Blue Armour

Yes. Dew it.

Maresca already complaining about the lack of time ahead of the conference league final, with only 72 hrs of rest and Betis having an advantage. He really should be focusing on the final PL game of the season which is far more important. Really hope he doesn't compromise on the lineup for the last game.

True. Might as well have brought back Eduoard Mendy back as number 1.

This. In a squad lacking world class players, I'd hold onto the ones we have as long as we can. Hilarious to think Gusto was considered a like for like replacement at one point.

With Jackson out and Nkunku not yet fit, I expect Gusto or James to come into RB, with Caicedo joining Lavia in midfield. Enzo will be pushed further up, and Palmer/Neto will play as false 9.

I just wish Maresca would stop talking in press conferences at times. Everything he says comes and bites him back. Like when he said the team wasn't competing for titles last year. Bang. Outside the top 3 and dropping far behind Liverpool. Few weeks back he said that getting in top 4 would be an achievement considering where the club finished in the last 3 seasons. And now the club is in danger of finishing lower than it did last season.

Most likely Palmer & Enzo moving further forward. And James coming in for Jackson. Shame that our former goal threat Nkunku has regressed so badly in the past few months.

Gusto poor to react and block the shot. But great attempt though. Deserving of the goal.

Game over.

James! So close.

Caicedo doing all the heavy lifting

Not bad for 10 men.

Crowd is insufferable. And odd that Eddie is instructing them to simply sit back. Oh well.

If we're shopping in the latter category. Ekitke for me. With him and Estevao next season, there should be plenty of excitement in our play if nothing else.

We're top 10 in terms of overall revenue (10th if I'm not mistaken), but I see your point. The fact that we have fallen away so hard in all competitions in the past few years has made it worse. City, with even less matchday revenue (despite having the bigger stadium) trumps us on broadcasting and commercial revenue. Commercial revenue is one that is so frustrating. We have a consortium of investors and none of them are able to get Chelsea to draw more revenue than Spurs.

If the Liverpool game showed anything, we still need a dominant quality CB for next season. Van Dijk was winning headers in our box with little challenge today. Colwill and Chalobah played good, but there are levels to this.

Happy for Palmer, but credit to Sanchez as well in this game. 2nd game in a row with a solid performance and that's as much as you could want from a goalkeeper at this level. Caicedo, Lavia - enough said. Caicedo really deserving to getting mentioned in the Essien Kante Makelele category. Faultless at RB and slotted in well back into the CM role in the same game. And of course Madueke. Best attacker for large portions of the game.

Well done Palmer and Noni

Yeah. He needs to show more concentration. Think an elite manager would have ripped into him for this continued transgression.

Palmer still showing hesitation in shooting. Still low on confidence. Wish someone could give him motivation.

We should score a 2nd within the 1st half itself. In case Liverpool decide to wake up after the break.

Hate this modern trend of booing every single ex-player who now plays for a competitor. Salah was made to leave. And he generally is not exuberant when celebrating goals against us. DeBruyne on the other hand. He seems to always take a lot of pleasure in scoring and he definitely whined his way out of the club. If anyone should be booed, it's the latter.

Perfect start. Almost a 2nd one.

Another aspect that you can't replicate, even with in-depth knowledge of the tactics and formation, is personality. And personality is a big part of being a manager at the highest level. From the outside at least, Maresca doesn't seem to have much of it. Maybe that will improve over time, once he gets winning and adding to his CV. And this stage, he can't even get the best out of his star player., who is increasingly at risk of being labeled a one season wonder. And all Maresca seemingly does is keep hoping and pleading for Palmer to break his scoring duck. Comes across as weak and wanting.

Maresca himself expressing concerns over the pitch quality and injuries. The sane thing would be to not select Lavia, James, Neto or Gusto for this match. Same goes for Palmer and Jackson, because losing either of them will take us back to the dark ages. Would preserve Caicedo in cotton wool too.