1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Sure, but it's very much the manager's job to get the best out of a player taking into account that natural fluctuation. Otherwise, what is the point of having one?

We sure can't have it both ways. Either Maresca was the yes-man with little say in how the club was run, or he had enough control over everything, including players' availability.

There were plenty of reports that the physios were actually the ones dictating player availability. If that's true, blaming Maresca for every player's dip in form is a bit difficult to square with that.

8 hours ago, 19seventyone said:

It’s no coincidence that the moment Maresca’s tactics were properly embedded was the moment Palmer’s form fell off a cliff. Sure, he’s had injuries and other factors but I have absolutely no doubt the main reason for his form was Maresca’s tactics.

Palmer, Neto, Garnacho et al basically played against defences that had been allowed to set.

Maresca’s need for “control” harmed every single attacker we had under him not just Palmer. Other than 6 months of a firing Palmer can you say any other of our attackers were a success?

So maybe you can blame a manager for a player’s form….. especially when several others are in the same boat.

He turned Palmer from a direct attacking player, into one of his tedious risk free return the ball to the full back wingers, Maresca is almost entirely to blame for the regressio9n of pretty much every player last season.

7 hours ago, acaeus said:

I think the coincidence is being forced in rather than found. The epitome of what Maresca wanted IMO was showcased in the WCC final against PSG with that super high press. Hardly the "control" football supposedly killing all our attackers.

Palmer then had that stretch of excellent form before the niggling injuries and poor form that followed. So if we're going to draw a causal line, why that one? For me it was 100% the club's fault and the cozy relationship with Trump that made Chelsea go all-in on that tournament while the other teams rested/had fun.

If that's what Maresca wanted why did he abandon those tactics the very next game? That single game is against everything Maresca stood for.

26 minutes ago, dkw said:

He turned Palmer from a direct attacking player, into one of his tedious risk free return the ball to the full back wingers, Maresca is almost entirely to blame for the regressio9n of pretty much every player last season.

Palmer came out in interview after the Conference league final and basically said Maresca is sh*te and we're ignoring him to win the game, and Maresca-sexuals still try to pretend he's good lmao

14 minutes ago, All Barco no bite said:

Palmer came out in interview after the Conference league final and basically said Maresca is sh*te and we're ignoring him to win the game, and Maresca-sexuals still try to pretend he's good lmao

Hahaha I'm not a Maresca fan by any means and was happy to see him go, but I'm curious as to what Palmer said exactly. Do you have the interview by hand?

18 minutes ago, True Blue23 said:

Hahaha I'm not a Maresca fan by any means and was happy to see him go, but I'm curious as to what Palmer said exactly. Do you have the interview by hand?

Said he was sick of passing sideway, suggesting it was the instruction by the coach and opted to take it on his own to pass forward that yielded the desired result which just happened that day and some other times. The odd question would be why palmer and the rest couldn't replicate their brilliance after maresca was gone. Goals galore should have been expected since no longer bound by risky free tactic.

50 minutes ago, True Blue23 said:

Hahaha I'm not a Maresca fan by any means and was happy to see him go, but I'm curious as to what Palmer said exactly. Do you have the interview by hand?

313K views · 9.5K reactions | "I was sick of getting the...

"I was sick of getting the ball and going backwards and sideways" 🗣️ Chelsea's Cole Palmer typically honest when asked about how he changed the game to set up two goals in his side's win over Real..

"I was sick of getting the ball and going backwards and sideways"

50 minutes ago, All Barco no bite said:

Palmer came out in interview after the Conference league final and basically said Maresca is sh*te and we're ignoring him to win the game, and Maresca-sexuals still try to pretend he's good lmao

no one claim he's top coach but only just a decent one. Considering he won the title with leicester (now in the 3rd tier) and trophies with Chelsea (finished 10th after him gone despite Chelsea have the tendency to bounce back after the so called bad manager) are enough reasons to give him some kind of credits.

By giving credit where it dues is quite a normal standard but you made it seems like it's some sort of fan boyism or even worse sexually attracted to the baldie just because people don't go along with your bias opinion?

By the way, it's intriguing on why you would suggest it's a sexual thing for maresca? You do realize he's not a female right? Could you explain on why some men would be fond on other men? You suggested it multiple times so I reckon you have some experience or some sorts to give your take on it.

1 minute ago, BolaBall said:

no one claim he's top coach but only just a decent one. Considering he won the title with leicester (now in the 3rd tier) and trophies with Chelsea (finished 10th after him gone despite Chelsea have the tendency to bounce back after the so called bad manager) are enough reasons to give him some kind of credits.

By giving credit where it dues is quite a normal standard but you made it seems like it's some sort of fan boyism or even worse sexually attracted to the baldie just because people don't go along with your bias opinion?

By the way, it's intriguing on why you would suggest it's a sexual thing for maresca? You do realize he's not a female right? Could you explain on why some men would be fond on other men? You suggested it multiple times so I reckon you have some experience or some sorts to give your take on it.

It is 100% fan boyism. The bloke is one of the least imaginative coaches i have ever seen. Sarri was boring but he was 10x the manager manager was.

You say this like it didn't take him until the last game week to win the league with the best squad the Championship had ever seen. The trophies he won with Chelsea are a conference league (West Ham won this unbeaten btw) and a pre season tournament. Maresca was the manager that lead us to the 10th place finish.

You do realise men can be attracted to other men? Its 2026, homosexuality is a common thing. I'm shocked this is such an alien concept to you, have you lived under a rock for the last few hundred years?

2 hours ago, acaeus said:

We sure can't have it both ways. Either Maresca was the yes-man with little say in how the club was run, or he had enough control over everything, including players' availability.

There were plenty of reports that the physios were actually the ones dictating player availability. If that's true, blaming Maresca for every player's dip in form is a bit difficult to square with that.

Were there though? physios were making recommendations as to playing time in managing the recovery of players (which I'm sure is the nom at most clubs), however only ever remember Maresca himself raising it an an issue in some cryptic statement, which seemed more like a way out of the job once he became aware of the City opportunity rather than anything else.

4 minutes ago, BolaBall said:

no one claim he's top coach but only just a decent one. Considering he won the title with leicester (now in the 3rd tier) and trophies with Chelsea (finished 10th after him gone despite Chelsea have the tendency to bounce back after the so called bad manager) are enough reasons to give him some kind of credits.

By giving credit where it dues is quite a normal standard but you made it seems like it's some sort of fan boyism or even worse sexually attracted to the baldie just because people don't go along with your bias opinion?

By the way, it's intriguing on why you would suggest it's a sexual thing for maresca? You do realize he's not a female right? Could you explain on why some men would be fond on other men? You suggested it multiple times so I reckon you have some experience or some sorts to give your take on it.

He had the best team in the league at Leicester and still played his dull, boring football to the point Leicester fans were pleased to see him go.

The trophies he won at Chelsea both have massive caveats attached. The conference league would have been embarrassing not to win, in the same token as Leicester, he had the best team in the competition by a mile.

The club world cup we can go back and forth on, but in my personal opinion its nothing more than a glorified pre season friendly competition.

Now let's look at City vs Arsenal. Lots of aimless sideways and backwards passing for passings sake. Granted its a small sample size, but its exactly what I expect to see from City this season.

Bah. Stupid software.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by dermott

2 hours ago, dkw said:

He turned Palmer from a direct attacking player, into one of his tedious risk free return the ball to the full back wingers, Maresca is almost entirely to blame for the regressio9n of pretty much every player last season.

He moved him to left hand side so he could shoehorn the feckless Gusto into the inverted FB role taking Palmer's right hand half space position.

1 hour ago, BolaBall said:

Said he was sick of passing sideway, suggesting it was the instruction by the coach and opted to take it on his own to pass forward that yielded the desired result which just happened that day and some other times. The odd question would be why palmer and the rest couldn't replicate their brilliance after maresca was gone. Goals galore should have been expected since no longer bound by risky free tactic.

Errm

Brent reincarnate

The reason things didn’t drastically improve once Maresca left is they actually went for someone worse in LR.