We got to the final last season and should have won it and could have won the FA cup semi with better finishing and still finished 6th, with a ton of injuries.. no way should Marasca have fielded such a weakened team

3 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

My biggest issue with Felix is his consistency. He's going to score goals, and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends the season with double digits, but he has games where he just doesn't take any chances at all. Everything will go over the bar, and even simple chances won't go on target. It's similar with Madueke where he will have a good game here and there, but lacks the consistency to be relied on. Personally, I am fine with him as a backup to Palmer, I'm much more concerned about other areas. I feel like Nkunku is wasted as a striker, Mudryk just isn't ever going to make it at this level, Enzo will never be a Premier League player and the defenders and goalkeepers which are at such a poor level that I don't think any real research went into how good they were when we signed them.

Felix isn’t a team player.  Does what he wants, mainly what looks good for the cameras.  On top the fact he isn’t really that good.  I fully believe Carney would be more impactful given the same minutes but he’s been screwed by our silly transfer model

Madueke thinks he’s Ronaldo but has a fifth of the talent, and like you say turns up once every 4 games.

Nkunku probably doesn’t fit in Marecsas system on top of a lack of minutes in the first team and lack of fitness/sharpness.  I do think he’s a really good player.

Youre probably right with Mudryk but I do think he looks like he’s completely lost all confidence and plays with fear.

Enzo I think there’s a player in there but like Nkunku I don’t think he fits anywhere in Marescas system.  Don’t think he’s played well this season especially after the hernia issue of last season.

i don’t know what the hell we have done when it comes to goalkeepers and Disasi and Badiashile are terrible and need to be sold.

Only Botman, Bruno and Livramento missing from Newcastles best 11. They wanted it more.

Absolute pish.

But if that’s the worst we play this season I’m glad it was the league cup.

England is finally finding out that French defenders in general aren’t any better than English defenders yet there are loads of them scattered around the European leagues that cost circa £30-40 million.

I hate writing players off but I’ve seen enough of Enzo and Mudryk to be fairly confident they won’t make it at Chelsea. The money spent on both was for finished articles. Both have too many real weaknesses.

Can’t see any future for Nkunku at Chelsea. Where does he play? He has to move Palmer to get minutes in his best position in our set up but his actual best position has been on the left of a 4-3-3 which we don’t play.

For being such a sh*te performance I feel as though I learned a lot

19 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

My biggest issue with Felix is his consistency. He's going to score goals, and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends the season with double digits, but he has games where he just doesn't take any chances at all. Everything will go over the bar, and even simple chances won't go on target. It's similar with Madueke where he will have a good game here and there, but lacks the consistency to be relied on. Personally, I am fine with him as a backup to Palmer, I'm much more concerned about other areas. I feel like Nkunku is wasted as a striker, Mudryk just isn't ever going to make it at this level, Enzo will never be a Premier League player and the defenders and goalkeepers which are at such a poor level that I don't think any real research went into how good they were when we signed them.

What i cannot fathom is that, call it confidence, chemistry, match sharpness, whatever, its a real thing. Not a myth, an actual thing players that are playing regularly can do things by rote because they are in the groove. Those not playing regularly will develop a level of rustiness and imprecision in their touch and feel. So why do the likes of Felix, Nkunku, Mudryk etc insist on these ridiculous flicks, back heels, round the corners, all when their timing is slightly off. So numerous moves break down though a lack of honest, disciplined, somewhat basic, football that would build confidence. Yet get in front of goal then they want to take an extra touch.

Pi$$e$ me right off.

19 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

My biggest issue with Felix is his consistency. He's going to score goals, and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends the season with double digits, but he has games where he just doesn't take any chances at all. Everything will go over the bar, and even simple chances won't go on target. It's similar with Madueke where he will have a good game here and there, but lacks the consistency to be relied on. Personally, I am fine with him as a backup to Palmer, I'm much more concerned about other areas. I feel like Nkunku is wasted as a striker, Mudryk just isn't ever going to make it at this level, Enzo will never be a Premier League player and the defenders and goalkeepers which are at such a poor level that I don't think any real research went into how good they were when we signed them.

What i cannot fathom is that, call it confidence, chemistry, match sharpness, whatever, its a real thing. Not a myth, an actual thing players that are playing regularly can do things by rote because they are in the groove. Those not playing regularly will develop a level of rustiness and imprecision in their touch and feel. So why do the likes of Felix, Nkunku, Mudryk etc insist on these ridiculous flicks, back heels, round the corners, all when their timing is slightly off. So numerous moves break down though a lack of honest, disciplined, somewhat basic, football that would build confidence. Yet get in front of goal then they want to take an extra touch.

Pi$$e$ me right off.

22 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Normally I’d agree, but I think the entire club is at risk of collapse if we don’t get Champions League football. 

Well let's just hope that the coefficient goes in our favour.

18 minutes ago, DarkMata said:

Felix isn’t a team player.  Does what he wants, mainly what looks good for the cameras.  On top the fact he isn’t really that good.  I fully believe Carney would be more impactful given the same minutes but he’s been screwed by our silly transfer model

Madueke thinks he’s Ronaldo but has a fifth of the talent, and like you say turns up once every 4 games.

Nkunku probably doesn’t fit in Marecsas system on top of a lack of minutes in the first team and lack of fitness/sharpness.  I do think he’s a really good player.

Youre probably right with Mudryk but I do think he looks like he’s completely lost all confidence and plays with fear.

Enzo I think there’s a player in there but like Nkunku I don’t think he fits anywhere in Marescas system.  Don’t think he’s played well this season especially after the hernia issue of last season.

i don’t know what the hell we have done when it comes to goalkeepers and Disasi and Badiashile are terrible and need to be sold.

Bang on.

I agree with almost all of this. Sorry, i just don't rate Fernandez. I have rarely seen anything from this guy to support the hype.

Knew we'd be in big trouble as soon as I saw the line-up. I said it in one of my posts early in this thread. Disasi and Badiashile at the same time on the pitch is simply not good enough against PL opposition. 

Newcastle were not even that good, but they deserve to go through as they seem to have wanted it more judging by how many starters they used. I actually think that with Colwill and Gusto in defence next to Tosin and Cucurella, we'd have gone through. 

Hopefully we win the Conference League with Disasi and Badiashile as starters so we can sell them while their stock is still high.

Not too bothered about not going through, I don’t rate much this cup and I’d rather win the ECL and have a go in the FA Cup. This Carabao Cup just loads players with more games and it’s not that prestigious. I just feel for the supporters that travelled to Newcastle tonight, the players should pay their costs after such a sh*tshow.

What we can learn is that Badiashille, Disasi and Tosin are diabolical, and Enzo is not working out. Other than that, I thought that going forward we carried some danger at times, and had a few clear chances missed.

And, we had no injuries to any of the the first team players, who got a week’s rest and will be fresh to face ManU on Sunday.

 

Honestly didn't expect much since the goal imo was pushing top 4 and winning the conference league. Anything else was bonus

Not really bothered about going out as I would rather focus on the PL and conference league. 
 

That said, bar 10-15 mins of chaos, I thought we played pretty well and carved them open. We just couldn’t score. 
 

Defence is a major concern.  Enzo has to sort that out. Badders and Disasj have to be moved on. They are simply not good enough. 
 

Mydryk was good without really doing anything. Still needs to show more end product and determination. 
 

I said we will lose tonight and Sunday vs United. 

14 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Knew we'd be in big trouble as soon as I saw the line-up. I said it in one of my posts early in this thread. Disasi and Badiashile at the same time on the pitch is simply not good enough against PL opposition. 

Newcastle were not even that good, but they deserve to go through as they seem to have wanted it more judging by how many starters they used. I actually think that with Colwill and Gusto in defence next to Tosin and Cucurella, we'd have gone through. 

Hopefully we win the Conference League with Disasi and Badiashile as starters so we can sell them while their stock is still high.

I hope we drop them as soon as the knockout phase begins. We should be winning that competition, I don't want us risking it with those two at the back.

Arsenal get ANOTHER easy draw, Palace at home, if Marasca had tried to win it a home tie against Brentford, oh well

Defence was awful, could have easily conceded 4 or more. Offensively we didn't do much without the Palmer lead attack, best chance fall to Felix who really should have done better, that was the moment for any sort of fight back and we never asked questions again after that. Not a big deal to get knocked out early, more time for rest and training will do us good in the long run. I certainly won't miss the likes of Badeshire playing

Respect to the 5-6000 fans who went all the way there. I’d be gutted to go that far to see us make just ONE sub when chasing a game. What was going on?

No disaster going out, however, those Jose years, wanting to win everything, these were games where the players who didnt make the league team had to shine. Who could you say did that tonight to force themselves into reckoning for the weekend? 

 

42 minutes ago, bluetrooper said:

No disaster going out, however, those Jose years, wanting to win everything, these were games where the players who didnt make the league team had to shine. Who could you say did that tonight to force themselves into reckoning for the weekend? 

 

To be fair to some of them, what sort of opportunity was that to shine. In a normal first 11 team, if you’re chasing a game you’d make changes. We made one sub and left all the others out there even though players like Nkunku had run their course. I really don’t know what the manager was playing at.

For tonight I'd just want to ask Maresca why'd he even bother to take Palmer and Colwill all the way up there if he didn't want to take any risks with them and make us get something out of that 2nd half. Really weird decision to me, but meh, bring on Manure and their new manager!

7 minutes ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

For tonight I'd just want to ask Maresca why'd he even bother to take Palmer and Colwill all the way up there if he didn't want to take any risks with them and make us get something out of that 2nd half. Really weird decision to me, but meh, bring on Manure and their new manager!

Indeed. He showed he did not care about us being knocked out by the team he selected, and that he did not react at half time.

The simple fact is this signing model will definitely produce gems. Another simple fact is that for a fair percentage  of our signings Chelsea will be the biggest club they play for in their careers.

I can live with that but not when we spunk £106 million on Enzo and £60+ million on Mudryk. When you buy potential in today’s market we shouldn’t be going above £50 million. Our most successful signings purely on output (bar Caicedo) were all £30-50 million. 
 

In fact I struggle to see many players that cost over £100 million as successes at the clubs they moved to. Maybe Rice if Arsenal actually win the league or CL. 
 

Mbappe was successful at PSG I suppose but every £100m player has been a bit of a letdown. Caicedo will be a big player for us so hopefully he bucks the trend.

Edit to add…. I’m struggling to think of any player we’ve signed that cost north of £50 million that could be termed a success although I’ll probably be missing a glaring one.

 

Edited October 31, 20241 yr by 19seventyone

29 minutes ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

For tonight I'd just want to ask Maresca why'd he even bother to take Palmer and Colwill all the way up there if he didn't want to take any risks with them and make us get something out of that 2nd half. Really weird decision to me, but meh, bring on Manure and their new manager!

I wouldn’t be surprised if the score at Old Trafford made his decision for him.

For those who want to see some truly terrible defending, the extended highlights:

 

 

The way Enzo just wimps out the challange on the first goal...captain? Lol.

4 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

I am surprised that Maresca wrote this game off, but the fact that we have been abysmal and he has made no further changes tells me he has no interest in trying to win this game.

Its a strange approach by Maresca with 50 players to keep happy.

It is... and a bit odd that Felix didn't get a chance after he scored 2... maybe he's already on the way out list...

 

ps. should give travel refunds to unfortunate fans who had to watch it in person

Edited October 31, 20241 yr by Bebe1980

I called it before the match, it was really obvious after half time too when there were no changes. Our priority is top 4/5 and the ECL. There's a reason why I call this lot subs/Team B. Maresca didnt make any changes or lots of subs because even if they lose they still need the minutes to keep up with Team A, because primarily they are the "subs".

In the Summer window, if/when they guarantee champions league money, they will sell/buy team B players. They won't mess about with team A much, if at all (except for gk, and maybe a defender), but they will upgrade the subs. And we have those 2 younger kids coming to cover the attack/wingers upgrades.

It will be too arse long to comment on each player but they actually all did OK-ish as SUBS (with a couple of exceptions). Swap one or 2 into the A team because of injury or illnesss and we will be OK. Sub another 2-3 to see out a game towards the end for fresh legs, thats fine. But as a team, they are the Subs/Team B and unfortunately we have to get used to that for a few years.

Posted this one below before the game.

10 hours ago, Simplymo said:

If Newcastle are fielding the A team vs our subs then I don't hold much hope unfortunately.

 

7 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Assuming priority is Top 4 and Conference League. 

7 hours ago, forbzy said:

I think we also got further confirmation today that a lot of the second string are not good enough to start in the first team. A few of them are decent options from the bench or could cover when players are out injured, but several need to be offloaded.

This...and as above once we've confirmed CL we will get better subs. Keyword is subs though (apart from gk)

 

Learnt and/or confirmed a lot from this game. I'm disappointed we didn't go for this cup but I guess it sums up how important top4/5 is for us.

 

Edited October 31, 20241 yr by Simplymo