OneMoSalah

Some questionable decisions tonight too from the officials but lets be honest, you concede the goals we concede and miss the chances we miss, you get what you deserve. Maresca made some hard calls shunting certain players out at the beginning of the season but is now showing a lot of faith to guys who are underperforming/running out of steam/causing us to drop points. Needs to be ruthless to end this rut. Personally wouldn’t start Nico or Sanchez next match. Nico misses more chances than any player I’ve ever seen in a Chelsea shirt in years. Like on par with Werner probably. He isn’t clinical enough. He is probably playing far too often also - we need another striker to take the weight off his shoulders because he isn’t that guy yet or probably never will be.

Thank fuck for that. Maresca not bringing on Nkunku and waiting to the 81st minute to sub in attackers from the bench is absolutely pathetic though. Felix ahead of Nkunku? Jackson on the whole game? Yes we had chances but the finishing/decision making from some of these have been terrible. Madueke constantly in positions where he can look along the line but is always fucking offside. Also another game where we have dropped points, far too soft. Manager is starting to look a bit naive, I mean Caicedo probably been our best player on a regular basis but he is being shoehorned in at RB which is becoming irritating to watch.

Jackson couldn’t score in a brothel…. how many chances do you need

Selling Nkunku and signing Tel would be the most Clearlake thing ever. Fucking hell. Long term target or not, he and Delap are the sort of players that aren’t ready to lead the line for us if we want to win titles/trophies sooner than later. Just like Nico. We need a more established player but this is the position in world football where there isn’t a lot of good options unfortunately. Maresca would be better served trying to use Nkunku much more often as a 9 than actually going for these sort of strikers for me (although I reckon he is as good as gone). Delap has a totally different profile but still think that he needs to be playing every week to develop, if he has any sense he will remain where he is to the summer and perhaps even for a full second season in the PL if they stay up. I couldn’t see Maresca dropping Nico for him in all honesty. Particularly given he hasn’t benched him for Nkunku who has been prolific in the limited minutes he has had.

Veiga going to Dortmund. Another pointless signing… make a profit on him surely but still, thought this club was more than just a BUSINESS. New owners needed as soon as possible.

Mental this is the best Arsenal team in 10+ years they are fucking abysmal without Saka.

Yes nobody is denying that Noni is a frustrating player and could have played less in that spell (Neto’s fitness was also an issue when he signed IIRC?) but Felix isn’t a right or left winger, he isn’t in the mould that guys like Noni, Pedro, Jadon & that fraud Mudryk are. Maresca was also vocal about how he cannot play Cole, Joao & Nkunku in the same team because the team also needs balance. I do agree that Nkunku has struggled but he and Joao have roughly same minutes, one player has 7 goals 2 assists, another has 13 goals 1 assist. Both are 100% likely to move on either this month or in the summers but we have definitely got more of a chance to get a decent deal for selling Nkunku as opposed to Joao. We will be stuck wIth Felix or he will end up out on loan. Cannot see anyone paying close to what we got him for.

Not sure what you’ve been watching as Noni has pretty much been in and out of the side since the international break in November as well. He was also publicly criticised by the manager for his attitude, training and needing to do more so I am not sure what you mean nobody was saying anything, given the most important person at the club in terms of squad and team selection was saying things like that in the media. He has been out of a couple of squads since the Arsenal game as well so this notion he’s got away with murder is a bit far fetched. Felix is always going to be a player who only plays sporadically here, I really am not sure what else you are expecting? He isn’t consistent or good enough to warrant playing ahead of Cole Palmer as a 10 and doesn’t fit in naturally anywhere else. So what do you want Maresca to do? Drop his best player who has like 40 G & 30 A in 18 months for someone who only shows up against teams in the Conference League 2? Or play him on a wing where he has to help out with the opposition fullback, press high etc when it’s a known fact throughout his career already that his application off the ball is abysmal? I mean I don’t get the hard on for him, he really is a luxury player. Another poor decision from Clearlake, just like his loan signing the previous January. Hasn’t kicked on one bit since and that is so evidently clear.

If he done anything to warrant a chance in a meaningful game, I am sure he would get a chance. Only performing against Conference League & League 2 teams isn’t good enough for someone of his apparent “generational talent” potential, at this point in his career when he is 25 years old. Flashes and moments isn’t enough. When does it become a matter of when is this guy going to really prove his worth here as opposed to when is he going to be given a chance? He hasn’t made a meaningful contribution in a PL game this season barring a goal v Wolves early doors & an assist v Southampton in November. Not to mention the talk going round that Maresca didn’t want him either. I reckon in 2 or 3 years people will still be talking about Felix in this light. 100% We should sell at first opportunity before we get lumbered with him for ages as m the market for selling him wouod get worse and worse. And it is not like we had any real competition anyway in the summer…. barring the Aston Villa links… I knew this would happen when he signed. An absolute waste of time and money. Was clear he wouldn’t of played ahead of Cole when he signed and probably wouldn’t even be first choice if Cole wasn’t available given Nkunku was here also, so why did we actually buy him? Oh thats right, as a favour to Atletico to fund/balance their books for their move to sign Connor so we could get round any PSR difficulties. If it isn’t obvious now it never will be.

Am sure there was a story about how when they both played for City EDS that it was actually Rogers celebration first. Think they were quite close.

I reckon he will get at least a season but in typical West Ham fashion either their fans or the board will not be happy for whatever reason and they’ll bin him. They really are a joke of a club 😂

Reckon Potter will be sacked after 12-18 months. Would be typical West Ham. Genuinely the job he did at Brighton (which was apparently very good) looks pretty average now compared to his successors de Zebri & the German lad they have now. Also given the players they have lost in that time. He also keeps talking about getting to the last 8 of the CL like it’s some sort of significant achievement in interviews too…. did it on Sky and now at his WHU presser. No surprise he didn’t last long here with that sort of mentality 😂

I don’t see why Everton will want him, their new owners sacked him at Roma. It is a bit of 1+1 = 4. Given how public and how messy that sacking was, I cannot see them going for him. Not to mention, he has a contract with Fener. New owners or not but I doubt Everton will be spending big £ to buy him or any mid to higher profiled manager out of contracts. They wanted Potter cause he was available for free, now the rumblings are they will go for Moyes, again available for free.

Only way we get a deal for Kvaratskhelia is if 2 of Nkunku, Felix and Mudryk leave 100% (given he is banned, MM leaving is basically impossible). Mainly because the fee Napoli will want and wages Kvaratskhelia will be able to demand. Then there is the knock on effect for minutes for him & Sancho. Sancho will be signing on a permanent and would imagine he would be expecting to be a regular also so the question is will we really pursue Kvaratskhelia? A guy who would also expect to be playing every week on that left wing? Debatable. I get competition and that but still, I think other positions should be priority. If Mudryk gets a long term ban and Joao leaves, then revisit looking at signing a left winger definitely. And if Mudryk doesn’t get a ban 10000% he will be part of the squad as the club view him as a important player for the future. Which is laughable but meh.

IMO from that list, the 4 in bold would definitely be considered key players still though from that group for various reasons. Be it for on the field or off the field. Maybe Stones & Walker as well for squad depth, experience in the squad too. Couldn’t see Pep or City being ok with those in bold going so easily though 100%. Some of the others, definitely see them moving on. - Ederson & Ortega still as good a number 1 & 2 duo as you’ll get and top GKs seem to play very well into their 30s. Not many GKs better than Ederson still. Ortega as a 2 also, more than reliable. - KDB’s contract is up in the summer but it would be madness if they didn’t try renew him. Even for 1 more season. Still just as good as anybody in terms of being a playmaker/creative player. Injuries have affected his minutes but still think going to the MLS as reported, is a waste. Saying that, be a big plus for teams if he left City, who will inevitably bounce back and be competing for titles after this season. - Bernardo Silva, again, madness if they let him leave. Similar to KDB. But again, would weaken them definitely. Keep seeing they want Reis, Khusanov & Marmoush this month though. And they have been notoriously ruthless at squad building in the past too. So we need to watch as them and even Newcastle aren’t miles away from us. Hopefully we can get a good CB in this month and some guys out that have no future here (Chilwell for example). Not sure if it’s worth us signing another central midfielder over looking at recalling Santos to cover for Caicedo (given Lavia’s issues fitness wise). Caicedo getting a knock/the amount of minutes he’s playing currently is a huge concern for me, could really be a disaster given how he has become so important. Suppose then outgoings for us will dictate where we go next in terms of signings, likes of Nkunku, Felix, Veiga leaving would mean we could look at other options.

It wouldn’t be malpractice at all, thats a huge stretch. And not only that, they are 2 completely different styles of players…. Doubt there would be protests if we got him at all - think he did pretty well for United and even England when he played last season/in Euros, altho struggled this season as have Utd - but yes we should maybe look to use that money elsewhere. £30m though would be a steal 😂 I know Santos has scored some goals and maybe played a bit more box to box at times this season but he is still primarily more of a defensive/disruptive midfielder. Obviously he isn’t just that plain and simple but thats simplifying it. Mainoo plays a bit higher/advanced, drives forward with the ball, bit more forward thinking and more press resistant, sort of like a poor mans Luka Modric (not as complete or at same level obviously - likely never will be - but that sort of profile). They’d potentially be a good pairing in all honesty. I don’t think there is any chance we could make a deal for him anyway despite our interest - mainly because it would mean dealing with United. He definitely would be someone we would be interested in irrespective given his potential, profile, age etc. If he was playing in Spain, Italy, France or some South American league or in a team doing what he did last season, Clearlake would have signed him already. And re City, it is frightening thinking that City may spend big on 2-4 players this January given how close they are to us now. And they generally tend to recruit well 80-85% of the time.

Exactly. And if its true Maresca didn’t want any of the other lads (Tosin, Veiga & Felix) then that is even more ammunition for why those fannies running football ops should seriously be on the chopping board in the summer. Just seems like every window we sign somebody, who is comfortably worse than what we already have, & 6-12 months later they are apparently not in the managers plans or were never wanted in the first place. There is always going to be maybe one or two players max in a certain period of time that the club and manager compromises on every so often (generally managers/head coaches now a days seem to be consulted to a degree in recruitment and have some sort of idea/appreciation of the player if its likely to happen) but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the case with Poch & Potter also. Other than for PSR/profit reasons re signings/sales, I don’t get why Tosin was signed when we had Chalobah for instance or KDH when we had Gallagher. Or Veiga when we had Hall/Maatsen/Chilwell. I mean what is the point in this low wages, progressively incentivised contracts which is reportedly saving us multiple millions per season if we are still having to dump players from the academy, better than squad players we are signing to comply with PSR? Some players which we are more than likely to take a loss on (KDH, Felix will definitely be for less than they cost if they were to go IMO). Surely nobody from a sporting perspective thought any of those were upgrades on what we already had, even as squad players?

Would make sense but I think Juventus, Napoli & Atletico are also after Skriniar. He’s on big wages too at PSG, reportedly €10m per season. Did suggest him in a post on here in November or sometime around then but apparently the football experts claim “hes too slow” or “not good enough” despite the fact he is probably pound for pound a much better CB than everyone at the club 😂

Cause the results haven’t been great I fear your right, Maresca will rely on Tosin & Disasi who are both shocking footballers.

Looks a bit like he has regressed slightly (although young inexperienced player who is playing in a struggling team - always inevitable) but I do rate him. Whether we need him or not is another question, he isn’t the most combative and we definitely need someone more of that ilk incase Caicedo gets injured/suspended given Lavia’s fitness. Guehi would be a good additional IMO. Looked like he had really kicked on last season as well as his performances at the Euros. Price is going to be difficult. If it’s over £40-45m, walk away.

Irrespective their both shite 👍

They did, given Lavia, Enzo and Caicedo were all signed by the club when Connor was still here…. And Connor played more minutes than all of them under Poch…. Connor was the only first team CM to leave permanently in the summer and KDH was the only first team CM signed in the same window… so how was he not his direct replacement? In quality terms, he certainly wasn’t an upgrade - didn’t need to see KDH in a Chelsea shirt to figure that out - but that was definitely the feeling folk on here and I am sure the feeling the club/manager were hoping for alongside the obvious PSR benefits. Several folk had KDH pegged in as a starter under Maresca too 😂

These matches are why we need a more ruthless CF. Simple as that. Whilst Jackson has improved his goal return this season, he had 2 or 3 chances where your thinking just hit the fucking target, you’ve done the hard bit, but as usual…. Not the first match and wont be the last which is why I have been crying out for us to get a more established CF. Some poor defensive moments again though. Wheels starting to look like they may come off a bit which isn’t good when Newcastle, City and Villa are picking up results. End of the season is a fair while away yet but if we didn’t end up qualifying for the CL - and these sort of games end up being why - hypothetically speaking would Enzo be held as accountable as Poch was last year? Given the owners belief that last seasons squad was a CL level squad?

Shouldn’t have been loaned in the first place. Given how Disasi, Tosin and even Colwill have struggled, this looks stupider and stupider. I mean Trev isn’t Maldini or Nesta, don’t get me wrong but he made a big difference when he played last year I felt. Yes he may never be the sort of elite level CB to lead a title winning teams defence but he should of been retained over Disasi and definitely Tosin who for me was always a pathetic signing free or not. For sure. Given he has also played as a RCB in a back 3 and a 4, at RB as well as a 6 whilst in France IIRC, surely he’d of had some sort of capability and qualities to play in that inverted fullback role as well as a CB, no?

If he cant get a game ahead of Disasi or Tosin then we should be seriously worried. He may be a bit raw and physically not that well developed but surely cant be as bad as those two. The worst of it is I think Tosin is worse than Disasi - which I thought was near impossible. Fulham can have him back for free.