Standard win against a limited opponent

Neto had a very good game

Nice assist from Delap, good to see our new recruit making sensible runs… he’ll be a handful

Referee was a bit fussy

3 points

Just now, WhiteWall said:

I just think he is so weak and so limited in ability in so many areas.

He wasn't until Maresca turned up. Promising young RB/RWB now forced into a role to which he's not suited.

4 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

He's also looked fine for France recently, used by Deschamps as a traditional overlapping full back, which, of course, is what he is !

This.

Job done I suppose.

Nothing to say what we don’t already know. Unless there’s a lot of space to move into we find it difficult to break through stubborn defenses. Our wingers lack a lot of quality relative to other top clubs.

Colwill MOTM for me.

I saw the 2nd half.

Nice to see us win by two though wondered if they might have got a penalty.

Thought the young Venezuelan should have seen Red,

Delap looks a little too physical as I predicted though also showed some skill.

Enzo took his goal superbly.

Neto, Caicedo and Cucurella stood out for me,

Neto was MOTM

Enzo making a right habit of those Lampard esque runs into the box.

Delap looked sharp.

Palmer is a magician.

Tosin & Colwill both very solid.

Cucu is a master of the dark arts and something we definitely need in the side.

Gusto is pointless in this system, just give the minutes to Josh at this stage.

Madueke is going to be very hard to sell if he keeps putting in such BTec performances.

Jackson for every positive has 10 negatives.

Turns out we still employ Nkunku.

The football is painfully dull though.

6 minutes ago, Deino said:

Essugo must be great in training if he gets the nod ahead of Santos

I reckon Santos starts the next game.

6 minutes ago, Deino said:

Essugo must be great in training if he gets the nod ahead of Santos

Probably got his Clearlake orders.

I'm half expecting the "Andrey doesn't fit Maresca's system" brief by the usual suspects in social media soon ...

Just now, 19seventyone said:

I reckon Santos starts the next game.

Agree. Essugo the defensive Caicedo replacement. Santos more attacking Enzo replacement.

Just now, 19seventyone said:

I reckon Santos starts the next game.

I hope you are right, but I can't see it ... he won't drop or rest Caicedo, and I also doubt he'll now bench Enzo after the goal this evening ...

1 minute ago, DarkMata said:

Agree. Essugo the defensive Caicedo replacement. Santos more attacking Enzo replacement.

Not sure that's how it will pan out. Santos led all the midfield ball winning stats in Ligue 1 didn't he ? I think he's probably Caicedo, but with some more goals, rather than an alternate for Fernandez

14 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

Delap hasn't looked like an upgrade on Jackson so far, still early days though

He looks stronger, has better movement, has an understanding of the offside rule, and can stay on his feet. He showed brilliantly on two occasions but our players are not used to a no. 9 and didn't slot him in. There was nothing hopeful about the assist- he knew exactly what he was doing.

I'm excited.

1 minute ago, Liam said:

He looks stronger, has better movement, has an understanding of the offside rule, and can stay on his feet. He showed brilliantly on two occasions but our players are not used to a no. 9 and didn't slot him in. There was nothing hopeful about the assist- he knew exactly what he was doing.

I'm excited.

He’s big, strong, fast, and a very good dribbler. Having all those qualities together is rare.

13 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

Delap looks a little too physical

How is this a neagtive for a no. 9?

Gusto's mistakes on D have nothing to do with how's he used in the attack. Victor Moses looked good for a year too, you can only ask the manager to hide the flaws of so many players.

14 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

I saw the 2nd half.

Nice to see us win by two though wondered if they might have got a penalty.

Thought the young Venezuelan should have seen Red,

Delap looks a little too physical as I predicted though also showed some skill.

Enzo took his goal superbly.

Neto, Caicedo and Cucurella stood out for me,

Also think if the ball had gone out of play sooner Tosin could have also had a second yellow

I wonder if he'll try and find a way to get Delap and Jackson into the same starting eleven ?

Both did some good work this evening.

15 minutes ago, Liam said:

He looks stronger, has better movement, has an understanding of the offside rule, and can stay on his feet. He showed brilliantly on two occasions but our players are not used to a no. 9 and didn't slot him in. There was nothing hopeful about the assist- he knew exactly what he was doing.

I'm excited.

Bang on that, im amazed anyone can claim he didn't look better than Jackson. He immediately made 2 excellent runs that led to chances, proper strikers runs off a defender into space (staying onside). That instantly takes him above Jackson.

19 minutes ago, Liam said:

How is this a neagtive for a no. 9?

Spot on. Especially for a number 9 playing in the most physical league in World football.

17 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

I wonder if he'll try and find a way to get Delap and Jackson into the same starting eleven ?

Both did some good work this evening.

You could well be right. It is entirely plausible that Maresca would drop Palmer to fit Jackson in on the left wing.

MarescaBall at its finest.

31 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Not sure that's how it will pan out. Santos led all the midfield ball winning stats in Ligue 1 didn't he ? I think he's probably Caicedo, but with some more goals, rather than an alternate for Fernandez

Thought he was more box to box .

Just now, DarkMata said:

Thought he was more box to box .

I think he does box to box well, but he's also been quoted as saying his best position is as a deep lying midfielder.

He's probably the most complete midfielder we have (Carlo said something similar along those lines when he pitched up for the Brazil squad recently).

Personally, I'd love to see him alongside Caicedo instead of Enzo.

Remains to be seen what Maresca thinks of him. Seems to have him behind Essugo on tonight's evidence LOL

If Maresca lets Andrey Santos rot on the bench, I'll be bloody furious.

I like Liam Delap.

An old fashioned number 9.

Better than Fernando Torres' or Chris Sutton's debuts so I'm optimistic.

10 minutes ago, Luca Vialli said:

If Maresca lets Andrey Santos rot on the bench, I'll be bloody furious.

Biggest crime would be if KDHD gets time over him.

Delap looked busy. Needs a start though. . We know all about Jackson and Nkunku anyway..