Reddish-Blue

They were concerned during the transfer window to get rid of players that Maresca didn't want and now we have no depth. Will be interesting to see how many more pathetic performances (like Brighton) it takes before the sacking rumors start heating up 😀

I'm honestly expecting another 3 goal loss. That Brighton performance was pathetic. All Villa have to do is put pressure on Palmer and our attack is useless.

This is good, if the players want Maresca to stick around, they will give it a go on the pitch. If they want to down tools, Maresca will be gone by end of the season.

Who does Maresca actually want though? Apparently he didn't want Felix at all, then changed his mind on KDH after spending 30 million on him to bring him here (would have gone to Spurs), gets zero production out of Nkunku, told Chalobah he isn't needed and then proceeds to bring him back from Palace and play him every other game... This guy seems like a Championship manager, no different to Lampard.

But don't worry, we'll get to see Sancho and Nkunku walking around the pitch doing f*ck all for the rest of the season.

It is more than a dry loan, it's an opportunity for him to prove himself to other European clubs with a view to permanent transfer. We're struggling in defense and we allow him to go on a dry loan in January? Good move by his agent, put your player in the transfer window and force Chelsea to make a decision in the summer, either play him or sell him.

Top 5 with no striker up front and zero depth. I don't see that happening unless Palmer starts scoring for fun.

Also Maresca masterclass 😆 'make sure to have 65 to 70% possession for no reason, keep recycling the ball like your in control of the game, even though you're down 2-0 at HT'

the worst part is, they came to stamford bridge earlier in the season and they were all over the place and within a few weeks, their manager has turned it around and dominated us in the cup and the premier league. Feel like Maresca is getting worse with his tactics as the season goes on. Villa will easily score 2-3 against us

That's the biggest issue of all though. Felix is a luxury player but he's also streets ahead of Sancho/Madueke/Neto. Felix was at least playing his part in the Conference league and could have offered Maresca a different option for the next 2 months. I mentioned it here weeks ago that Newcastle/City would get it together and opposition teams aren't stupid, they know as long as they keep Palmer quiet, our attack is useless.

We didn't have those top managers under the current ownership. Potter was just like Moyes at United, same can probably be said of Maresca by the end of his reign. Poch was the only manager who actually suited the current ownership. 😆

They are children, when you think about it. Sancho had a fight with his manager at United and said he wouldn't play for them again, then somehow United offloaded him to us, Nkunku wanted out the whole window (was begging Bayern Munich to take him) and now he's starting again We had to beg Crystal Palace to cancel Chalobah's loan deal as we had no other CB's available other than Disasi Enzo - Caicedo is one of the worst midfield pairings out there. No wonder why Poch put Gallagher-Caicedo together, at least they would run around like crazy. We're swapping goalkeepers for fun half way through the season, i don't see our rivals doing that...unless their GK is injured.

Thats what happens when you count on half-shift players like Madueke, Sancho to lead the attack. United were delighted to get rid of Sancho and we happily accepted him? If Maresca is here next season, we won't be a top 4 side and eventually Palmer will get bored and ask to leave to play CL football like his England national team mates and we'll go back to hovering around 6th place again.

The board listened to the manager, he didn't want Chilwell, loaned, he didn't want Disasi, loaned, he didn't want Felix, loaned.

So now the board and directors are telling Maresca to play that badly on the pitch? Somehow the team look visibly worse in the 2nd half of most games, after getting instructions from Maresca (the great Championship level manager). 0 shots on target is beyond pathetic.

To be fair, in 5 years time, all those kids we've been hoarding will probably come good and live up to their potential and we would be a decent team on Football manager 2030 edition.

It was expected that we would eventually feel the burn from lack of depth and then the club allows Felix to leave on deadline day without a replacement. Guess it's going to Nkunku/Neto/Palmer rotating up front until Jackson is back. Any half decent strikers in the academy?

Only the players in BOLD have buyers in the market. Tosin, Chalobah, Madueke as they are all HG. No-one will buy Wes Fofana, Broja is a walking injury, Sterling is on ridiculous wages (same with Nkunku) and Sanchez is a walking error in goal.

If Vinicius doesn't get bored and run off to Saudi, Real Madrid will be amongst the UCL contenders for years to come.

Next few fixtures: Brighton (A), Villa (A), then Southampton (H), Leicester (H)....probably 0 points away and then 4 points at home as we love to hand out gifts to teams below us in the table.

Sancho and Madueke are the same quality as CHO, yet we let our academy winger leave for 5m and then paid 30m for Madueke and have an obligation to pay 25m for Sancho. To think Havertz is still better than our whole attack (bar Palmer). Take Palmer out and we're mid table again.

Our whole attack except Palmer would be out the door if Conte was in charge 😆

With a Championship level manager at the helm. We really went from Conte - Tuchel era to bang average managers like Harry Potter and Maresca. 😄

Drogba's one was a bit harder to finish, Lampard's perfect 1-2 with Drogba, getting the right weight on the pass and hoping Drogba would get on the end of it and poke it home. Tel's one was a cross into the box that Villa didn't react to and he had to make contact... Nowhere near as difficult....and Danso missed from point blank range 😆

https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2025/2/8/24361426/cole-palmer-trevoh-chalobah-mathis-amougou-added-to-uefa-conference-league-squad https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/enzo-maresca-outlines-adaptation-process-for-mathis-amougou