictable)

When Jim wants the gaffer sacked you know it's bad.

6 hours ago, General said:

Its just a matter of time before he's shown the door now things are turning uglier towards his 2 bob tenure

the owners, maybe not Bully who favored MP, have a conundrum in their greedy little germans, CWC starts June 14th two and 1/2 weeks after EPL completes

CWC completes July 14th a week after pre season usually commences, the owners desperately need a big chunk of the prize money on offer for next seasons accounts

Sacking him now or at seasons end would make getting hold of some / a lot of that loot more riskier, plus the fans wont be booing in the CWC if performances are pants, all tourists/ plastics mostly, so from a strategic business viewpoint cant see him getting the tic tac after its over. Owners may think hmm we had a distraction from last season in the summer so well sneak him back into Cobham see what reception he gets in 2025-26

Obviously the players need at least 2 weeks off after the tourney and we are then at the start of August. Hopefully the club would run a pre season in parallel with CWC featuring players not in the USA. Charity Shield is on Aug 9th, EPL begins Aug 16th , Unless they have a new manager lined up to start after the tourney I doubt they will pull the trigger on him then barring a complete collapse in the tourney. Their mindset perhaps, give him until Chrimbo 2025. Bottom line i FEAR we are stuck with this clown for more months and more matches and more misery.

(speculation obviously but FFS get rid of him already)

I’d hope they would pull the trigger if Champions League becomes mathematically, or close to mathematically unattainable. That way they’d have some period of time to get a new manager in for the CWC. The thing that worries me, is that they’d have to be looking now, and in comparison to the end of Poch and Potter, it just doesn’t feel as if there’s the same lack of belief from the senior figures.

I’d love to have some stability for once, there’s just no sign of improvement from any of our players to give us some hope. Poch has terrible injury issues (he could have caused them), yet towards the end it was improving, we’re getting worse game by game now!

16 hours ago, Remodez said:

We all know recruitment is an issue and the SD's are clueless but this thread is about Enzo in particular.

The squad is not perfect but it is still more than good enough to play much better football than what we are currently getting.

Should Maresca have done better? Absolutely.

Can we get better manager? Absolutely.

But it is the same with player, you don't want small improvement. You want a clear improvement.

I say this eventhough I am not big fan of Maresca. All the bs talk about player not fitting his football, blaming fans, blaming previous manager, annoy me.

On 13/04/2025 at 21:51, Ukraine Bolt said:

Blokes a terrorist. Stop playing your full backs in the half space. Idiot, I wish nothing but the worst for him in all his endeavours.

Felt I was imagining it during the match when he brought on Gusto, and had both fullbacks inverting into the half space

14 hours ago, Caps_Lock_King said:

Sorry mate BUT he did, he blamed the second goal on the Chelsea fans for forcing Sanchez to go long from a goalkick, he should be blaming Colwill for standing there and allowing the bloke at the back post to get a free header

It was Cucurella's man that scored the header?