Blue Armour

Tosin. Ball watching leaving Chalobah alone. Not even defending the far post.

Even a draw will feel like a loss against this United team. Plus we had Cech and this team can't defend if it's life depended on it.

Yeah, but why Neto? He's the only one on the team with real pace. To counter. Which we will have to do a lot of in this game.

Probably waiting for additional cup competition wins, including some competitions that UEFA and FIFA are yet to create. THEN they can secure the absolute best sponsorship deal in the world. One that is fair value. Anything else is a waste of time. Sincerely., Blueco.

I'm also doubling down on what I mentioned in the Brentford game. We should have started with better players for that game, instead of saving our best for this one This one Bayern game is largely inconsequential compared to the other winnable fixtures in the CL group stage. No big loss, because Bayern were the favorites anyway. Now we have to worry about which of our players (looking at James, Palmer) will be fit enough to play against United. Another game which we should be winning.

Wouldn't read too much out of our league position, IMO We've had one of the easiest starts to the season compared to some of the other contenders for top 5. Get a positive result against Man Utd this Saturday, and then we'll talk. The POSITIVE thing is that the boffins in recruitment have a chance to correct this slide in January with a quality CB signing. Even if that player doesn't register for CL, get him for the league games. The sad thing is they had a chance to do this same thing last season, but they decided to penny pinch and recall Chalobah for free. And now we have squad level CBs everywhere. Some of them like Disasi can't even be moved.

Time to hold our horses. Not yet we are. That's what Blueco would like you to believe. Hopefully this result at least makes the recruitment team at least acknowledge that our defensive line is not all that its up to be, and that filling the squad with a gazillion squad level CBs doesn't do much. Quality over quantity. Always.

Exactly this. Im still annoyed at the way Maresca prioritized PL and conference league games in the 2nd half last season. He always saved his best lineups for conference league fodder. And while he rescued top 4 at the end, it was his fault (and Jackson's sending off) that we fell into a scrap with other teams for securing CL.

And while I agree Gittens needs more time, its a shame the club paid so much on a player that is clearly still a project. When we have FFP constraints and other positions that desperately need strengthening. It's less about Gittens the man, and more about how the club decides to prioritize things. Seems like a very scatterbrained approach. Just like their inability to secure a permanent shirt sponsor.

Agreed, but I think he needs to be taken off the firing line for a bit and made to come on as a sub, or at the most start games against weaker opponents, like the upcoming league cup game next week.

Exactly. No Europe this season..and no more clumsy GK to take advantage of.

Hope this guy doesn't read into social media that much. He did very well from an attacking perspective, but there are plenty of people upset because he lost his man during the Brentford throw in that led to goal

I'm worried about the United fixture because of this. They've lost badly against City. Now we play them at Old Trafford. They'll be toughening up to make it difficult, just like they did against Arsenal who barely sneaked a win. With our inconsistent CBs and Maresca rotating players, there are so many variables here.

Smart decision. True, they have the benefit of a better squad with less injuries, but you dont treat a PL game like a cup game against a small team. We have 8 CL games to play. 1 away result against Bayern who are the best team in the group isn't going to be the big deal breaker. Just like last season, Maresca seems to think that every European game is a costly knockout round.

Agree with this. PSR rules are arbitrary & made to benefit some groups more than others. If we unfairly took direct advantage over other teams in securing multiple top players, or directly influenced match results through unscrupulous means, that's a different story because it mocks the competition and puts other teams on the back foot. The only way BlueCo will look good from this, is if they manage to stave off serious punishment from the FA & the Premier league. Anything else will look like an own-goal from the owners.

Even if Maresca wanted to rest some players or rotate, this isn't the way to do it. Who rests both available starting full backs (not to mention both right back options in James & Gusto), and plays CBs all across the back line? He did this last season too,.ahead of one of the conference league games

I'd argue even without the Colwill injury, the club should have been in for a quality CB this summer. Clearly they are putting a lot of stock in Fofana and Badiashile..probably because no one else will buy the always injured pair. If neither of them are able to step up their game this season, it will be another mediocre ride.

Not with the current backline. And certainly not without Colwill. With all the UEFA FFP constraints it was going to be tough to bring in a quality CB this summer. Should have got rid of Disasi and others a while ago, and invested in real quality instead of just filling in the squad with numbers.

Yeah the back line is problematic. If it weren't for Maresca, the club would probably be still thinking of Disasi as a solution. Just like they think Fofana and Badiashile are viable options. All 3 CBs proving to be disastrous buys.

Yeah, thats a really great positive. But as usual the negligence shown to our back line for the past 3 years rearing its ugly head. Tosin is a decent squad player. So is Chalobah. And today Tosin was awful. We should ideally have at least 3 starting quality CBs, and only Colwill barely meets that requirement.

Well done Sanchez, lol

King Caicedo. Well done Garnacho

Not sure why the team is taking short corners for everything

Take a normal corner for once please..

Palmer!!!