I feel that us Chelsea fans jump on managers way to quickly and granted I’m not a huge fan of his football but we need to remember who the biggest problem is in this football club at this moment, the people upstairs. We need some experience in the squad and to not be run like a Brighton because as a business it’s fantastic but as a massive club like us it’s terrible, there’s no progression from it. Buy cheap try and sell high works for mid table clubs but won’t work for Chelsea.

I do think we need to give maresca more time as he hasn’t actually done that terrible. If we win uecl and get top 5 then id say its been an average but successful season based on the last couple.

You won't be the only one but I think you're probably in the minority.

46 minutes ago, Chapo said:

I feel that us Chelsea fans jump on managers way to quickly and granted I’m not a huge fan of his football but we need to remember who the biggest problem is in this football club at this moment, the people upstairs.

I do think we need to give maresca more time as he hasn’t actually done that terrible. If we win uecl and get top 5 then id say its been an average but successful season based on the last couple.

It depends on your expectations and aims.

What I wanted to see is the same thing I have said for the past 5 years.

1) A complete reset of the way we play, to develop a progressive style on the pitch that plays to the strengths of our best players.

2) an end to us trying to ply slow possession based, risk averse football. We are not pep or city - so stop copying others.

3) If these asks come at the expense of short term success on the pitch, then so be it. I would sacrifice a couple of years (more) of pain in the table in order to develop a proper philosophy, style and ethos at the club - an identity of our own.

He has failed in this in every possible way. Data and analysis has shown that the longer the season goes on, the more we play to "his" style - we get worse. Again, this is worse in the sense of play, style and chance creation - not necessarily to do with results.

I don't want to see us play in this way. I don't want us to copy pep and city. I want a manager who will lead us on our own path - not re treading others.

Maresca is at best a copycat, and at worst a fraud. He has shown nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that he can lead this club in the way I want the club to be led.

If we fail to qualify for champions league by a few points there is a catalog of matches this season where Maresca’s game management cost us.

We dropped 5 points against Ipswich for example.

Ipswich.

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

If we fail to qualify for champions league by a few points there is a catalog of matches this season where Maresca’s game management cost us.

We dropped 5 points against Ipswich for example.

Ipswich.

Yup. Forgetting anything else taking only 1 point from such a poor team is abysmal.

Never mind the false hope given out by forest losing to Brentford. The damage has been done already in these past 5 months. Too many points lost leaving us needing to beat Liverpool and Newcastle, and we are not capable of beating such sides right now.

Maresca has a large portion of blame on that, so do the ownersfor their sh*t recruitment.

Edited May 3, 20251 yr by axman2526

If we manage to scrap into the top 5 and win the Conference League then he would have had a decent last few matches.

As pointed out earlier getting 1 point out of 6 against Ipswich is criminal.

Our form over the last 4 months (especially away from home) has been terrible.

If I thought he was flexible enough to change his ways then my stance would be a bit softer.

Moving the ball quicker, mixing up tactics and tweaking formations in-game against low blocks are all things that can be tried and addressed in training, but nothing ever changes.

Although it is correct the owners and their stupid transfer policy has made it very difficult to succeed here.

If we get into the top 5 then I'm prepared to give him the start of next season, but really considering we was 2nd in the league in late December we shouldn't have us have to beat the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle and Forest to finish in the top 5.

2 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

If we fail to qualify for champions league by a few points there is a catalog of matches this season where Maresca’s game management cost us.

We dropped 5 points against Ipswich for example.

Ipswich.

Oh 100% it’s poor but if he gets the job done then atleast give him one more season no?

2 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

If we fail to qualify for champions league by a few points there is a catalog of matches this season where Maresca’s game management cost us.

We dropped 5 points against Ipswich for example.

Ipswich.

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

Yup. Forgetting anything else taking only 1 point from such a poor team is abysmal.

Never mind the false hope given out by forest losing to Brentford. The damage has been done already in these past 5 months. Too many points lost leaving us needing to beat Liverpool and Newcastle, and we are not capable of beating such sides right now.

Maresca has a large portion of blame on that, so do the ownersfor their sh*t recruitment.

I do partially agree but I do think our fans are too cynical on maresca when ok he’s had players brought for him which haven’t been successful but realistically he wants experience yet we’re still linked with 19/20 year olds everyday. Blueco are the problem

14 minutes ago, 2211 said:

If we manage to scrap into the top 5 and win the Conference League then he would have had a decent last few matches.

As pointed out earlier getting 1 point out of 6 against Ipswich is criminal.

Our form over the last 4 months (especially away from home) has been terrible.

If I thought he was flexible enough to change his ways then my stance would be a bit softer.

Moving the ball quicker, mixing up tactics and tweaking formations in-game against low blocks are all things that can be tried and addressed in training, but nothing ever changes.

Although it is correct the owners and their stupid transfer policy has made it very difficult to succeed here.

If we get into the top 5 then I'm prepared to give him the start of next season, but really considering we was 2nd in the league in late December we shouldn't have us have to beat the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle and Forest to finish in the top 5.

Ye last 4 months have been abysmal but we have had injuries and palmer has dropped off his game. I would say if maresca doesn’t tinker then I would probably begin to be maresca out

17 minutes ago, 2211 said:

If we manage to scrap into the top 5 and win the Conference League then he would have had a decent last few matches.

As pointed out earlier getting 1 point out of 6 against Ipswich is criminal.

Our form over the last 4 months (especially away from home) has been terrible.

If I thought he was flexible enough to change his ways then my stance would be a bit softer.

Moving the ball quicker, mixing up tactics and tweaking formations in-game against low blocks are all things that can be tried and addressed in training, but nothing ever changes.

Although it is correct the owners and their stupid transfer policy has made it very difficult to succeed here.

If we get into the top 5 then I'm prepared to give him the start of next season, but really considering we was 2nd in the league in late December we shouldn't have us have to beat the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle and Forest to finish in the top 5.

I agree with the tinkering part as he has not showed any adaptability

3 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

It depends on your expectations and aims.

What I wanted to see is the same thing I have said for the past 5 years.

1) A complete reset of the way we play, to develop a progressive style on the pitch that plays to the strengths of our best players.

2) an end to us trying to ply slow possession based, risk averse football. We are not pep or city - so stop copying others.

3) If these asks come at the expense of short term success on the pitch, then so be it. I would sacrifice a couple of years (more) of pain in the table in order to develop a proper philosophy, style and ethos at the club - an identity of our own.

He has failed in this in every possible way. Data and analysis has shown that the longer the season goes on, the more we play to "his" style - we get worse. Again, this is worse in the sense of play, style and chance creation - not necessarily to do with results.

I don't want to see us play in this way. I don't want us to copy pep and city. I want a manager who will lead us on our own path - not re treading others.

Maresca is at best a copycat, and at worst a fraud. He has shown nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that he can lead this club in the way I want the club to be led.

I think this is a harsh take, we know we are no where near where we need to be but calling him a copy cat and fraud is very harsh. Every manager takes features and tactics out of other managers books, especially when they work with them. I agree it’s boring and I don’t like it at all but if he wins us the conference league and gets us champions league then I’m prepared to give him time. I don’t rate maresca that highly but people forget the sh*te managers we had before him. The fact we were 2nd at some point of the season tells me we are very slowly edging back into where we are suppose to be. Blueco needs to adapt and so does maresca.

11 minutes ago, Chapo said:

I do partially agree but I do think our fans are too cynical on maresca when ok he’s had players brought for him which haven’t been successful but realistically he wants experience yet we’re still linked with 19/20 year olds everyday. Blueco are the problem

Preaching to the choir. Maresca would just be a rotten apple pulled from a bad tree.

4 hours ago, Chapo said:

I feel that us Chelsea fans jump on managers way to quickly and granted I’m not a huge fan of his football but we need to remember who the biggest problem is in this football club at this moment, the people upstairs. We need some experience in the squad and to not be run like a Brighton because as a business it’s fantastic but as a massive club like us it’s terrible, there’s no progression from it. Buy cheap try and sell high works for mid table clubs but won’t work for Chelsea.

I do think we need to give maresca more time as he hasn’t actually done that terrible. If we win uecl and get top 5 then id say its been an average but successful season based on the last couple.

He's annoyed me since day 1. Even before he was manager, I was concerned with the comments coming out of Leicester's fanbase.

Saying Sanchez was his number 1 when he hadn't even had a training session with him. Saying Chilwell couldn't play in his system, but he plays Gusto who is a similar type of player. He said the same about Chalobah, but then backtracked and basically admitted that we tried to sell him for PSR reasons (which tells me he is a yes man and will do as he is told by the owners) He said Chukwuemeka didn't have a place yet in the team and needed to go out on loan when we could have used him instead of signing Dewsbury-Hall and even take the pressure off Palmer, who could really do with a break right now. He never questioned the board when they weakened the team instead of strengthening it in January either, he should have put his foot down when it came to letting Felix go, he could have been useful.

His football is atrociously bad, the worst I have ever seen. At the start of the season, the players were still learning to play his system, so before he could force it on them, we mixed things up. It was working, we were comfortably 2nd, but Maresca changed it before Christmas and we have been abysmal ever since. Maresca has said that he refuses to change and it's hurting every player in the squad. Everybody is overthinking everything and he's taken the spark out of everybody, including a player fans all over the world couldn't keep their eyes off.

The only top sides we have beaten this season are Villa and Newcastle, but both of those sides were struggling for form when we beat them. He hasn't got us a single win against a decent side that were in good form. We are also still 3 points off last seasons total, in a season where the bottom teams are worse than ever, United and Tottenham are worse than ever, and City and Arsenal fell off. This isn't improvement.

When we were 2nd, Maresca repeatedly said the players weren't ready for a title push, which even if true, you don't say sh*t like that. The confidence our players had could have been the making of them. He also said for a brief moment that Champions League wasn't a target, but the fans weren't having it. Forest finished one place from relegation last season, and not once have they talked themselves down, so why has Maresca being doing it with our players? It's poor man management.

Edited May 3, 20251 yr by Scott Harris

8 hours ago, Chapo said:

I think this is a harsh take, we know we are no where near where we need to be but calling him a copy cat and fraud is very harsh. Every manager takes features and tactics out of other managers books, especially when they work with them. I agree it’s boring and I don’t like it at all but if he wins us the conference league and gets us champions league then I’m prepared to give him time. I don’t rate maresca that highly but people forget the sh*te managers we had before him. The fact we were 2nd at some point of the season tells me we are very slowly edging back into where we are suppose to be. Blueco needs to adapt and so does maresca.

Again - it depends on what your expectations and wants are.

If you only want to be near the top of the table, no matter how we play, then fine.

But I don't. As I said, I want us to have a progressive, front footed style and philosophy of our own - that doesn't copy others. I would be happy to sacrifice league position in the short term to achieve this.

I am judging progress on the field - Not in the league position or cup runs.

6 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Again - it depends on what your expectations and wants are.

If you only want to be near the top of the table, no matter how we play, then fine.

But I don't. As I said, I want us to have a progressive, front footed style and philosophy of our own - that doesn't copy others. I would be happy to sacrifice league position in the short term to achieve this.

I am judging progress on the field - Not in the league position or cup runs.

I want Chelsea to be back to our best but sometimes in football you have to have transitional periods especially when Roman left we were never going to get an owner like him.

I just think as a fan base we jump on managers to quickly where other fan bases don’t so much.

I don’t rate maresca but since Blueco have taken over he’s done the best.

I think he’s ok. Football has been dull since Christmas but was great before that. Stating the obvious but a lot will boil down to this last month of the season. If we win the conference league and come 4th/5th , I would be fully behind giving him another season.

11 minutes ago, Chapo said:

I want Chelsea to be back to our best but sometimes in football you have to have transitional periods especially when Roman left we were never going to get an owner like him.

I just think as a fan base we jump on managers to quickly where other fan bases don’t so much.

I don’t rate maresca but since Blueco have taken over he’s done the best.

Yep - I am fine with a transitional period, where we see signs of an evolution in approach, play and style on the field. But we are not seeing that with Maresca.

It is the same (or worse) stagnant, stale, slow and predictable football that we have seen since Sarri was here.

15 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

His football is atrociously bad, the worst I have ever seen. At the start of the season, the players were still learning to play his system, so before he could force it on them, we mixed things up. It was working, we were comfortably 2nd, but Maresca changed it before Christmas and we have been abysmal ever since. Maresca has said that he refuses to change and it's hurting every player in the squad. Everybody is overthinking everything and he's taken the spark out of everybody, including a player fans all over the world couldn't keep their eyes off.

The only top sides we have beaten this season are Villa and Newcastle, but both of those sides were struggling for form when we beat them. He hasn't got us a single win against a decent side that were in good form. We are also still 3 points off last seasons total, in a season where the bottom teams are worse than ever, United and Tottenham are worse than ever, and City and Arsenal fell off. This isn't improvement.

When we were 2nd, Maresca repeatedly said the players weren't ready for a title push, which even if true, you don't say sh*t like that. The confidence our players had could have been the making of them. He also said for a brief moment that Champions League wasn't a target, but the fans weren't having it. Forest finished one place from relegation last season, and not once have they talked themselves down, so why has Maresca being doing it with our players? It's poor man management.

Just to provide an illustration of our second-half season decline. The manager bottled it... Ipswich knew how to beat Marescas system from the championship...

I said at start of the season that if he gets us higher than poch and into CL, he'd probably deserve another season.

I take those words back having seen how appalling his brand of football is, i dont care if we get CL football or not, there are better managers out there who would instil a winners mentality into this side Maresca doesnt have.

Edited May 4, 20251 yr by bluetrooper

The big worry for me was from the Everton game where he had absolutely no idea how to counteract David Moyes substitutions which werent even that clever, just moved them up the pitch 10 yards or so, leaving us scrambling to a win against a team on the beach. if he can't even manage it against him then he's no chance against quality managers/teams.

Edited May 4, 20251 yr by dkw

For the first part of the season we played some good stuff IMO.

Then something changed, my opinion is when he said something about (can't remember the exact quote) wanting more control and less chaos in matches the football slowed down to a near walking pace, low block teams sat off us and we don't move the ball quickly enough to pull defenders around and out of position.

Then there is that unforgivable quote about we are not ready to challenge when we was 2nd in the league!

All of the above sucked the fun out of it for me and probably some of the players as well.

The next 4 matches will tell us if he is prepared to let the handbrake off, if only temporary...

Edited May 4, 20251 yr by 2211

Gave up with him as soon as he started preaching ‘his way’ Bored the life out of my love of Chelsea. The tedious, backward,sides ways, slow sh*t football killed the season for me. If we win the 3rd rate European cup and scrape 5th and get into the CL I won’t be jumping up and down (we’re not tottingham ffs) it will probably mean another depressing season of his crap. Depressed already.

4 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Yep - I am fine with a transitional period, where we see signs of an evolution in approach, play and style on the field. But we are not seeing that with Maresca.

It is the same (or worse) stagnant, stale, slow and predictable football that we have seen since Sarri was here.

I totally agree I don’t like his footballing style but we have to get behind him and if he brings us back to the ucl and wins a trophy then give him longer, if no changes then get rid

44 minutes ago, Chapo said:

I totally agree I don’t like his footballing style but we have to get behind him and if he brings us back to the ucl and wins a trophy then give him longer, if no changes then get rid

I don't care about the UCL qualification or a micky mouse cup. I want progress on the field, evolution. Not a rehashing of this slow and stagnant, sideways and predictable football.

This team isn't ready for the Champions League.

53 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

I don't care about the UCL qualification or a micky mouse cup. I want progress on the field, evolution. Not a rehashing of this slow and stagnant, sideways and predictable football.

This team isn't ready for the Champions League.

I’d beg to differ after watching this first half. Champions league also gives u the pull for signings.

I don't think he's that bad either

Are there better coaches out there? Sure, but given our board rejected Hansi Flick and Luis Enrique I don't exactly think they'll make a great pick next time.

Finishing top 4/5 with a trophy is a decent enough start, I don't think it's worth sacking him at the minute