Better than Fofana

I don't see Maresca giving him regular minutes. Tosin, Fofana and Chalobah are ahead of him for the right side defender spot.

I see the importance of Tosin against route one sides but we move the ball loads quicker without a sweeper.

32 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I see the importance of Tosin against route one sides but we move the ball loads quicker without a sweeper.

Ironic maresca did not when we faced sesko.

12 hours ago, axman2526 said:

I don't see Maresca giving him regular minutes. Tosin, Fofana and Chalobah are ahead of him for the right side defender spot.

Madrid would happily have him and play him.

12 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

but we move the ball loads quicker without a sweeper.

Maresca specifically doesn't want that though, hence his rant about "CCB" earlier.

The stuff Acheampong is good at - moving the ball quickly into midfield, dribbling to break the lines, short passing, actual defending - doesn't outweigh the tactical things that Maresca actually wants.

19 hours ago, charierre said:

Deserves praise for yesterday's performance after his so-so cameo against Brighton. He now needs to be playing regular, fingers crossed Maresca will now trust him and give him extra minutes. If not it has to be a loan for him in January.

Really don't want to see him loaned out - this lad has to play more minutes for us.

Great to have a ball playing defender. He looks very assured - bit like Rio Ferdinand & John Stones. Sure, he has mistakes in his game which you would expect from a 19 year old but I think and hope he could be one of our CB's for years to come.

1 hour ago, Nibs said:

Really don't want to see him loaned out - this lad has to play more minutes for us.

Great to have a ball playing defender. He looks very assured - bit like Rio Ferdinand & John Stones. Sure, he has mistakes in his game which you would expect from a 19 year old but I think and hope he could be one of our CB's for years to come.

A young Ferdinand is how I see him too. Rio used drop loads of ricks for Spam and Leeds but his quality shone through. Really important he now plays often.

Huijsen didn't have any games last season better than what Acheampong showed yesterday.

If he's at Brighton we'd have offered 50M by now.

Maresca has to change his tactics to suit our best players I’m afraid and Josh is currently our best (available) CB.

Tosin is solid but not spectacular.

Chalobah now we’ve all been exposed to him is at his current ceiling, serviceable but by no means a starter for a top side.

Fofana is unreliable, we cannot build/plan around someone who is injured for 90% of a season, which at this point is optimistic.

A future CB partnership of Josh & Levi is easily one of the Top 3 in the league (and it cost us nothing)

11 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Maresca specifically doesn't want that though, hence his rant about "CCB" earlier.

The stuff Acheampong is good at - moving the ball quickly into midfield, dribbling to break the lines, short passing, actual defending - doesn't outweigh the tactical things that Maresca actually wants.

Josh certainly likes to travel with the ball it opens up all sorts of possibilities when executed correctly.

I hope he starts to get regular game time now. Feeling like he has a high ceiling and could become a very good layer for us.

Chalobah, Tosin and Fofana are back up players for a top side at best. They should not be ahead of Josh imo.

On 07/10/2025 at 01:36, OTL said:

Josh certainly likes to travel with the ball it opens up all sorts of possibilities when executed correctly.

Yep and it's not particularly risky, it is just him being able to confidently carry the ball closer to goal, suck in a defender or two, and give the midfielders some breathing space. Maresca wants the CBs not to move with the ball and to ping passes, which of course carries its own risks.

On 05/10/2025 at 19:33, charierre said:

Deserves praise for yesterday's performance after his so-so cameo against Brighton. He now needs to be playing regular, fingers crossed Maresca will now trust him and give him extra minutes. If not it has to be a loan for him in January.

He is 19, you don't want him to be playing regularly.

6 hours ago, Bob stark said:

He is 19, you don't want him to be playing regularly.

If you're good enough, you're old enough.

He shouldn’t be playing regularly but that’s where we find ourselves.

Best CBs at the club are academy products. But hey, 6 year extension.

10 hours ago, Bob stark said:

He is 19, you don't want him to be playing regularly.

Imagine we had a Yamal at the club or the Rio Ngumoha who moved from us to Liverpool.

1 hour ago, markpitts said:

Imagine we had a Yamal at the club or the Rio Ngumoha who moved from us to Liverpool.

We don't need to imagine, we have Estevao.

4 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

He shouldn’t be playing regularly but that’s where we find ourselves.

Best CBs at the club are academy products. But hey, 6 year extension.

He should not need to be playing because those directors should have gotten us better depth than we have.

Like Estevao though Joshs talent is starting to shine through, he should get decent minutes to develop.

What a talent! Amazing performance. Another coming of age performance and a goal to top it off 👏

Just been to the game, sitting in the Forest end. He stood out massively, could be some player. We have to keep hold of him.

4 minutes ago, Dr Gonzo said:

Just been to the game, sitting in the Forest end. He stood out massively, could be some player. We have to keep hold of him.

Yep - clear MOTM for me.

Very impressed.

Watch Maresca sidelining him when Fofana or Badiashille come back.

3 hours ago, RMH said:

Watch Maresca sidelining him when Fofana or Badiashille come back.

With Badiashile back on the injury list there should be plenty of opportunities for all our central defenders. Fofana will get some minutes but his time also has to be managed carefully given his injury history. Maybe Fofana will get a start in the Champions League. But hopefully Josh gets a run of games in the Premier League now, after his last 2 performances.

Why was he subbed off? More cramp?