What was he wearing? Looked like a fan had won a raffle and the prize was sitting on the bench. If you’re going to wear jeans, wear black, not faded denim and trainers. I thought Italians were meant to be stylish…..

4 minutes ago, Chris Gundleton said:

What was he wearing? Looked like a fan had won a raffle and the prize was sitting on the bench. If you’re going to wear jeans, wear black, not faded denim and trainers. I thought Italians were meant to be stylish…..

Even as an Italian he's a fraud 🫣

As for the performance, I agree with the sentiments here. Personally, I think we have more chance winning the Champions League. Get to the knockouts stage and get it right in one off games, like PSG, then who knows.

We’re not ready to win the league yet, so I’m not going to sulk, like I would have done in the past, drawing a game we should have easily won. None of us realistically think we are going to win the league, last nights game is the perfect reason why. We will drop points because of Maresca but even with prime Jose, we won’t win the league, yet, with this squad. My view, a serious challenge is next year or the season thereafter….

Edited September 14, 2025Sep 14 by Chris Gundleton

Honestly, the mistakes from Maresca yesterday just pile up.

1. Bad selection. Fofana clearly not ready, looked miles off it.

2. Hato poor. Looked off the pace all game.

3. Gittens not at Chelsea level right now. Doesn’t look integrated or ready, yet keeps getting thrown in.

4. Bounanotte given his debut, looked one of our better players in the first half, then gets hooked at half time. Totally needless and humiliating.

5. No Guiu on the bench. We recalled him from loan, yet instead of using him, Maresca plays 'Evil Saka' out of position. Makes no sense.

6. Boring football. Endless recycling: Fofana → Tosin → Chalobah → Tosin → Fofana → Enzo → back again… slow, lifeless, zero movement. Week after week, he lets the team play like this.

7. First half stats: 1 or maybe 2 shots, 0 on target. At home. Unacceptable.

8. Second half subs. To be fair, he did improve us at half time and we turned it around to take the lead. But then he has us sit back, defend deep, and inevitably we concede. Why not keep doing the things that got us back into the game?

Completely clueless. Bad selections, poor in-game management, boring style of football, and no sign of progress.

5 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Honestly, the mistakes from Maresca yesterday just pile up.

1. Bad selection. Fofana clearly not ready, looked miles off it.

2. Hato poor. Looked off the pace all game.

3. Gittens not at Chelsea level right now. Doesn’t look integrated or ready, yet keeps getting thrown in.

4. Bounanotte given his debut, looked one of our better players in the first half, then gets hooked at half time. Totally needless and humiliating.

5. No Guiu on the bench. We recalled him from loan, yet instead of using him, Maresca plays 'Evil Saka' out of position. Makes no sense.

6. Boring football. Endless recycling: Fofana → Tosin → Chalobah → Tosin → Fofana → Enzo → back again… slow, lifeless, zero movement. Week after week, he lets the team play like this.

7. First half stats: 1 or maybe 2 shots, 0 on target. At home. Unacceptable.

8. Second half subs. To be fair, he did improve us at half time and we turned it around to take the lead. But then he has us sit back, defend deep, and inevitably we concede. Why not keep doing the things that got us back into the game?

Completely clueless. Bad selections, poor in-game management, boring style of football, and no sign of progress.

Agree with all you wrote here...except that we were away, not home, if I haven't misread your point.

18 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Honestly, the mistakes from Maresca yesterday just pile up.

1. Bad selection. Fofana clearly not ready, looked miles off it.

2. Hato poor. Looked off the pace all game.

3. Gittens not at Chelsea level right now. Doesn’t look integrated or ready, yet keeps getting thrown in.

4. Bounanotte given his debut, looked one of our better players in the first half, then gets hooked at half time. Totally needless and humiliating.

5. No Guiu on the bench. We recalled him from loan, yet instead of using him, Maresca plays 'Evil Saka' out of position. Makes no sense.

6. Boring football. Endless recycling: Fofana → Tosin → Chalobah → Tosin → Fofana → Enzo → back again… slow, lifeless, zero movement. Week after week, he lets the team play like this.

7. First half stats: 1 or maybe 2 shots, 0 on target. At home. Unacceptable.

8. Second half subs. To be fair, he did improve us at half time and we turned it around to take the lead. But then he has us sit back, defend deep, and inevitably we concede. Why not keep doing the things that got us back into the game?

Completely clueless. Bad selections, poor in-game management, boring style of football, and no sign of progress.

Yep, agree with all that.

I actually think he hung ‘Evil Saka’ out to dry again, the young boy is best as a winger yet he’s made to look like a fish out of water playing as a striker.

Number 8 did my head in as well, that was a poor Brentford team, surely we could have run the game down in a better way than scoring that late goal and then immediately retreating into a defensive mode.

7 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

If somebody like Iraola was our manager today, we wouldn't have had to wait until Palmer's goal to register a meaningful shot on goal. Even with our best 11, we've been struggling to break down teams since last December. This isn't an age problem, this is a Maresca problem.

Everything is too slow. Every top team goes through a game where they create a flurry of good chances. We don't. We didn't register a single good chance in the entire first half. When we do create a good chance, you can almost be certain that we won't create another one for another 10+ minutes. We just don't put teams under enough pressure consistently enough. Teams are far too comfortable playing against us.

I don't share the certainty, but maybe? Would that make us silverware contenders though? Do you really think a good manager is what separates us from silverware at the moment? If the answer’s yes… then yeah, we’re definitely not on the same page here.
I'm far more confident that we would've won the game if Snake was in goal today tho. 🤷‍♂️

"Everything is too slow." A manager can demand all they want, but the players will play at their own tempo and execute at their own ability level. That’s why players are so expensive — they’re the ones who will deliver, or not.

I’ve never seen a very young side win anything in football. I’ve seen older teams, with some players even a bit past their prime, do that — but never the other way around.

So Maresca now throwing Pedro under the bus, throws a young winger on at striker instead of having the striker on the bench to pick.

Just pick the best players in their positions for the love of f**king God you useless pillock.

19 minutes ago, acaeus said:

"Everything is too slow." A manager can demand all they want, but the players will play at their own tempo and execute at their own ability level. That’s why players are so expensive — they’re the ones who will deliver, or not.

Its literally his job to get the players playing like he wants, pick the ones who can play that way. I've never understood this way if thinking, blaming the players. Its his bloody job.

32 minutes ago, dkw said:

Its literally his job to get the players playing like he wants, pick the ones who can play that way. I've never understood this way if thinking, blaming the players. Its his bloody job.

Then we'd be WAY overspending on players, no?
We could literally buy the roster of most championship sides with what we paid for Caicedo. Then this fabled manager would turn all those KDHs into Palmers... how exactly?

Players don’t perform to expectations—they perform to their level.

7 minutes ago, acaeus said:

Then we'd be WAY overspending on players, no?
We could literally buy the roster of most championship sides with what we paid for Caicedo. Then this fabled manager would turn all those KDHs into Palmers... how exactly?

Players don’t perform to expectations—they perform to their level.

So you think this squad is playing to the best it can and no manager could ever get more from them, or have them playing differently?

Not having that, Maresca wants total control of the game, he wants risk free football, only make safe passes etc. We are playing the exact same way as last season , the exact same way as he had Leicester playing. To claim its on the players is to just completely ignore reality.

25 minutes ago, dkw said:

he wants risk free football

I agree with what you said, but his starting 11 yesterday and his keeper and defence on any day is a damned long way from being risk free.

7 minutes ago, dkw said:

So you think this squad is playing to the best it can and no manager could ever get more from them, or have them playing differently?

Not having that, Maresca wants total control of the game, he wants risk free football, only make safe passes etc. We are playing the exact same way as last season , the exact same way as he had Leicester playing. To claim its on the players is to just completely ignore reality.

No I don't think that the squad, or the players are playing at their best, but I don't even know what the best of these players may be--some have just arrived. Some may have huge potential, but their current level of ability just isn't there yet.
I agree that a better manager would likely make them play better.
That's not very important at the moment though; the structure at the club, the coaches, the training facilities will help develop these players well enough for when, and (big) if, we actually have a roster capable of winning something, at which point we will get a top manager. That's much easier than building a winning roster--winning rosters usually attract top managers anyway.
Is this roster better than top4 material? I don't see it. Despite the addition of some exciting attacking players, I'm actually worried about when we start routinely playing twice a week.

Edited September 14, 2025Sep 14 by acaeus

17 minutes ago, dkw said:

So you think this squad is playing to the best it can and no manager could ever get more from them, or have them playing differently?

Not having that, Maresca wants total control of the game, he wants risk free football, only make safe passes etc. We are playing the exact same way as last season , the exact same way as he had Leicester playing. To claim its on the players is to just completely ignore reality.

Last night it had nothing to do with the gameplay. Lots of players were away for intl duties, some not fully fit yet. Maybe sometimes we have to look at the whole picture and admit the defence was at fault for this. The attackers and midfielders did enough to get the lead, but the two central defenders let us down last night. They have to do better defending those set pieces and Chalobah must understand he should not rush into those sort of tackles if he is not 100% he'd win it. Look at Cucurella, he is a master of rushing into those things, but he mixes it up, sometimes he wins the ball aggresively, sometimes he just pressures the opponents to win time, sometimes he is aggresive just to force the opponent into a mistake. It's Chalobah's second match in a row in which we concede after his brainless moments.

If you rewatch the match and focus on the two center backs' performance, it was a clownfest. They even had problems winning simple headers in the middle of the pitch when there was barely any pressure on them. Colwill's absence in immense. Bigger than everyone thought it would be.

Edited September 14, 2025Sep 14 by petre ispirescu

I'd take Nuno over Maresca. Outside of that, not many names I'd want. Hell, I preferred Sarriball. Jose could walk into this club and I'd welcome another chapter and I'd promote JT to assistant. I'd even have JT on his own. We'd have defenders who defend and none of thi s inverted nonsense. Klopp... no idea who else... but this team need leadership.

I just hate the football we're playing. Without palmer, we'd be relegation fodder. Pure and simple. We lucked out with his signing, without him and freeflowing as a hangover to Poch. Despite spending millions this summer, we still look devoid of ideas. Season two with Maresca... this is his team, or his philosophy.

Edited September 14, 2025Sep 14 by bluelightening

29 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Maybe sometimes we have to look at the whole picture and admit the defence was at fault for this.

The defence he picked that had never played together before, with 2 players out if position, one on debut, one coming back from injuries? Yeah, that absolutely is Marescas decision and fault. Hes played Chalobah right constantly, but out him left yesterday inside a kid making his debut. Utterly insane.

2 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

Agree with all you wrote here...except that we were away, not home, if I haven't misread your point.

lol - were we! missed that in my half awake/pissed state!

Edited September 14, 2025Sep 14 by nonotnowjim

2 hours ago, acaeus said:

I don't share the certainty, but maybe? Would that make us silverware contenders though? Do you really think a good manager is what separates us from silverware at the moment? If the answer’s yes… then yeah, we’re definitely not on the same page here.
I'm far more confident that we would've won the game if Snake was in goal today tho. 🤷‍♂️

"Everything is too slow." A manager can demand all they want, but the players will play at their own tempo and execute at their own ability level. That’s why players are so expensive — they’re the ones who will deliver, or not.

I’ve never seen a very young side win anything in football. I’ve seen older teams, with some players even a bit past their prime, do that — but never the other way around.

Poor argument.

One of 2 things has to be true:

1) Maresca asks us to play this slow style.

or

2) Maresca asks the players not to play the slow style - but they ignore him and choose to do so anyway. Despite that - Maresca continues to select them.

I’m still adamant that those 2 goals don’t happen with Colwill there.

That being said, doesn’t excuse the 90 mins of amateur management on display.

35 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Last night it had nothing to do with the gameplay. Lots of players were away for intl duties, some not fully fit yet. Maybe sometimes we have to look at the whole picture and admit the defence was at fault for this. The attackers and midfielders did enough to get the lead, but the two central defenders let us down last night. They have to do better defending those set pieces and Chalobah must understand he should not rush into those sort of tackles if he is not 100% he'd win it. Look at Cucurella, he is a master of rushing into those things, but he mixes it up, sometimes he wins the ball aggresively, sometimes he just pressures the opponents to win time, sometimes he is aggresive just to force the opponent into a mistake. It's Chalobah's second match in a row in which we concede after his brainless moments.

If you rewatch the match and focus on the two center backs' performance, it was a clownfest. They even had problems winning simple headers in the middle of the pitch when there was barely any pressure on them. Colwill's absence in immense. Bigger than everyone thought it would be.

Chalobah didn't do anything wrong so I’m sure why you are focusing on his tackle. He stuck to his man and even if he did miss the tackle his man was still forced backwards.

You should not need 3 defenders to deal with 1 attacker. Tosin and Fofana was more than enough if either of them were switched on enough.

I posted this before and I will keep posting it we will never win the PL with Maresca in charge or the Champions League. The conference League and CWC win make his stupid boring rigid outdated football.

Also we are probably one of the most predictable teams in the PL without doubt.

He’s that useless that he’s got Jim of all people making coherent posts that make complete sense & people agree with? Jim!

He needs to stop f**king about with the basics to make himself out as some sort of managerial messiah.

53 minutes ago, dkw said:

The defence he picked that had never played together before, with 2 players out if position, one on debut, one coming back from injuries? Yeah, that absolutely is Marescas decision and fault. Hes played Chalobah right constantly, but out him left yesterday inside a kid making his debut. Utterly insane.

So who should he have picked? There was barely no pre season at all, James has a history of injuries and has been away on intl duty, Cucurella has played both Spain's matches, there is Bayern and United coming next in a span of three days, if these guys are not managed correctly and get injured, people would be fuming on why has not Maresca rested them as they have played a lot lately. He had to do it even though that FIFA should have protected them and given them a free pass for this intl break. Chelsea had players play meaningless matches this intl break and PSG is in an even worse position as they have lost both Dembele and Doue for around a month and a half due to injuries sustained during this useless break.

I'd get it if this was some bang average National teams that can't replace their important players as their selection pool is sh*te, but for teams like England, Spain, France, Brazil, who have "C" and "D" squads that would easily walk the qualifiers, to still call up these certain players who are in need of rest, is borderline ridiculous and the reason why Maresca mixed up his starting line-up and also the reason PSG were fuming and got into this big scandal with the French FA.

And yet loads of other teams had no problem starting their international players, Maresca was happy to throw ours into a desperate situation with plenty of minutes.

Start senior players to get control of the game/win, sub them when needed.

To start with that defence was borderline neglect.

Hes trying to show how amazing he is by f**king around with things that don't need f**king around with.

Edited September 14, 2025Sep 14 by dkw

48 minutes ago, dkw said:

And yet loads of other teams had no problem starting their international players, Maresca was happy to throw ours into a desperate situation with plenty of minutes.

Start senior players to get control of the game/win, sub them when needed.

To start with that defence was borderline neglect.

Hes trying to show how amazing he is by f**king around with things that don't need f**king around with.

I understand the rotation upfront but one thing you should not rotate is the defence.

Like you say, start the first teamers in Cucu and James and then take them off after about 50-60 mins.