Not our finest day.  Fulham probably only deserved a draw, but got that win.  Hopefully they will have to wait 45 years for their next one. We should have had a simple 1-0 home win, bit of a boring game and then move on to our next game. But we managed the game poorly.

Enzo Senior needs better game management especially when our young team doesn't have any. Maresca needs to make better substitutions and smarter changes much earlier. BUT - The reality is Maresca doesn't have much managerial experience. Awkward. No wonder he feels that we are not 'ready'.

What was Sanchez doing with all that long kicking today? Don’t think he found a Chelsea player once and it led directly to their winner. 

Bigger problem though is that Sancho, Jackson, Neto and Madueke have all decided to be sh*t at the same time. Don’t know where that leaves us to be honest. But Maresca needs to use the squad better.

I also think we need to seriously look at bringing in a striker in January. Jackson doesn’t have any competition and it shows in his performances lately. 

1 minute ago, Dr. Socrates said:

What was Sanchez doing with all that long kicking today? Don’t think he found a Chelsea player once and it led directly to their winner. 

Bigger problem though is that Sancho, Jackson, Neto and Madueke have all decided to be sh*t at the same time. Don’t know where that leaves us to be honest. But Maresca needs to use the squad better.

I also think we need to seriously look at bringing in a striker in January. Jackson doesn’t have any competition and it shows in his performances lately. 

Thought his kicking was fine up until Fulham scored where he just randomly kicked it long to nobody which led to Fulham to attack us with numbers. 

6 minutes ago, big blue said:

No one is turning on Maresca, he is there to be criticised when  he makes mistakes and he there to be trained when he has done well. Same as any player or manager ever.

I'm sure Maresca will think he made a mistake today

 If you think he is happy with his own performance, then maybe it's yourself who needs to have a look in the mirror. 

It's obvious what ever he tried today, did not work as we lost, and deservedly so, any sportsman worth his salt will be his own biggest critic. 

Nobody is turning on him?

 

Called a one trick pony.

Called a c**t

Said he had been 'shown up again'

He's inept

Or more obviously 'Maresca out'

 

Absolutely agree he deserves criticism for elements today and against Everton but he deserves a lot more credit for his achievements to date than the sort of idiocy quoted above.

1 minute ago, Dr. Socrates said:

What was Sanchez doing with all that long kicking today? Don’t think he found a Chelsea player once and it led directly to their winner. 

Bigger problem though is that Sancho, Jackson, Neto and Madueke have all decided to be sh*t at the same time. Don’t know where that leaves us to be honest. But Maresca needs to use the squad better.

I also think we need to seriously look at bringing in a striker in January. Jackson doesn’t have any competition and it shows in his performances lately. 

I agree.. We need a decent striker ASAP. 

But we haven't tried our own young striker yet.

7 minutes ago, El regreso said:

The overreaction by some is just shockingly stupid isn’t it. We are second, no one expected that at all at the start of the season. Our players didn’t look aggressive today at all even Caicedo they just looked like they were coasting around.

Though we will be 3rd tomorrow, a point ahead of 4th.

Just now, guddy69 said:

I agree.. We need a decent striker ASAP. 

But we haven't tried our own young striker yet.

Let’s not waste any more points trying young players who might hopefully develop into ok. Let’s go and buy someone that has a fighting chance of making a difference before the rest of our young squad retires.

I see Isak scored again today. I know most here think Jackson is miles better, but let’s just try a whacky experiment and see if Isak can score self made blinders from outside the box for us.

3 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Thought his kicking was fine up until Fulham scored where he just randomly kicked it long to nobody which led to Fulham to attack us with numbers. 

I don't really understand the tactic of an outfield player playing him the ball for him to hoof it.  Surely, if we are going to insist on that, it should be the other way round.  

6 minutes ago, loz said:

Not sure what's more pathetic

That 90 minutes from Sancho or people turning on Maresca already.  

We are way ahead of any rational person's expectations after the mess the club has been in for seasons and that was our first defeat in a long time relatively speaking.

No doubt we were poor from 50th minute onwards and I'm surprised we didn't hook Sancho but, then again, a similar change was made against Everton and delivered nothing.

Anyone who seriously thinks Maresca is f**king things up really needs to focus more on playing Championship Manager than watching actual football.

I think it;s fair to say Maresca didn't have a great game today, That is not to denigrate the excellent work he has done thus far. 

It might have been worth throwing Guiu  for Jackson when we clearly lacked intensity ,bring Unkunku on for Sancho, switch Neto and let Cole drift along on the right.  Then get Caicedo and Enzo closer to try and exert some control.  All said with hindsight but it was obvious to eceryone watching that we had no control over the game. 

1 minute ago, Liam said:

I think it;s fair to say Maresca didn't have a great game today, That is not to denigrate the excellent work he has done thus far. 

It might have been worth throwing Guiu  for Jackson when we clearly lacked intensity ,bring Unkunku on for Sancho, switch Neto and let Cole drift along on the right.  Then get Caicedo and Enzo closer to try and exert some control.  All said with hindsight but it was obvious to eceryone watching that we had no control over the game. 

I'd be giving Nkunku more of a regular start ahead of Jackson before turning to Guiu.  Guiu, against much lesser opposition, has blown hot and cold. Not convinced he is up to Premier League standard yet.  

Certainly think Sancho is stealing a living at the moment.  I'd like to see Neto on left, Palmer on right and Felix in centre behind Nkunku.

But more than anything I want Lavia fit 

43 minutes ago, Zola_25Fan said:

f**k Robert Sanchez. The biggest c**t of all. sh*tty keeper.

 

Have a word with yourself you muppet. 

Guiu just isn't Premier League ready let's be honest with ourselves. He wasn't purchased to be an immediate impact for the club. Premier League is the toughest league in the world to develop in and from what I've seen from Guiu he'd struggle in the Championship.  

What this boils down to, is Felix. We had the chance to get Omorodion but Mendes f**ked us. 

15 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Thought his kicking was fine up until Fulham scored where he just randomly kicked it long to nobody which led to Fulham to attack us with numbers. 

I thought the same but I actually think our lack of desire to win that Sanchez long ball and Gusto, Cucurella and Colwill causally jogging back and putting zero pressure on their players helped concede that 2nd goal.

Edited December 26, 20241 yr by 2211

2 minutes ago, loz said:

I'd like to see Neto on left, Palmer on right and Felix in centre behind Nkunku.

But more than anything I want Lavia fit 

Yes Lavia is a big loss. Nkunku has been underwhelming for me and those that do like him always say he is not a number 9. He desreves a run in the team as does Felix unless there is an agenda we are not aware of. 

By the way has there been any word on why Madueke was not in the squad? Hopefully not some kind of falling out.

20 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Thought his kicking was fine up until Fulham scored where he just randomly kicked it long to nobody which led to Fulham to attack us with numbers. 

He was doing diags to Sancho all games, most of which weren't coming off. We haven't done this during the season and actually Sanchez's long ball distribution is normally pretty good.

This must have been a chosen tactic today from the coaches. What we lacked, as has been mentioned previously by Leicester City visitors, is a plan b when it's not working.

Not having this young team bollox as well every time we get beaten our outplayed. Being too weak or too niave for top PL football is fair enough but falling back on the age defence is just lazy imo. We chose this path, we expect these players to be good enough and ready regardless of their age.

2 minutes ago, Liam said:

Yes Lavia is a big loss. Nkunku has been underwhelming for me and those that do like him always say he is not a number 9. He desreves a run in the team as does Felix unless there is an agenda we are not aware of. 

By the way has there been any word on why Madueke was not in the squad? Hopefully not some kind of falling out.

Maresca said it was a 'technical decision' which sounds like "he was late for training' or 'he was shagging Wayne Bridge's missus'

57 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

When we need energy surely Guiu is the better option?

Bloody good point mate. To be fair he's the most natural number 9 we have and he works his bloody socks off.

I'd also have madueke on the bench - he's our biggest goal threat from the wing.

5 minutes ago, Liam said:

By the way has there been any word on why Madueke was not in the squad? Hopefully not some kind of falling out.

Not even listed within the missing players on Flashscore, so it looks like an out-and-out dropped from the squad!

I wonder if he'll release a statement! 👀

2 minutes ago, Mod said:

Not even listed within the missing players on Flashscore, so it looks like an out-and-out dropped from the squad!

f**k. We can do without that type of drama. He's a valuable player for us that we can ill do without.

4 minutes ago, Mod said:

Not even listed within the missing players on Flashscore, so it looks like an out-and-out dropped from the squad!

I wonder if he'll release a statement! 👀

Dropped for technical reasons. 

Earliest sub being in the 73rd minute over the last 3 games tells a story of it’s own.

Madueke hungover from Christmas not a shocker, as he’s into the “lifestyle” of being a footballer, but you would expect us to be utilising the squad more than this, game state gets stale, and we’re coasting through with no urgency. 

12 minutes ago, loz said:

Maresca said it was a 'technical decision' which sounds like "he was late for training' or 'he was shagging Wayne Bridge's missus'

Far more important that we have a second goalkeeper on the bench. You know, just in case...

46 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

In the past 3 matches, of our 15 subs Maresca only used 3....

It's four, but it's something worth taking notice of.

Nkunku for Jackson, Nkunku for Jackson, Nkunku for Jackson, the other one was Madueke for Neto. No change in tactics either, it's just like for like. When you lose control of a game of football, like for like subs don't usually wrestle that control back, you need a bit more than that. Marco Silva made multiple tactical changes throughout, Maresca changed nothing from what I could see.

In a game that was slipping away, we made one sub in the 73rd minute. That was it. Everyone in this chat could see we were losing control but did nothing to change things. This was avoidable today

Sancho knackered, Neto knackered, Gusto knackered.

Use Acheampong, use George, use Guiu, use Felix. Fresh legs if nothing else. We were burnt out and he just let it carry on.

We have 5 subs not 1. How Fulham can make many changes to freshen up and win the game but we cannot. Why?