Official: Enzo MARESCA announced as new Chelsea Head Coach

[paulw66]

1 minute ago, Bison said:

Sheffield Utd (who picked up 16 points in the Prem) gave us two harder games last season.

Says a lot about Maresca that he just rolled his players out there with his copy and paste tactics and didn't adjust his game plan to give his team a chance. 

Sure. But Sheffield United, as your example, didn't have to change a thing. They were geared up to play a low block all season to try and avoid getting battered. Says a lot about Poch that we struggled.

Was there any point Maresca ripping up his tactics board, for the sake of one game in a cup that he was never going to win ?

[Bison]

3 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

Sure. But Sheffield United, as your example, didn't have to change a thing. They were geared up to play a low block all season to try and avoid getting battered. Says a lot about Poch that we struggled.

Was there any point Maresca ripping up his tactics board, for the sake of one game in a cup that he was never going to win ?

Yes, there was a point. If you think there's no benefit to a manager giving his team the best platform to be competitive in games then we should just agree to disagree.

We should have scored 7+ that game but only our wasteful finishing spared Leicester.

[Ham]

On 29/07/2024 at 11:48, ROTG said:

Points total 1st 19 PL games Chelsea 25, Spuds 36

Points total last 19 Pl games Chelsea 38, Spuds 30

Yep - It really is a funny old game 

By that time Leicester's focus was firmly on securing promotion. They were stuttering in the league. 

[martin1905]

I've not watched any pre season, not even highlights and I won't as it's completely irrelevant. Other than getting through to the start of the season with a fully fit squad nothing else matters.

I have however seen a lot written, on here and elsewhere and it's all negative. Also I listen to a lot of podcasts, one of them being London is blue as I find them pretty easy to listen to but they are dissecting these pre season friendlies as if they are full blown competitive premier league games, which is really disappointing as I do, on the whole like their show.

Looking just at the line ups it's pretty obvious we are a million miles away from our first 11. How many minutes have Enzo and Caicedo got? Dewsbury-Hall?

No Palmer, no Jackson, no Cucurella. That's 6 of our staring 11 not playing or hardly playing at all.

Then there's Fofana, James, Lavia, Nkunku.  For those 4 the only thing that matters is getting through it fully fit and not getting any sort of knocks and certainly no injuries. This is basically part of their rehabilitation from long term, serious injuries.  The first football any of them have played since recovering, although appreciate Nkunku and James played a bit at the end of last season, if I remember rightly but the point still stands.

So we have James, Fofana,  Nkunku who are all nailed on to start the season as first choice plus Lavia who will be an important player all using this pre season as part of thier rehabilitation after long term injuries. 

We have Enzo, Caicedo and Dewsbury-Hall, who will most likely start the season as our midfield three, if they are fit enough. I genuinely don't know how much any of them ha e played so far but it's pretty obvious it's not much. 45 minutes each? Bit more maybe?

We are missing Cucurella, Jackson and Palmer who will be three of our most important players. None of them have kicked a ball.

So, to summarise I think our first 11 will look like this, or something very close to it with maybe Nkunku on the left and Dewsbury-Hall in midfield but it will be close, if everyone is fit.....

 

Considering we have not seen anything close to this during any of the games why are so many people making so many judgements on a pre season tour when we play friendlies? Players are getting stick aswell as the manger, I've seen many question his tactics and claim they are not convinced by him and he will get found out. 

A few weeks into a pre season tour and many, many fans have written us off. 

It's absolutely ludicrous. 

 

 

[McCreadie]

48 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

It's absolutely ludicrous. 

Agree with every single word of your post.

 

[Ham]

47 minutes ago, McCreadie said:

Agree with every single word of your post.

 

Me too

[chara]

@martin1905,,,agree with your post and have tried to make the same points but not as well expressed or in such detail as your post.'

I think possibly what is clouding issues is the absolute F'ups being made by players it seems we are going to be relying on to hold the defensive line.

Working on a new system is fine and glitches expected..that's really one of the main reasons for a preseason,,,,not all the players being schooled at this time will be playing regularly but if they are up with the system it will be far easier to bring in back up players given the meat grinder the season can be with physical toll,

Again last seasons false dawn was a great shock but if I recall correctly the preseason before was a shambles and far more worrying than this year,,for me at least.

[Bison]

Maybe they'll buy Gallagher back when the new manager says he needs legs in midfield. 

[Sleeping Dave]

10 hours ago, martin1905 said:

 

On paper that looks alright. But there are three glaring weaknesses in that side - Enzo, Fofana and Sanchez. 

Sadly they are forming the spine of the team. Imagine Nkunku and Enzo in the same midfield. Caicedo will have to do the work of three players. Will never work against any half-decent side. Mainly because we are not Manchester City. We can’t just dominate sides the way they do. 

I do agree that you shouldn’t take the pre-season too seriously. However, it’s just another piece of the puzzle and when you add all of it up it looks really, really bad. 

[xceleryx]

Couple of snippets from Maresca himself, I do like how he speaks so far. 

 

[Bison]

21 hours ago, martin1905 said:

So, to summarise I think our first 11 will look like this, or something very close to it with maybe Nkunku on the left and Dewsbury-Hall in midfield but it will be close, if everyone is fit.....

If that really is our strongest 11 then it's going to be an extremely long season. 

[Ham]

18 minutes ago, Bison said:

If that really is our strongest 11 then it's going to be an extremely long season. 

Seriously? You don't rate those players?

[martin1905]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Seriously? You don't rate those players?

I think some have just taken a stance and won't back down.

That 11 is miles better than anyone outside Arsenal and City. Miles.

The big issue is fitness but if they all stay fit we will finish top 4.

[martin1905]

And our squad depth pisses all over the others, it's almost embarrassing.

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Seriously? You don't rate those players?

I thought this was the Mascara's section, what's the players got to do with the coaching ability of Mascara 

A bar was set last season, without the games changers, now it a case of if this coach an beat that bar - Don't you agree?

[ROTG]

16 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

And our squad depth pisses all over the others, it's almost embarrassing.

I am afraid it is subject to interpretation of p1sses all over the others

The signs were looking positive in 2024, unfortunately TBSD had another epiphany and it back to reinventing the wheel. 

[martin1905]

Just now, ROTG said:

I am afraid it is subject to interpretation of p1sses all over the others

The signs were looking positive in 2024, unfortunately TBSD had another epiphany and it back to reinventing the wheel. 

You could argue its down to interpretation. 

Or look at our squad compared to Tottenham,  Liverpool,  Man United and Aston Villa.

If anyone can then say that they don't think we have the strongest, in terms of depth then they are either on a wind up or don't have a clue what they are talking about.

It's not even close.

[east lower]

26 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

You could argue its down to interpretation. 

Or look at our squad compared to Tottenham,  Liverpool,  Man United and Aston Villa.

If anyone can then say that they don't think we have the strongest, in terms of depth then they are either on a wind up or don't have a clue what they are talking about.

It's not even close.

You may be right in some areas of the pitch, our defence looks pish though. Especially the centre-halves.

[martin1905]

1 hour ago, east lower said:

You may be right in some areas of the pitch, our defence looks pish though. Especially the centre-halves.

I would guess most our rivals would swap James/Gusto and Cucurella/Chilwell for their current fullbacks.

As for the CB's I believe we have the quality in Fofana and Colwill and the depth with Tosin and Disasi. Badiashile needs to go.

Of course I'm basing pretty much any success we have, finishing top 4, on the quality of Fofana and Colwill plus their ability to stay fit.

I was one of the very few that was happy with the purchase of Fofana, even at his price, as I genuinely believe he has the potential to reach an elite level. If I could have signed one young CB last summer it would have been him so I was ecstatic.

Colwill is another I feel could become a top level player but needs a whole season of playing regularly at CB, not being shunted to LB and has to overcome his niggling injuries.

[Ham]

2 hours ago, ROTG said:

 

A bar was set last season, without the games changers, now it a case of if this coach an beat that bar - Don't you agree?

How many times do I have to agree with this???  

Btw, "Mascara" is tiresome. 

[Ham]

1 hour ago, east lower said:

You may be right in some areas of the pitch, our defence looks pish though. Especially the centre-halves.

I'm hoping against hope that we find the right pairing/balance in time for the City game.

If so, I'll be more confident going into the season.

Happy with the rest of the squad.  

[east lower]

16 minutes ago, Ham said:

I'm hoping against hope that we find the right pairing/balance in time for the City game.

If so, I'll be more confident going into the season.

Happy with the rest of the squad.  

Lots of talent and there was last season too, it’s whether we have a coach who has the tactical acumen, experience and skill to assess what he has and utilise it for the best outcome, namely at least 6 points out of every 9 available. That gets you around the top 4.

22 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

I would guess most our rivals would swap James/Gusto and Cucurella/Chilwell for their current fullbacks.

As for the CB's I believe we have the quality in Fofana and Colwill and the depth with Tosin and Disasi. Badiashile needs to go.

Of course I'm basing pretty much any success we have, finishing top 4, on the quality of Fofana and Colwill plus their ability to stay fit.

I was one of the very few that was happy with the purchase of Fofana, even at his price, as I genuinely believe he has the potential to reach an elite level. If I could have signed one young CB last summer it would have been him so I was ecstatic.

Colwill is another I feel could become a top level player but needs a whole season of playing regularly at CB, not being shunted to LB and has to overcome his niggling injuries.

Don’t have any major issues with the full-backs, but it’s clear the new coach isn’t going to operate (initially anyways, with what’s been seen in pre-season) with conventional full-backs. It’s the centre-halves that’ll be the issue. Not one of them is what I’d call exceptional, and that’s what will possibly cost us. Fofana - Can’t rely on him staying fit, personally I think he’s done. Colwill needs a good full season to develop that bit more and could have done with a year playing alongside some excellence and experience. Disasi/Tosin = mediocre and neither will form a top 4 central defensive unit. And then you have Badiashile who seems bereft of confidence.  With those ‘options’, a back five is the only way to play to get results. But we’ll just have to wait and see. Love your confidence and optimism, hope it comes to fruition.

[Bison]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Seriously? You don't rate those players?

I absolutely rate some of those players including Reece, Palmer, Nkunku, Jackson and Caicedo. But even Reece hasn't proved he can stay fit for an entire season and Nkunku has his own injury problems.

There are some glaring holes particularly at GK, LB, CM and LW. I also think we're short on quality at CB. 

Caicedo being left on his own to baby sit somebody that who can't run and offers little out of possession is a recipe for disaster. Enzo cannot be part of a two man midfield and we will need two CMs to accommodate him. They just sold the player who did all of Enzo's running last season and the kid replacing him is coming off a year out.

Seeing Sterling in a supposed beat 11 says it all. A player that is semi-retired and only around because they can't shift him. 

2 hours ago, martin1905 said:

I think some have just taken a stance and won't back down.

That 11 is miles better than anyone outside Arsenal and City. Miles.

The big issue is fitness but if they all stay fit we will finish top 4.

Liverpool have a better 11 and will finish above us comfortably. 

[Ham]

10 minutes ago, Bison said:

I absolutely rate some of those players including Reece, Palmer, Nkunku, Jackson and Caicedo. But even Reece hasn't proved he can stay fit for an entire season and Nkunku has his own injury problems.

There are some glaring holes particularly at GK, LB, CM and LW. I also think we're short on quality at CB. 

Caicedo being left on his own to baby sit somebody that who can't run and offers little out of possession is a recipe for disaster. Enzo cannot be part of a two man midfield and we will need two CMs to accommodate him. They just sold the player who did all of Enzo's running last season and the kid replacing him is coming off a year out.

Seeing Sterling in a supposed beat 11 says it all. A player that is semi-retired and only around because they can't shift him. 

Liverpool have a better 11 and will finish above us comfortably. 

We're not short on quality at LB.  

Lavia has shown in pre-season that he's a superb CM. You forgot him. 

Sterling has been on good form in pre-season too.  You're being very unfair there. 

 

[martin1905]

35 minutes ago, Bison said:

Liverpool have a better 11 and will finish above us comfortably. 

See, this is why its so subjective. I'd have their GK, Van Dijk and Salah in our 11. That's literally it.

For me, its not even close who has the better starting 11. Of course this is on paper and we need Maresca to do his job and turn us into a top 4 side but I have had no doubt for two seasons now we have had the players. Pochettino was never the right man. Is Mareaca? Absolutely no idea. Literally no one can say with any certainty one way or another so we will have to wait and see.

One thing I think I can say with almost certainty is that Liverpool won't be anywhere near as good as they were under Klopp.