So glad I played pickleball tonight rather than suffer watching more sh*t Maresca-Ball.

He has to go (but I know he won't).

16 minutes ago, just said:

@axman2526 was spot on when he said Potter was our guy. And that he had to deal with a truly awful, horrendous injury list and just needed a bit more patience. He was right again when he said there were signs we was turning the corner and it was only a matter of time before we would be "walking in a Potterland"

Now we have poundland puffa jacket Pepilini. A Potter-Lite imposter.

Heard a load of West Ham fans say the same. Potters genius is only realised once it’s gone. Thinking beyond thinking. More magical than Harry. What a shame.

Sweden to win the World Cup?

He’s used the every three days a game card in post match interview. Also we were in control first half, equaliser caused us to lose control in the second half.

Taking Trev off because of a yellow card without putting Reece into the RB slot and Josh in at CB was strange, gittins coming back on for the second half equally so.

Neto subbed off without Estaveo coming on? Loads of options but Maresca chose to go with Gusto to win us the game.

I really find no excitement watching this team under this manager and it's got me feeling like I'm struggling through the Benitez era again.

Everton must be rubbing their hands about now.

6 minutes ago, CaitlinCFC said:

That was horrid. Playing worse every game now. Gusto put on to win the game. 😕

It beggars belief doesn't it. Gusto to get you out of a hole and keep Gittens in the pitch. It's almost laughable.

The most ridiculous point is that the kid Genesis Antwi from our academy is better than both of these.

Maresca is a f***ing idiot. What was that nonsense in the second half? Takes off Chalobah. Ends up with two full-backs in midfield while Pedro and Gittens prance about like a couple of showponys upfront.

That was probably the single most inept management of a half of football I can recall. He really doesn’t have a bloody clue.

5 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

It beggars belief doesn't it. Gusto to get you out of a hole and keep Gittens in the pitch. It's almost laughable.

The most ridiculous point is that the kid Genesis Antwi from our academy is better than both of these.

Not to mention Jesse Derry as an actual winger with end product

9 minutes ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Give Enzo Maresca all the time in the world and he will never be much more than that bloke who got Leicester promoted.

We have some freaking amazing players in our squad - some of the best young players in the world and yet here we are.

 

No we don't!

We have quality in Caciedo, Palmer and James, some attitude and effort in Cucurella and potential in Estevao and Acheampong.

The rest are largely squad fillers. Fofana maybe slightly better than that.

This squad is nowhere near challenging for major trophies. Far too many also rans in it.

7 minutes ago, loz said:

No we don't!

We have quality in Caciedo, Palmer and James, some attitude and effort in Cucurella and potential in Estevao and Acheampong.

The rest are largely squad fillers. Fofana maybe slightly better than that.

This squad is nowhere near challenging for major trophies. Far too many also rans in it.

I agree but still feel that with the right coach and the right style and attitude then there is a squad here that can be greater than the sum of its parts (I.e a team)

Sanchez's superman dive into the back of our goal was f**king hilarious!

Shambles

I’ve been out for x’mas drinks with some mates and it looks that I haven’t missed much. I can only say that I’m glad i didn’t get a ticket for the game. I’ll try to watch the highlights before i make my mind up about how bad we were.

Note that i’ve checked the results, I hope that i don’t coincide with the Spuds pricks in my train!

18 minutes ago, RMH said:

I’ll try to watch the highlights before i make my mind up about how bad we were.

Don't put yourself through it. This team is jarring right now. Have another drink.

Outplayed by a team that is 12th in the Serie A.

The Barcelona match from a fortnight ago feels like a distant memory now.

1 hour ago, Caps_Lock_King said:

Said it before, Would City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcalona or Munich have him as manager? Of course not so why should we?

Let alone give him a 5-year deal upfront?

1 hour ago, Chippy said:

Taking Trev off because of a yellow card without putting Reece into the RB slot and Josh in at CB was strange, gittins coming back on for the second half equally so.

Neto subbed off without Estaveo coming on? Loads of options but Maresca chose to go with Gusto to win us the game.

I really find no excitement watching this team under this manager and it's got me feeling like I'm struggling through the Benitez era again.

Everton must be rubbing their hands about now.

Agree, Chippy.

It's good to see you back posting. Loved reading your posts back in the day especially during the Benitez and Mourinho 2.0 years.

MARESCA IS A LIAR AND A COWARD

When Fofana came off, he elected to bring on Tosin Adarabioyo.After the game, Maresca was asked why Estevao wasn’t introduced.

he answered: “The change of Tosin was because we needed to change Wes.

“For sure, with one more change there would have been a chance for Estevao or Andrey to come on and potentially change the game.”

It’s not a nonsense explanation, but it doesn’t quite track. There were already five defenders on the pitch without Tosin, and the match was all square at 1-1. Surely, bringing some attacking threat onto the pitch would have been the right move.

It’s not the first bit of stick Maresca has gotten for substitutions over this winless run. His in-game management hasn’t been at the level we’ve grown used to.

How bad do things have to get for Maresca to go? What’s the tipping point? Because I still think we have much lower to go. He’s only just getting started and it’s not even Christmas yet.

1 hour ago, Dr. Socrates said:

How bad do things have to get for Maresca to go? What’s the tipping point? Because I still think we have much lower to go. He’s only just getting started and it’s not even Christmas yet.

Club already said, through their media mouthpieces, he stays until his end of season review.

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Club already said, through their media mouthpieces, he stays until his end of season review.

Yup, he isn’t going anywhere. They “might” sack him in the summer if he doesn’t make top 4, which they say is the target. Currently on track for 63 league points if we continue at this rate; only once in the last 10yrs has that been good enough for Top 5, Leicester in 2019/20.

That was really poor. Couldnt believe what i was watching. Anyone would think we didnt need the points and that we had already qualified.

Maresca conducts far too many experiments at the same time.

Trying Gusto as a game changing midfielder while trying Gittens for 90 minutes to see if anything actually happens while trying Badiashile to see if he is actually a footballer. Leaving out Estevao to see if just his presence on the bench can influence the result.

I wish he would just limit himself to one experiment per game, maximum.

Decent performance from Josh, certainly worthy of being dropped for the next game.

2 hours ago, OTL said:

That was really poor. Couldnt believe what i was watching. Anyone would think we didnt need the points and that we had already qualified.

Maresca conducts far too many experiments at the same time.

Trying Gusto as a game changing midfielder while trying Gittens for 90 minutes to see if anything actually happens while trying Badiashile to see if he is actually a footballer. Leaving out Estevao to see if just his presence on the bench can influence the result.

I wish he would just limit himself to one experiment per game, maximum.

Decent performance from Josh, certainly worthy of being dropped for the next game.

That’s it in a nutshell for me. Very disappointing performance.

We never matched their tempo and effort from kick off.

Yet when we went ahead, I thought we’d seen them off and would win the game 2-0.

22 minutes ago, erskblue said:

That’s it in a nutshell for me. Very disappointing performance.

We never matched their tempo and effort from kick off.

Yet when we went ahead, I thought we’d seen them off and would win the game 2-0.

I am surprised that the horrendous miss from Reece James at the beginning of the second half, when their defence suddenly froze, hasn't been wheeled out as a difference maker. But realistically, how many other testing attempts did we have in that second until the end of the game and desperation took over. Shocking management

Could see them coming back into the game from a mile off. They had so much more intensity than us. Pressing us, forcing us to move the ball quicker which we were incapable of without making mistakes.

To be effective you need to be very comfortable on the ball and pick out spaces from the press. We clearly are not attributed to effective possession football, unless it's slow and turgid.

The sooner we get a manager in that can change us to a counter attacking team the better.