9 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Gusto has barely ever played as a traditional fullback under Maresca. The vast majority of his game time he has spent playing as an inverted fullback. Maresca has really f**ked up the development of some of these players. He even had Palmer on the left wing today. The guy is forcing these players into positions they are uncomfortable with, which is only resulting in them looking worse on the pitch. Even if you put them back into their original position now, it would take a long time for them to regain that confidence and natural feel for that position.

To be honest you're going to find little sympathy from me when I never rated Gusto as this attacking fullback, especially when an 18 year old Acheampong (who is also playing out of position) has proven to be more comfortable on the ball, has a better touch, passing and awareness when inverting than Gusto. I don't even remember a single mistake from Josh whereas I have a catalog of Gusto's. My only frustration is why he isn't given game time over him.

City, Forest, Newcastle at home. Both Saints matches, Palace away and I think Villa+Brighton away are the matches off the top of my head I remember we played a traditional back 4 with Gusto bombing the flank, and was equally as frustrating.

Edited June 29, 20251 yr by Sconnie Blue

10 hours ago, General said:

Weather rule is per Younes is
1 strike lightning within 10 miles triggers 30 min pause any new strike another 30 minutes waiting period required etc. This is a FIFA regulation apparently not a 🇺🇸 regulation

OK, BUT WHEN I GO TO ORLANDO AND IM AROUND THE POOL IN A HOTEL, THEY KEEP AN EYE ON THE WEATHER BUT WILL NOT ASK YOU TO VACATE THE AREA UNTIL THE LIGHTNING IS 2 MILES AWAY, SO THERE IS NO REASON FOR IT TO BE 10 MILES, IT TAKES 30 SECONDS MAX FOR EVERYONE TO GET OFF THE PITCH, OTHER AMERICANS HAVE SAID AMERICAN SPORTS GO AHEAD UNTIL THE LIGHTNING IS CLOSE

I misunderstanding the protocol and thought the game was suspended because we had. a "lightning striker" . Delap is pretty quick but to suspend the game?

I WANT TO GIVE MARESCA SOME PRAISE, BUT FIND IT DIFFICULT AS HE STILL DOESNT LEARN

HE KEEPS RAVING ABOUT JOSH, BUT THEN HE BOTTLES IT AND PUTS ON GUSTO AGAIN

AGAIN GUSTO IS FOUND OUT AND COSTS US A GOAL, TWO GOALS WERE HIS FAULT IN THE 3-1 DEFEAT

CLEARLY HE IS BEING TARGETED BY COACHES WHO DO THEIR HOMEWORK

HE HAD ONLY BEEN ON THE PITCH 30 SECONDS AND BENFICA SENT A DIAGONAL BALL HIGH TOWARDS GUSTO, THE WINGER WON THE BALL BUT IT FELL TO ANOTHER CHELSEA DEFENDER

AFTER THE STOPPAGE CHELSEA SENT ON CHALOBAH TO PLAY RB AND PUSHED GUSTO INTO MIDFIELD, BUT AGAIN FROM THE FREEKICK THAT WAS AWARDED GUSTO WAS THE FURTHEST DEFENDER ON OUR RIGHT, THE PLAYER HE WAS MARKING WAS AT LEAST 4 INCHES TALLER, SO IT WAS NO SURPRISE THAT THE BENFICA PLAYER WON THE BALL, UNFORTUNATELY IT STRUCK GUSTOS HAND WAY ABOVE HIS HEAD

IT HAPPENED A FEW TIMES IN THE PL GUSTO IS THE FURTHEST AWAY FROM ANY FREEKICKS AND THE BALL GOES TOWARDS HIM, WHY HAVE WE NOT GOT SOMEONE TALLER AT THE RB POSITION DEFENDING FREEKICKS/CORNERS

4 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

I misunderstanding the protocol and thought the game was suspended because we had. a "lightning striker" . Delap is pretty quick but to suspend the game?

Get used to it.

USA has some pretty strict protocols when it comes to weather. I remember we had to delay a match because lighting/thunder was sighted 15 miles away...

The venues at some WC matches are in states that will essentially be in their "hurricane season", so sh*t like last night is entirely possible again.

1 minute ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Get used to it.

USA has some pretty strict protocols when it comes to weather. I remember we had to delay a match because lighting/thunder was sighted 15 miles away...

The venues at some WC matches are in states that will essentially be in their "hurricane season", so sh*t like last night is entirely possible again.

Hi mate, I vaguely remember the last WC in America but can't remember this happening back then. I remember it was very hot though, but I suppose the climate has changed since then, and of course there are a lot more teams and games this time . I don't know the number of games allocated to each of America, Mexico and Canada's ?

Does this happen a lot in their football and baseball games too ?

7 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Get used to it.

USA has some pretty strict protocols when it comes to weather. I remember we had to delay a match because lighting/thunder was sighted 15 miles away...

The venues at some WC matches are in states that will essentially be in their "hurricane season", so sh*t like last night is entirely possible again.

I don't recall this in the last WC in America, maybe the climate has changed to make lightning strikes more likely.?

Mind you, it's split between 3 continents so who knows what the f**k is going to happen ?

11 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Gusto played as a traditional fullback plenty of times under Maresca and has been just as sh*t. Brighton away was one of the worst defensive performances I’ve ever seen from a player.

I said even last season Gusto is a bang average footballer. This notion he was some attacking fullback just isn’t true. His saving grace under Poch was that he could actually defend. Bloke literally has no good qualities anymore.

Personally, I’d loan him.

You said it Sconnie, under Porch he could actually defend. . He was a good defender, if that's his best position, don't play him elsewhere. As with other players under Maresca, he's lost confidence.

8 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

You said it Sconnie, under Porch he could actually defend. . He was a good defender, if that's his best position, don't play him elsewhere. As with other players under Maresca, he's lost confidence.

I’m in the opinion just don’t play him. Loan him. Acheampong is significantly superior.

9 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I’m in the opinion just don’t play him. Loan him. Acheampong is significantly superior.

11 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

His saving grace under Poch was that he could actually defend. Bloke literally has no good

👍👍

10 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I’m in the opinion just don’t play him. Loan him. Acheampong is significantly superior.

11 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I’m in the opinion just don’t play him. Loan him. Acheampong is significantly superior.

But you were happy with him when he played under Poch. Everyone was, I've looked back at our comments. He's still young but he's' a nervous fecking wreck now. Palmer has regressed too under Maresca

37 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

But you were happy with him when he played under Poch. Everyone was, I've looked back at our comments. He's still young but he's' a nervous fecking wreck now. Palmer has regressed too under Maresca

I was happy with how he could defend under Poch.

If its a case of him being out of confidence or form then loan him and help him find it. Like I stated above, I don't have much sympathy when I am one of the few fans that never rated his ability with the ball, and when an academy product looks much more suited for the role than he does.

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Get used to it.

USA has some pretty strict protocols when it comes to weather. I remember we had to delay a match because lighting/thunder was sighted 15 miles away...

The venues at some WC matches are in states that will essentially be in their "hurricane season", so sh*t like last night is entirely possible again.

For the life of me, I can’t remember lightening being a problem when the WC was held in ‘94. Oppressive heat was a major issue and it probably produced the worst World Cup in living memory.

1 hour ago, The Rising Sun said:

His saving grace under Poch was that he could actually defend. Bloke literally has no good

👍👍

53 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I was happy with how he could defend under Poch.

If its a case of him being out of confidence or form then loan him and help him find it. Like I stated above, I don't have much sympathy when I am one of the few fans that never rated his ability with the ball, and when an academy product looks much more suited for the role than he does.

I wasn't researching your comments, just looking at our opinions of him a year ago before his injury. but ..a year ago below is a . comment by you on Gusto. Now you say you were one of the few fans that never rated him..... but he actually was very good, and at a very young age too. . I completely agree he isn't now, and I believe it's the manager who is to blame. It's a shame.

You wrote...

""Love Gusto. Really do, but James is the most complete RB in the world when fit.":

1 hour ago, charierre said:

For the life of me, I can’t remember lightening being a problem when the WC was held in ‘94. Oppressive heat was a major issue and it probably produced the worst World Cup in living memory.

It was a f**king awful world cup . Now they have a 2nd WC, Mexico will have their 3rd WC, and Canada will have 1 WC , the same number as England.

7 hours ago, erskblue said:

Above: Now. A ‘wee bit of a cloud’ and they take players off!

Below:Then.14th May 1985 at The Bridge against Norwich City. Proper football on a waterlogged pitch.😀

I was at that Norwich game.

13 hours ago, General said:

Weather rule is per Younes is
1 strike lightning within 10 miles triggers 30 min pause any new strike another 30 minutes waiting period required etc. This is a FIFA regulation apparently not a 🇺🇸 regulation

Wasn't Trump going to build a wall to stop lightening arriving on American soil? Perhaps he should try some tariffs.

After sleeping on it.......no, the competition is still a farce. If my passion for Chelsea was weaker than my tolerance for stupidity, I wouldn't have watched one second of this tournament.

Thought last night was a decent insight into how we may potentially fare in the CL next year and thought we were solid. Age old story of missed chances potentially coming back to bite us but we easily could have been 4/5 up before the weather break hit. Benfica are a great example of the decent CL sides that you'll have to be good at beating to make progress, a clear step up from the best the Conference had to offer and we dispatched them confidently.

Thought delap really struggled but even when not playing great, it was clear the different dynamic he gives us in being able to play long into and gain some territory. Jackson has his use in link up into his feet, but isn't much of a presence to relieve pressure or offer an out ball.

Colwill has transformed in these last few months, turned into a bit of a leader in how he plays but also communicates. If we can nail down a consistant partner for him our defence is pretty solid.

This tweak of system Maresca has brought in is also very interesting, i've rarely felt as confident with a narrow lead under him as I did last night. Of course the weather ruined that and we were slow back out of the blocks, but prior to that we looked great.

Credit for putting them to the sword in ET too. Many a team would have accepted the world (and that f**king ref) were against them and started throwing thier toys out the pram but once that red card hit we pressed on in the way that proper sides do.

5 hours ago, just said:

Wasn't Trump going to build a wall to stop lightening arriving on American soil? Perhaps he should try some tariffs.

No more tariffs - that was eventful, with much to do. But, finally addressing trade imbalances, oil sub $70 a barrel, stock markets at record highs and interest rates on the cusp of reducing after 4 years. We’ll call that a win.

Edited June 29, 20251 yr by PhilH930

18 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I’m in the opinion just don’t play him. Loan him. Acheampong is significantly superior.

Sorry I would not loan him I think selling him would be best.

He for some reason , and I don’t think it’s anything to do with Meresca, has been exposed as a defender. Remember the CL final ? He simply doesn’t possess the positional sense nor the thinking to enable to adapt in game.

I am far from sure Acheampong is quite ready to start ( very close though) but he offers far more at this point to the squad that Gusto

On 29/06/2025 at 16:10, just said:

I was at that Norwich game.

Me to. Should never of been played but so may postponement’s needed to finish the season. Losing meant we lost out on Europe but the scousers would have ruined it anyway!