Don't give away any corners and we'll have a chance. And don't kick the ball straight from our keeper to Declan Rice again FFS

Edited November 27, 2025Nov 27 by The Rising Sun
Info

20 hours ago, Shweaves said:

It's weird how quiet this forum has been after last night. That was the best game I have been to in a long time, better than the Liverpool win earlier this season. Sure, the red card helped, but we were on top before that moment anyway.

These nights don't come around often and I thought more would be revelling in this great win. This is a good Barca side, they have very good players and we made them look average.

Also I don't get this talk of our team "struggles to create chances". We're one goal away from having scored the most in the league this season (23 scored, City and Arsenal 24). I mean come on, clearly we're creating a decent amount, or we're just really good at finishing off opportunities which I totally don't buy.

We've won 8 out of the last 10 games, including Barcelona, Liverpool and Spurs, scoring 26 goals at 2.6 per game (quick maths). Arsenal have won 9 out of the last ten, with the only "good" side being Spurs at home.

I get the feeling that unless we're winning 5-0 with the most scintillating and intricate football imagineable, nothing will be good enough.

I think it is beacuse we have been here before.... We were banging them in last season, defensively a mess. (same deal this season TBH) We nearly gifted Barca the opener with the passing about the back, until a few games ago, we were conceeding the first goal in every game, One swallow doesnt make a summer.

We were in this postion last year and then after Xmas, it went to bits and we also have a 12 month track record of Maresca changing his sides.

If we can continue the last few games for the rest of the season, then I will say Maresca has done a good job. But a November win over a Barca side that didnt get off the bus isnt going to get me to excited to be honest. The Acid test is against Arsenal as it was last season against Liverpool heading into December.

13 hours ago, Jezz said:

Arne Slot has now lost more games in all competitions than Maresca over their entire stints despite coaching 7 games less.

Id take a league title though.

On 26/11/2025 at 01:08, axman2526 said:

That would likely mean Garnacho and neto wide, and no Estevao, knowing Marescas ways.

Only Estevao, and Cole Palmer, from us, have what it takes to pry open their defence.

Unless Moises feels like doing another special...

I disagree. We have plenty of tools to hurt them but they have to be unsettled first. @Sconnie Blue is right, that we need to match them physically, find the weakness, which may well be Hincapie or Mosquera, and then we must exploit it.

Keep tight, box clever and try to nick something just won't work because they do capitalise on mistakes.

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

Think 99% of CFC supporters would play James at RB and have Santos in midfield alongside Caicedo.

Now and again you get why Maresca plays Gusto. Obviously giving James a rest helps and then the final v PSG where it worked well and he does have plenty of energy to get up and down the pitch but for me, Gusto would not start in any "big" game unless it was at RB and James was injured / suspended.

5 hours ago, RMH said:

Having Santos on the bench, I'm not entirely sure why Maresca plays James in midfield and Gusto at RB when it could easily be Santos in midfield alongside Caicedo and James at RB, which is his best position. Wouldn't that be a stronger option than what Maresca does? Even though it worked well against Barca, wouldn't have worked better with Santos as MF and James at RB?

For some reason Gusto at RB and James in midfield just seems to work. Gustos record when starting this season

Played 11, Won 10, Lost 1, Goals For 27, GA9

We've failed to win 7 games this season and in only 1 of those games was Gusto starting (Bayern Munich).

27 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

For some reason Gusto at RB and James in midfield just seems to work. Gustos record when starting this season

Played 11, Won 10, Lost 1, Goals For 27, GA9

We've failed to win 7 games this season and in only 1 of those games was Gusto starting (Bayern Munich).

That’s interesting. Results don’t lie, and probably why the manager sees so much in him for the system he wants to play

Great performance from Maresca and the team.

There's still a lot of work to be done defensively imo.

If that late risky Sanchez pass had gone wrong against Burnley, the game would have ended 1-1 and we'd be in crisis mode having dropped points to two promoted teams.

That little early panic at the back against Barca could (and should) have resulted in an early Barca lead which would have changed the game entirely.

We take too many unnecessary risks in or near our box.

 

I wonder if he will move Neto to the left side as our best defensive winger to help Cucu deal with the Saka, Eze and a Timber trio.

Likely we see James and Gusto defend our right side.

6 hours ago, Nibs said:

Think 99% of CFC supporters would play James at RB and have Santos in midfield alongside Caicedo.

Now and again you get why Maresca plays Gusto. Obviously giving James a rest helps and then the final v PSG where it worked well and he does have plenty of energy to get up and down the pitch but for me, Gusto would not start in any "big" game unless it was at RB and James was injured / suspended.

I don't want James as a RB for a whole 90 right now, I don't think his hamstrings would last a season. If we have a lead and don't need him to go forward as much it works.

9 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

That’s interesting. Results don’t lie, and probably why the manager sees so much in him for the system he wants to play

Yeah, they do. You can't take one player, look at the team's win record and then say "it must be him!". That's logically stupid. There are 11 players on the pitch that are a bigger factor than any one player in a particular picture.

15 hours ago, axman2526 said:

I wonder if he will move Neto to the left side as our best defensive winger to help Cucu deal with the Saka, Eze and a Timber trio.

Likely we see James and Gusto defend our right side.

It is important to play defensive winger only when the opp play their fb almost as attacker(hakimi/robinson).

Edited November 28, 2025Nov 28 by Bob stark

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

It is important to play defensive winger only when the opp play their fb almost as attacker(hakimi/robinson).

Which they will do with Califiori

17 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Yeah, they do. You can't take one player, look at the team's win record and then say "it must be him!". That's logically stupid. There are 11 players on the pitch that are a bigger factor than any one player in a particular picture.

You missed the point. Results don’t lie - nothing about that is “logically stupid”. They’re results, facts - simple as.

Now, a players role in that can clearly be debated. My point was clearly Maresca sees something in him for the system he plays. And yes, that system relies on all 11.

17 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

Which they will do with Califiori

In games that I watched arse play, calafiori role is similar to our fb Cucu/James but probably more flexible.

Edited November 29, 2025Nov 29 by Bob stark

If nothing else the bald fraud twat deserves a massive amount of credit for getting Cole Palmer FC to second in the league without Cole Palmer.

1 hour ago, Liam said:

If nothing else the bald fraud twat deserves a massive amount of credit for getting Cole Palmer FC to second in the league without Cole Palmer.

He has been aided by City & Liverpool looking out of sorts to be fair, but still credit due

13 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Backs up what we say when we say we're too slow. Imagine how much better we could be with a bit of speed. The Barcelona game is proof of it and how we should play most games.

Edited November 30, 2025Nov 30 by Scott Harris

At least Maresca is doing everything he can to distance himself from his mentor on this metric !

And I guess BlueCo can be "proud" that they have hired the two blokes in the bottom left corner LOL

He's managing the big games much better than last season. Now lets see him do the same in the games we're expected to win.

Edited November 30, 2025Nov 30 by Scott Harris

I don’t get the Garnacho substitution. Surely it would have been better to use Gittens, who has crazy pace which can be used to exploit Arsenal’s high line when they’re pushing for a goal. Garnacho doesn’t really offer anything.

I'll give him credit for sticking with Sanchez who now looks like he belongs in a team thst can challenge for trophies.

Nice to see the improvement with 10 men vs what we saw before.

Maresca has seemingly taken on board the learning points !

1 minute ago, dansubrosa said:

I don’t get the Garnacho substitution. Surely it would have been better to use Gittens, who has crazy pace which can be used to exploit Arsenal’s high line when they’re pushing for a goal. Garnacho doesn’t really offer anything.

Garnacho is pretty quick himself. I wouldn't trust Gittens with anything to be honest, he's another of our summer signings that I think looks way out of his depth.

Credit where it’s due, he’s learnt after the Man Utd game that going down to 10 doesn’t mean giving up.

Let’s hope we can get back on track with 2 wins this week.

Maresca did well today.