We are stuck with him for the next 4 years f**k me.

7 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Pellegrini must be rubbing his hands with glee. He totally knows how he's going to set up Betis against us.

I see betis winning that Anthony scoring or assisting

Just now, DiegoHavertz said:

I see betis winning that Anthony scoring or assisting

That's what I'm expectating 😒

Am I the only one who thought we played really well with 10 men? We were arguably the better team in the 2nd half

Betis aren’t sh*tehouses so we don’t have to worry about that thankfully.

Well I wonder what Maresca learned this time...

2 hours ago, evissy said:

I think we have progressed enough to keep the coach.

If you think that you must be able to point to areas we've progressed? What are they?

The fact he allowed the team to celebrate like we won a trophy for simply beating a half drunk Liverpool, coupled with his own management teams embarrassing celebration for beating Leicester, should tell you all you need to know about his, this team, and this clubs mindset.

The unearned arrogance to think he didn't need to change anything even though it was clear Newcastle would be extra prepared for this game.

Newcastle weren't great but truth be told they didn't need to be, Howe set up his team perfectly and even though we looked better second half we still didn't create too much and a lot of that was them just sitting back and letting us get the ball anyway.

Just lost track of the amount of managers that’s had his number.

Too, too rigid.

33 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

Am I the only one who thought we played really well with 10 men? We were arguably the better team in the 2nd half

We played better than with Jackson but we didn't really cause any danger so Newcastle just conserved energy on a hot day.

The first 20 minutes proved to me that Maresca isn’t up to the job. Everyone knew that Newcastle would come out firing and yet, Maresca did nothing to contain them. Their first attack - goal. Ridiculous.

Maresca is pathetic in these big games. Too rigid and scared

All the talk will be about Jackson but the problem runs way deeper than that.

14 minutes ago, 2211 said:

We played better than with Jackson but we didn't really cause any danger so Newcastle just conserved energy on a hot day.

Yeah whilst we looked abit better, we didn’t really do that much. Newcastle let us have the ball because they knew that we would do nothing with it.

Either Tottenham or United are going to be in the Champions League, next year. And we're going to be in the Comference, again. Thanks, Enzo!

30 minutes ago, JM7 said:

The first 20 minutes proved to me that Maresca isn’t up to the job. Everyone knew that Newcastle would come out firing and yet, Maresca did nothing to contain them. Their first attack - goal. Ridiculous.

Maresca is pathetic in these big games. Too rigid and scared

All the talk will be about Jackson but the problem runs way deeper than that.

Even when we beat Liverpool last week, he did nothing to stop the threat on the wings. All he had to do was bring James on for one of the attackers, put Caicedo back in midfield and have him and James / Cucurella double up on the wingers, but no, he must stick to the system, no matter what. Infuriating coach, destined for failure.

5 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Even when we beat Liverpool last week, he did nothing to stop the threat on the wings. All he had to do was bring James on for one of the attackers, put Caicedo back in midfield and have him and James / Cucurella double up on the wingers, but no, he must stick to the system, no matter what. Infuriating coach, destined for failure.

In like Jamie Carragher said, it’s the equivalent of wearing summer clothes in the winter. You have to dress according to the situation.

Like the owners who appointed this 🤡. Both out of their depths. One chance to restore the club to proper European comp. He gets his tactics wrong AGAIN and puts a DM as RB and benches RJ ,Tuchel must have had a chuckle if he was watching live.

He won’t be sacked even when he loses to Betis in a fortnight or so. MUG!

Terrible and clueless. We need a proper manager.

If we still manage to get CL football Maresca deserves zero credit, the teams around us are doing their absolute best to drag us over the line by dropping points, City and Forest both drawing to relegated teams this weekend

They won’t sack him. Champions League or not.

So what does he do without Nico?

For Forest probably Neto up front and Sancho in.

Sancho cannot faces united though.so does he restore Nkunku and we play with 10 or George comes in.

13 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

So what does he do without Nico?

For Forest probably Neto up front and Sancho in.

Sancho cannot faces united though.so does he restore Nkunku and we play with 10 or George comes in.

A shame the clueless twat hadnt tried out a proper solution earlier in the season. He had the perfect opportunity when Jackson was injured - but rather than try to find a different way to play, he instead chopped and changed the players, but didn't change a thing about how we played - almost as if he was setting us up for failure.

Now his hand has been forced again. I expect he will continue with the half arsed measure of just picking anyone fit and available - but without changing the style or tactics to optimise any solution.

And frankly - why should he? He looks safe - and to be honest, the jackson suspension will give him the perfect excuse for failing.

2 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

A shame the clueless twat hadnt tried out a proper solution earlier in the season. He had the perfect opportunity when Jackson was injured - but rather than try to find a different way to play, he instead chopped and changed the players, but didn't change a thing about how we played - almost as if he was setting us up for failure.

Now his hand has been forced again. I expect he will continue with the half arsed measure of just picking anyone fit and available - but without changing the style or tactics to optimise any solution.

And frankly - why should he? He looks safe - and to be honest, the jackson suspension will give him the perfect excuse for failing.

What other striker do we have? Guiu has potential but he's injured and Nkunku has looked awful every time he's played, both under Maresca and Poch.

Shocked we didn't go for Osimhen when he was available in the summer

6 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

What other striker do we have? Guiu has potential but he's injured and Nkunku has looked awful every time he's played, both under Maresca and Poch.

Shocked we didn't go for Osimhen when he was available in the summer

Sorry - but this is a silly question. It has been asked on multiple occasions on the Jackson thread. I am sure you know the squad very well, and know what players we have on our books - so there is not much value in me re-listing them here for the umpteenth time.

If it is deemed that there is no out and out replacement for a lone 9, then change the system.

Nkunku has looked awful every time he has been asked to play as a 9 in Maresca's team. I accept that. So here is a thought....how about playing him in a style and system that made him the bundesliga golden boot winner and player of the year?

There are academy kids, brilliant young players who have been schooled in the chelsea way, and who have recieved the very best footballing education. One of them even scored 2 for the kids when they played (and beat) the adults... How about giving them a genuine run?

False 9. Thats a thing. IF Maresca genuinely thinks there is nobody else who could possibly do better than Jackson - then play no striker, but tweak the team to get additional support and goals from deeper.

We had 2 months to try out new ways of playing. New systems, new formations, new styles. But no. All Maresca ever did was stick to the same old slow style, and put another square peg in a round hole.

This repetitive questioning of "what other striker do we have" is an extremely blinkered way of seeing things.

1 hour ago, ross91690 said:

Either Tottenham or United are going to be in the Champions League, next year. And we're going to be in the Comference, again. Thanks, Enzo!

Honestly though, that's our level. If we somehow do end up in the CL, then we are going to get spanked every week. Not sure if my heart can take that. We are just a mediocre team capable of competing only against other mediocre teams.