Does anyone truly buy the "these players haven't played Champions League before" excuse. Okay, the occasion may have got to them a bit, but it's not like some ever daunting task.

2 minutes ago, Sunspear_88 said:

I remember the exciting football we played early last season and up until last xmas. It actually got me feeling giddy. No idea where that went.

I can tell you, because Maresca told us towards the end of last season. He shat himself because of how many goals we were conceding on the transition. I agree with him, it did need sorting, and it likely would have caught up with us, but when you're completely blunting the attack the way he did, you get the opposite problem where creating chances becomes difficult. It was great for him because it meant he had an excuse to force his preferred style onto the players, but it's been a net negative overall because the results and performances dipped with it.

Winning the Conference League and that CWC Final covered up the cracks. He's been making really bad decisions since just before Christmas and it's now fully caught up with us. 2 wins in our first 5 games is poor.

I don't expect us to beat United, we never win there anymore, no matter how sh*t they are. I think it will be that moment that he really comes under pressure.

1 minute ago, Sunspear_88 said:

Does anyone truly buy the "these players haven't played Champions League before" excuse. Okay, the occasion may have got to them a bit, but it's not like some ever daunting task.

No I don't, just look at Villa last season. They finished in the top 8 in the league phase, barely any of their players had much Champions League experience.

8 minutes ago, 2211 said:

What killed me was when it went to 3-1 it felt like the game was done.

At this level and especially in the Champions League the really good teams think and play with a "if we can score the next goal we're back in it" mentality.

That was missing tonight, there was no upping the tempo, it felt like we was hoping for a couple of perfect passes to create something rather than any consistant pressure.

Easier said than done. We pressed them intensely for so long and eventually it caught up with us. We were tired and chasing shadows were demoralising.

That’s where Enzo Maresca should have done better, if we saw it, he certainly did. I’m not sure why he didn’t really do anything about it for so long.

Let's put aside the atrocious in game management which has no sign of improving, Maresca basically threw away the Brentford game in favour of this and we've ended up with a draw against mediocre dross and a loss against Bayern.

The next one will be a poor one as well.

Top coaches don't want to come in and be yes men and have no say in squad building.

Potter, poch (who lasted 7 years with Levy, and after 1 with blueco he wanted out) and maresca.

All poor managers, yes men.

5 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I can tell you, because Maresca told us towards the end of last season. He shat himself because of how many goals we were conceding on the transition. I agree with him, it did need sorting, and it likely would have caught up with us, but when you're completely blunting the attack the way he did, you get the opposite problem where creating chances becomes difficult. It was great for him because it meant he had an excuse to force his preferred style onto the players, but it's been a net negative overall because the results and performances dipped with it.

Winning the Conference League and that CWC Final covered up the cracks. He's been making really bad decisions since just before Christmas and it's now fully caught up with us. 2 wins in our first 5 games is poor.

I don't expect us to beat United, we never win there anymore, no matter how sh*t they are. I think it will be that moment that he really comes under pressure.

Yeah, now you mention it I remember him talking about us shipping goals and wanting to tighten up defensively. As much as I'm getting itchy feet regarding Maresca, I also have no faith in our recruitment as they've been mostly poor. Colwill got injured and we never went in for CB. Arsenal already have two top quality CBs, yet they go in for Hincapie and Mosquera as backs ups, with the latter already looking like a very good signing for not much money. Our scouting is all over the place, and they are not learning their lessons which is a concern.

35 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Let's put aside the atrocious in game management which has no sign of improving, Maresca basically threw away the Brentford game in favour of this and we've ended up with a draw against mediocre dross and a loss against Bayern.

The schedule isn't getting any easier, it will be tougher for Maresca from this point moving forward.

It's crucial to win the matches before Liverpool but can Maresca make it happen?

22 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Let's put aside the atrocious in game management which has no sign of improving, Maresca basically threw away the Brentford game in favour of this and we've ended up with a draw against mediocre dross and a loss against Bayern.

And whilst confidence grows incrementally it is also the case that the same confidence and fluidity erodes rapidly when poor in game management and cheap losses occur.

The glass half full crew will cite first loss of the season, unbeaten in the league, positioned at the head of the peloton early on chasing the top 4 group. The rest of us will continue to be concerned at our sh*t performances being shrouded in the thinnest of veils of average results. Dodgy disallowed goal vs Palace, dodgy disallowed goal vs Fulham, somehow coming away with 4 points. WHU handing us a win in one of our scrappiest performances, drawing against relegation fodder in Brentford and now tonight, another game of poor tactical set up, poor style of play and rubbish in game management.

We have been lucky so far, and i include Bayern Munich here, in that we have not yet played against any really serious elite teams. We will struggle again against the sh!te of man Utd and it won't be long before we are up against a couple of the big boys.

Even parking the results for a moment, the style of football, the lack of intensity in our play and the sh*t principles that this super intelligent manager is intent on employing of thinking that by getting the opposition into a headlock stalemate before we eke out a result is just one of the reasons why this fking bloke has already turned this fresh new season into another bore fest. c0ck.

27 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

The schedule isn't getting any easier, it will be tougher for Maresca from this point moving forward.

It's crucial to win the matches before Liverpool but can Maresca make it happen?

Maybe Lincon, but don't bank on it.

18 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

And whilst confidence grows incrementally it is also the case that the same confidence and fluidity erodes rapidly when poor in game management and cheap losses occur.

The glass half full crew will cite first loss of the season, unbeaten in the league, positioned at the head of the peloton early on chasing the top 4 group. The rest of us will continue to be concerned at our sh*t performances being shrouded in the thinnest of veils of average results. Dodgy disallowed goal vs Palace, dodgy disallowed goal vs Fulham, somehow coming away with 4 points. WHU handing us a win in one of our scrappiest performances, drawing against relegation fodder in Brentford and now tonight, another game of poor tactical set up, poor style of play and rubbish in game management.

We have been lucky so far, and i include Bayern Munich here, in that we have not yet played against any really serious elite teams. We will struggle again against the sh!te of man Utd and it won't be long before we are up against a couple of the big boys.

Even parking the results for a moment, the style of football, the lack of intensity in our play and the sh*t principles that this super intelligent manager is intent on employing of thinking that by getting the opposition into a headlock stalemate before we eke out a result is just one of the reasons why this fking bloke has already turned this fresh new season into another bore fest. c0ck.

Beautifully put. Just missing the part of how our recruitment was mostly sh*t, again.

I know people think Maresca is some sort of Pep disciple but to me his slow paced football reminds me more of a classic typical Italian manager rather than a forward thinking Premier League manager.

The guy doesn't like fast paced football, he likes controlled possesion based football.

It wouldn't be so bad if he injected some urgency into it if we're behind in a match or drawing at home and running out of time, I'm convinced in every match in a ideal world he would like to get to half time with a 0-0 scoreline and somehow win the 2nd half by the odd goal no matter who the opponent is.

And of course only a madman would expect that plan to work out 50 times a season.

Edited September 17, 2025Sep 17 by 2211

Maresca will likely be on to the SD's soon reiterating his request for CB cover in the absence of Colwill.

Chalobah and Tosin are good CBs but probably a little below what we require.

Im expecting them to change their mind and get one or two CB's in January.

8 minutes ago, 2211 said:

I know people think Maresca is some sort of Pep disciple but to me his slow paced football reminds me more of a classic typical Italian manager rather than a forward thinking Premier League manager.

The guy doesn't like fast paced football, he likes controlled possesion based football.

It wouldn't be so bad if he injected some urgency into it if we're behind in a match or drawing at home and running out of time, I'm convinced in every match in a ideal world he would like to get to half time with a 0-0 scoreline and somehow win the 2nd half by the odd goal no matter who the opponent is.

And of course only a madman would expect that plan to work out 50 times a season.

This is where I disagree, classic Italian managers know how to set up a defence.

Honestly I am not too bothered about the loss to Bayern. It’s a tough place to go and expect to get a win. Would have liked a better performance considering he rested key players but I guess that’s the difference in experience showing.

My gripe is that we threw away 3 points at Brentford to focus on a match that we were always going to struggle in.

I just want him to get the sack, the problem is the buffoons upstairs will just hire another moron.

1 hour ago, OneTommyLangley said:

Maresca will likely be on to the SD's soon reiterating his request for CB cover in the absence of Colwill.

Chalobah and Tosin are good CBs but probably a little below what we require.

Im expecting them to change their mind and get one or two CB's in January.

They already let it be known, from their media pets, that we won't because we want to use Sarr and Anselmino.

2 hours ago, OneTommyLangley said:

Maresca will likely be on to the SD's soon reiterating his request for CB cover in the absence of Colwill.

Chalobah and Tosin are good CBs but probably a little below what we require.

Im expecting them to change their mind and get one or two CB's in January.

2 hours ago, OneTommyLangley said:

Even without Badi n Colwil we have 4 cb in the squad.

Fofana, Chalobah, Tosin, hato

I haven't included aselmino, sarr.

You cannot carry 10 cb

Edited September 18, 2025Sep 18 by Bob stark

I think winning the CWC and the great performance against PSG raised expectations so last night was disappointing but a loss to BM is not the end of the world. It was more the manner of the loss. Although we had stages of good play, the scoreline could have been a lot worse and BM looked far too comfortable for long periods of the game. And that is down to Maresca for failing to act, make changes but just sit there looking at his gadget. He should have made changes much, much earlier last night. Santos HAS to replace Enzo for a few games - the guy is becoming a liability.

6 hours ago, timetowaste said:

This is where I disagree, classic Italian managers know how to set up a defence.

You have a good point there, but like many stereotypical Italian managers he is extremely cautious in his tactical game plan. And in terms of making early changes when we are under the cosh, he is definitely reactive rather than proactive. Even Ancelotti, who I greatly admire as both a manager and a man, is that way inclined when it comes to changing things up.

8 hours ago, OneTommyLangley said:

Maresca will likely be on to the SD's soon reiterating his request for CB cover in the absence of Colwill.

Chalobah and Tosin are good CBs but probably a little below what we require.

Im expecting them to change their mind and get one or two CB's in January.

Maresca wanted a CF in January last season and the blokes in charge went and got him Amougou, a midfielder that has played 20 minutes for Chelsea.

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

I think winning the CWC and the great performance against PSG raised expectations so last night was disappointing but a loss to BM is not the end of the world. It was more the manner of the loss. Although we had stages of good play, the scoreline could have been a lot worse and BM looked far too comfortable for long periods of the game. And that is down to Maresca for failing to act, make changes but just sit there looking at his gadget. He should have made changes much, much earlier last night. Santos HAS to replace Enzo for a few games - the guy is becoming a liability.

Its always more than the result, some fans just dont seem to be able to look beyond that. We win/draw some games and suddenly no criticism is allowed, lets just ignore how those results happened. Same as last night, some hand waving it off because " we didnt expect to win anyway" completely ignoring that we/he made the exact same mistakes as the past 12 months, nothing has progressed, Maresca still has almost zero impact on games once they kick off, just sitting fiddling while Rome burns. Seeing him sitting looking at his tablet while everyone with eyes can see were falling apart on the pitch and desperately need to change things is infuriating. then once the inevitable goal against goes in he suddenly remembers he can make subs, usually the wrong ones.

3 hours ago, Nibs said:

I think winning the CWC and the great performance against PSG raised expectations so last night was disappointing but a loss to BM is not the end of the world. It was more the manner of the loss. Although we had stages of good play, the scoreline could have been a lot worse and BM looked far too comfortable for long periods of the game. And that is down to Maresca for failing to act, make changes but just sit there looking at his gadget. He should have made changes much, much earlier last night. Santos HAS to replace Enzo for a few games - the guy is becoming a liability.

I find it baffling that we aren't playing a midfield two of Santos and Caicedo.

His view that Santos is the Enzo backup is so confusing and James is the backup for Lavia/Essugo just hampers us further.

Enzo Caicedo Santos would be our best midfield. That at least gives us the structure that aligns with how he's trying to play.

I'm just so tired. I have no enthusiasm for Chelsea any more. Maybe i'm just getting old. But I can't stop myself watching, because I have to watch. But then I just feel either nothing, or annoyed.

2 hours ago, just said:

You have a good point there, but like many stereotypical Italian managers he is extremely cautious in his tactical game plan. And in terms of making early changes when we are under the cosh, he is definitely reactive rather than proactive. Even Ancelotti, who I greatly admire as both a manager and a man, is that way inclined when it comes to changing things up.

This is my main issue with Maresca along with playing people out of position for no reason, he doesn't know how to switch games up once teams are on top against us. If his game plan from the start isn't working then we're screwed.