1 minute ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

Since we got rejected by Enrique and Flick, I'd have taken a shot at Thomas Frank instead of Miaresca last season.

I'd rather have Anne Frank than Maresca.

Thing is I don’t care about the style of play as long as we win…

It’s the simple stuff maresca gets wrong that pisses me off all season he’s tried RJ in midfield and it doesn’t work and looks weird but he keeps putting him there.

Cucurellas a beast at inverting into midfield but now he wants him to overlap

Caicedos plays in every game give this guy a break we have santos fresh on the bench not been used in 2 games why??

Palmer looks lost and looked x5 the player when poch was coaching him kept cutting inside with left foot and shooting but now he’s not even attempting them shots and not even passing when he’s got an option

Marescas clueless man I wish we had a experienced manager and some experience in the team we needed Maignan and osimhen to take the next step and level and we haven’t taken that opportunity

3 hours ago, dermott said:

Cricket God will get you.

Is tat a cute guy?

On second thoughts, never mind. Cricket, yikes. Too much like Chelsea.

Even before the sending off we were being dominated, we need more physicality in the team.

9 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

Even before the sending off we were being dominated, we need more physicality in the team.

Players were fine, bar Palmer. It was the shape of the team that was ridiculous, along with playing a RB in midfield.

Is Luis Felipe a possibility? Apparently doing ok in Brazil and he’s an old boy.

Anyone but Maresca is my mantra. Where’s Allardyce at? Rooney? Are Ted Drakes ashes in an urn we could employ?

I’ve never managed a football team at any level but I’d fancy my chances against Maresca with the same Chelsea squad.

There are so many players that are square pegs in round holes. Get a system that suits the players FFS.

4-3-3 counter attack would hose Marescaball.

Sanchez

James, Trev, Colwill, Cucu

Caicedo, Enzo, Lavia or Santos

Palmer, Delap, Neto

Get the ball forward quickly. Wing backs provide the width. Enzo, Palmer, James, Sanchez, in fact everyone improves in that system I reckon but with the small caveat that I’m an idiot.

Peace.

5 hours ago, Snedger said:

Is Luis Felipe a possibility? Apparently doing ok in Brazil and he’s an old boy.

Anyone but Maresca is my mantra. Where’s Allardyce at? Rooney? Are Ted Drakes ashes in an urn we could employ?

Probably too soon for him. He only got the job in September. I’d still take him right now simply to get Maresca out.

11 hours ago, DiegoHavertz said:

Cucurellas a beast at inverting into midfield but he wants him to overlap.

He's technically still inverting into midfield...but I get the sentiment. The issue is the inflexibility of Marescas chosen system - which is ironic given the demands for player flexibility. Two touchline wingers, our striker (Jackson), 10 (Palmer) have horrendous box movement. So you either fix it with a system change, a personnel change, or you need Enzo and Cucurella crashing the box as often as possible.

Delap solves some of this, a new LW would ideally solve another piece. Against Flamengo he tried Palmer on the right, which is at least some acknowledgement that the system needs work. But this was undone by playing James in midfield - which is unfortunately the only way James plays consistently in this team if Palmer goes right flank. Gusto being poor in possession as well just locked the right flank completely. There's so much work to do...

12 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Players were fine, bar Palmer. It was the shape of the team that was ridiculous, along with playing a RB in midfield.

It's the fact that literally every single person watching that match 15 minutes before their 1st goal could see the direction the game was going, we had lost control and they were finding space with absolute ease.

Gusto was all over the place, had no idea where he was supposed to be. Centre mid were being over ran, they were 3 on 2 all the time.

Make changes, Gusto off, James to right back, Lavia on, 1 attacker swap for a mid or sit deep to make a 3 mid, get our whole sides starting position 10 metres up the pitch.

But instead we had the usual passive sh*te from Maresca, waiting for the 70th minute as he had that on his excel spreadsheet. We then lose goals, and he makes changes that had zero impact.

Hes utterly useless, a by the numbers manager with no imagination, no way of thinking around the situation, just play by his design.

14 hours ago, Valerie said:

Is tat a cute guy?

On second thoughts, never mind. Cricket, yikes. Too much like Chelsea.

3 hours ago, dkw said:

Gusto was all over the place, had no idea where he was supposed to be. Centre mid were being over ran, they were 3 on 2 all the time.

Seeing this consistently for 6 months and the degradation in our build-up is giving me the most cause for concern. And I'm always one to advocate giving a manager at least 2 seasons, but my patience is wearing thin. If we see this in the new season with the midfield options available then he'll be gone by Jan.

I dont want to see Cucurella and James in the 10 positions. I dont want to see 1 midfielder during defensive transitions. It's only his 2nd season as a head coach so let's see if he improves.

Imagine if Ukraine never happened and Roman was still owner and somehow we were debt free..

Then in 2022 he announces that he's going to try something new. sacks everyone, appoints himself sporting director, spends record amounts , plunges the team miles away from CL, tells us to be patient, says that his fantastic new stadium might be built in 16 to 20 years, massive player churn etc etc.

Loads extra I could add, but it would be astonishing., and we know absolutely it wouldn't ever happen. Why would he destroy the club ?

But it did happen

1 hour ago, The Rising Sun said:

Imagine if Ukraine never happened and Roman was still owner and somehow we were debt free..

Then in 2022 he announces that he's going to try something new. sacks everyone, appoints himself sporting director, spends record amounts , plunges the team miles away from CL, tells us to be patient, says that his fantastic new stadium might be built in 16 to 20 years, massive player churn etc etc.

Loads extra I could add, but it would be astonishing., and we know absolutely it wouldn't ever happen. Why would he destroy the club ?

But it did happen

Imagine if our corrupt government let Roman continue his efforts as an intermediary to Ukraine in their attempts for peace and none of this would have happened, rather than slapping him with unnecessary sanctions in an easy ploy to gain cheap popularity with a highly emotional general public. Chris Bryant and the Tory government should be held responsible for their part in all of this and hampering the efforts to pursue peace, they have blood on their hands.

I’ve checked out to be honest. I can’t do 2 months of clownery from the SD’s aligned with lazy journalists, content creators and agents linking us to everyone….. I’ll check back in Aug to see how long Meresca can drag this out.

I just hope he doesn’t do any long term damage to the squad at this stage. Gusto, Palmer, Santos, Estevau….. he’s impacting there performances and potentially their careers at the club he he doesn’t start playing some and others correctly.

At best we get to hope for terrible over complicated football, at worst we start again in October 😒

3 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Imagine if our corrupt government let Roman continue his efforts as an intermediary to Ukraine in their attempts for peace and none of this would have happened, rather than slapping him with unnecessary sanctions in an easy ploy to gain cheap popularity with a highly emotional general public. Chris Bryant and the Tory government should be held responsible for their part in all of this and hampering the efforts to pursue peace, they have blood on their hands.

What a pile of sh*te.

I’m no fan of any of the governments we’ve had but the above is just rubbish.

The oligarchs are under the thumb of Putin. Every single one of them. They are used as Russian assets and only allowed to keep their ill gotten money on Putin’s say so. Any dissenters have been dealt with swiftly by prison on trumped up charges or having their wealth seized by the Kremlin.

I’ve got a bit of inside knowledge on this as I worked for a Ukrainian oligarch until a few months ago and have met a few of his Russian contemporaries over the past 15 years. Even after the Russian incursions into Crimea in 2014 they (the oligarchs of both Russia and Ukraine) were thick as thieves.

I’m actually surprised Westminster waited as long as they did to tackle Roman.

Without the politics Roman was a fantastic owner but there are direct links between Putin and Roman and it was the correct decision albeit i fundamentally disagree with the way Westminster went about sanctioning him because it nearly put us to the wall. Chelsea suffered far more than Roman did which is very much worth remembering.

1 hour ago, 19seventyone said:

What a pile of sh*te.

I’m no fan of any of the governments we’ve had but the above is just rubbish.

The oligarchs are under the thumb of Putin. Every single one of them. They are used as Russian assets and only allowed to keep their ill gotten money on Putin’s say so. Any dissenters have been dealt with swiftly by prison on trumped up charges or having their wealth seized by the Kremlin.

I’ve got a bit of inside knowledge on this as I worked for a Ukrainian oligarch until a few months ago and have met a few of his Russian contemporaries over the past 15 years. Even after the Russian incursions into Crimea in 2014 they (the oligarchs of both Russia and Ukraine) were thick as thieves.

I’m actually surprised Westminster waited as long as they did to tackle Roman.

Without the politics Roman was a fantastic owner but there are direct links between Putin and Roman and it was the correct decision albeit i fundamentally disagree with the way Westminster went about sanctioning him because it nearly put us to the wall. Chelsea suffered far more than Roman did which is very much worth remembering.

Following the invasion Roman was approached by Ukraine to act as an intermediary abd was actively in Kyiv to assist Ukraine (as confirmed by Ukraine) and was poisoned by Russia.

I don't care about what your feeling about how people got their wealth 30 years ago, i care about their actions today and Roman was doing far more for peace than any of our self serving government was.

On 21/06/2025 at 11:15, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

Since we got rejected by Enrique and Flick, I'd have taken a shot at Thomas Frank instead of Maresca last season. Now that ship's sailed and realistically there aren't any managers available that'd immediately put us on the title bracket imo, maybe after 2026 WC with shots at De La Fuente or Nagelsmann (who already rejected us once), both have a lot to prove at club football though.

Having said that, I'd exchange Maresca for basically anyone at this point so excluding some common names like Iraola/Fabregas and Brighton's managers Hurzeler/De Zerbi, I wouldn't mind to take a bet on Abel Ferreira, who's led Palmeiras to several titles during his 5-year tenure here in Brazil, becoming the foreign manager with most trophies in the country. Has fire in him, speaks good enough english, knows Estevão already, his contract runs until december 2025, perfectly aligned to take over when Maresca gets sacked by Christmas.

If nothing else works, take a punt at Edin Terzic? Reached CL's final with Dortmund, can't be that bad.

Pretty sure neither actually rejected us. It was the ignorance and arrogance of our sporting directors who rejected them because how dare experienced managers have a say in transfer & squad building decisions.

Iraola is the one I’m keeping an eye on. Think he’s doing very well and I appreciate his football. All moot if the sporting directors keep doing what they are doing though.

On 21/06/2025 at 10:26, The Boehly Babes said:

At this point in time I’m all in on Jose mk3 we’d at least win something and have an identity.

Realistically Fabregas is the best option in terms of the football being played to the squad we have built.

Fabregas would be my choice too.

Think he would get us playing such good football and how it would piss off Gooners as well.

On 22/06/2025 at 08:54, dkw said:

It's the fact that literally every single person watching that match 15 minutes before their 1st goal could see the direction the game was going, we had lost control and they were finding space with absolute ease.

Gusto was all over the place, had no idea where he was supposed to be. Centre mid were being over ran, they were 3 on 2 all the time.

Make changes, Gusto off, James to right back, Lavia on, 1 attacker swap for a mid or sit deep to make a 3 mid, get our whole sides starting position 10 metres up the pitch.

But instead we had the usual passive sh*te from Maresca, waiting for the 70th minute as he had that on his excel spreadsheet. We then lose goals, and he makes changes that had zero impact.

Hes utterly useless, a by the numbers manager with no imagination, no way of thinking around the situation, just play by his design.

Another real pet hate of mine about modern football.

Every match you watch now and the camera pans to the coaching area and they're all looking at a f**king ipad. Winds me up so much.

1 hour ago, Nibs said:

Another real pet hate of mine about modern football.

Every match you watch now and the camera pans to the coaching area and they're all looking at a f**king ipad. Winds me up so much.

It's irrational hatred from myself but nonetheless it drives me nuts seeing Enzo just sitting there watching the monitor emotionless instead of engaging with the play on the pitch with his players.

21 hours ago, 19seventyone said:

What a pile of sh*te.

I’m no fan of any of the governments we’ve had but the above is just rubbish.

The oligarchs are under the thumb of Putin. Every single one of them. They are used as Russian assets and only allowed to keep their ill gotten money on Putin’s say so. Any dissenters have been dealt with swiftly by prison on trumped up charges or having their wealth seized by the Kremlin.

I’ve got a bit of inside knowledge on this as I worked for a Ukrainian oligarch until a few months ago and have met a few of his Russian contemporaries over the past 15 years. Even after the Russian incursions into Crimea in 2014 they (the oligarchs of both Russia and Ukraine) were thick as thieves.

I’m actually surprised Westminster waited as long as they did to tackle Roman.

Without the politics Roman was a fantastic owner but there are direct links between Putin and Roman and it was the correct decision albeit i fundamentally disagree with the way Westminster went about sanctioning him because it nearly put us to the wall. Chelsea suffered far more than Roman did which is very much worth remembering.

Everything you wrote was common knowledge and well known, it wasn't a problem for almost 20 years, and the government raised no objections at all, we were giving those oligarchs " golden" visas in exchange for obligations to spend billions of their " ill gotten ";money in the UK economy..

Our financial system was hiding and protecting their " ill gotten" money in UK tax havens.

Even YOU happily worked with a Ukrainian oligarch with links to Russian oligarchs, without your conscience bothering you.

And it would have happily continued that way .

. we were an easy target when the war started, and it hasn't even benefitted the Ukrainians anyway.

The fact is that the EU removed the alleged link between Roman to Putin in regard to his aiding the war.effort They concluded that in fact there's no evidence to support the allegations.

Edited June 23, 20251 yr by The Rising Sun
Info

First post, mark it, Maresca will be gone by mid to late autumn.

Struggled to get any enjoyment from watching us second half of season... and hoping we will never see a salmon training jumper in a press conference again FFS.

Very excited for what this squad can achieve once ‘The Boring One’ has been sacked.

A lot of attacking talent with unrivalled potential waiting to be unlocked. Palmer, Delap, Estevao, Paez, Santos, Neto. Bright future if we can just free ourselves from the shackles of ‘recycleball’

Edited June 23, 20251 yr by The Boehly Babes

45 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Very excited for what this squad can achieve once ‘The Boring One’ has been sacked.

A lot of attacking talent with unrivalled potential waiting to be unlocked. Palmer, Delap, Estevao, Paez, Santos, Neto. Bright future if we can just free ourselves from the shackles of ‘recycleball’

Let's hope he is not an enemy of progress and gets them sold before he is