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Generally accepted that Maresca is selecting the right starting team thats available but making crucial match losing substitutions. This was evident Saturday again and in previous games against United, Brighton and even Brentford. Im not sure why or whats going through his mind but i see it as a big problem going forward, I was always on his side and still hope he comes right but i know have serious doubts about him. Additionally his style of play besides being very frustrating does not suit this current bunch. We also still have a big problem with centre half and centre forward areas. So thats about it in a nutshell.
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Blueisbest – Maresca’s ‘style’ AKA ‘system’ has already been sussed out. It was sussed out last season which is why teams like Sunderland can completely nullify us and beat us on our home turf.
I said on another thread that we will always win games, against top opposition, because we have so much quality. But that’s not enough – we need to win a much higher % of games. We need a plan B. We need to deviate from the ‘system’ when the moment calls for it. We need to, dare I say it, play long ball and hit early crosses into the box because it works, and has worked for us. Drogba/Costa as the get out clause was vital for us.
But the ‘system’ demands that we only score goals once we’ve completed about 100 passes and put the crowd to sleep.
And ultimately we need a better manager. An actual top manager, not an up-and-comer or the possibly next big thing. We’re losing too much time.
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I have been watching Chelsea’s season unfold from afar — the good moments, the bad, the disappointment, and the occasional excitement. Yet, despite the highs of winning the Club World Cup and the Conference League, those successes merely papered over deep-rooted cracks. For the last two to three years, our defensive issues have been ignored, and now we are reaping the consequences.
It is simply unacceptable that a club with ambitions to win the Premier League has Tosin Adarabioyo as its most senior centre-back. Let’s be honest — Tosin would not make the starting lineup at Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, or even Tottenham. How then can he be our most experienced central defender? Unfortunately, Tosin is not good enough even to be our backup, let alone our first choice.
What’s worse is that, apart from Levi Colwill, none of our current centre-backs are good enough to start for a club of Chelsea’s stature. One or two might be worth keeping as backup options, but our overall defensive quality is far below what’s expected. When Colwill got injured, we had the perfect opportunity to address this issue by signing a commanding centre-back and a left winger. Instead, we spent a combined £95 million on two wingers, a decision that has proven wasteful. That money should have been used primarily on a top-class defender.
We also have Wesley Fofana, who, despite being here for three years, has rarely been fit for even a quarter of a season. It makes no sense to rely on such an injury-prone player. Benoît Badiashile is no better — his fitness record rivals Fofana’s. Trevoh Chalobah is reliable and rarely injured, but at best he is a solid backup, not a starter for a club with Chelsea’s ambitions. Meanwhile, Josh Acheampong shows great potential and could become one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs in the future, but he needs a commanding, experienced leader beside him to learn from.
Our failure to sign Mike Maignan from AC Milan for just £25 million may turn out to be one of our biggest mistakes in recent years. It’s a decision that could cost us a Champions League place next season. Instead, we spent £95 million on two average left wingers, while relying on Robert Sánchez and Tosin — arguably the worst combination we could have chosen. Maignan, a French international with tons of experience, would have been a perfect fit. At 28 or 29 years old, he would have been an absolute steal at that price.
Discipline has also become one of our biggest challenges this season, and that stems from a lack of leadership. While Enzo Fernández and Reece James are good leaders in their own right, neither has the commanding presence required to guide a young squad. This raises an important question: Do we need one or two experienced players to blend with our youthful team? The answer is undoubtedly yes — especially in defence. Our defenders look lost without guidance, and it’s clear that strong leadership and experience at the back are desperately missing.
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Wise-fan, I have been banging this drum since the beginning of the season.
However, we’re on the transfer front we are stuck with ‘Moneyball’ so we are restricted to buying young players who get Moneyball labels such as ‘highly coachable’, and who the accountants think we can profit off. To be fair, on the money side it has sort of worked – Jackson is an example, not to mention the constant auctioning off of academy talent. But where is the success? The CWC and Conference League isn’t good enough. And even with the CWC, most of the talk was about the revenue it brings in.
And then we have the ‘Maresca System’ which is quite straightforward to negate and demands we walk the ball into the goal after boring everyone to death. We can get success in games against top teams because they don’t set up to frustrate and get goals on the odd counter-attack. Mid and lower table teams are quite happy to deploy this tactic against us and we’ve seen the success they’ve had this year.
The fact Arsenal are getting compared to Mourinho’s Chelsea makes my blood boil because the mix of young and experienced talent is obviously the right way forward.
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We get rid of one loose canon (Jackson) and replace him with another loose canon (Delap). What the heck? What the hell was going on in Delap’s head to come on as a sub late on having not been fit to play since the start of the season, get a yellow then do what he did after that? The look on his face as he went off gave the impression he didn’t give a f–k. Geez I hope we aren’t going to go on a run like last season as we did from Boxing Day onwards. Next Round of the Carabao Cardiff City away. Cannot complain with that draw.
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Great post Wise-fan. You’ve 100% nailed it but sadly Ed is right, the hardened experienced pros appear a thing of the past under BlueCo.
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Most solid all round performance for a full 90 minutes for a while. No 2nd half blips and at the end of the day should have been not even two but three or four. My men of the match Caicedo (as always) and James also. Overall every one went pretty well. Bringing Tosin on with 2 minutes left on the clock was questionable for mine but maybe Fofana was done and couldn’t see it out. Great result and (for now) a massive 5 place jump up the table. Great 1-0 win and a clean sheet pleasing against a Tottenham side that, under Frank is going alright this season.
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Wolves and Burnley the next two must win matches and the table would then look pretty good for us BUT we are, after all Chelsea so we all know what that can mean.
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I thought this was our main page to contribute all things Chelsea. The one being used was relative to the opening part of our season. I’ll throw this back out there and see what happens. Any new comers or perspective new comers would clearly see this on the first page and realise that this site does actually have our active supporters here.
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Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; James (c), Enzo; Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; Delap
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Badiashile, Hato, Andrey Santos, Estevao, Gittens, Joao Pedro, Guiu
Bournemouth: Petrovic; Smith, Senesi, Diakite, Truffert; Scott, Jimenez; Tevernier, Kluivert, Semenyo; Evanilson
Substitutes: Dennis, Araujo, Soler, Hill, Brooks, Adli, Kroupi, Unal, Dacosta Gonzalez
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Just finished watching the first half.
We’re absolutely awful and Bournemouth should be 2 or 3 up.
Going forward (if we can even call it that) we are slow and ponderous, passing sideways and backwards to Sanchez more often than not. We don’t look incisive at all and Bournemouth are isolating our wingers. Delap off with what looks like a bad shoulder injury, not that it makes much of a difference because he looked clueless anyway. Palmer cutting a despondent figure.
In defence we look far too easy to exploit, and our high press is easy to circumvent. Sanchez has made a few good stops but also nearly gave the ball away a few times, that being his nature.
God knows what Maresca will do at half time – probably change the wingers. Not sure what else he can do with this utterly rancid ‘system’ of his. Painful to watch.
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Full time – rubbish performance. We had a few more shots on goal but nothing that looked like causing trouble. Zero creativity or ideas.
It’s getting to a point where I may stop watching league games because we’re at best a Cup side.
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Am I the only one who thinks that the introduction of Palmer disrupted our attacking rhythm? I believe Maresca has a tough task ahead in reintegrating him into the team. Since Palmer’s substitution, our attack has improved significantly. Additionally, I’ve observed that Palmer and Enzo struggle to fit into the same lineup.
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Young Blue – clearly, getting Palmer back up to speed will take a bit of time, but the management should have a plan around that; he is our best offensive player. There clearly is no plan based on what I witnessed. The people who had the most time on the ball today were Sanchez, and our defence. When our wingers got the ball, they ran into a corner, turned around and played backwards. It’s rubbish.
I can’t relate to your impression of the attack getting better after Palmer was subbed. Estevao hardly saw the ball, and we created nothing.
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So in marescas post match speech he says we controlled the game kept a clean sheet and got a point. Great against a team that had been on a losing run.
Sanchez said we played well and he didn’t have much Todo what game was he watching
Also on teamtalk it states that the board are happy with maresca and are thinking of extending his contract. Nearly all the comments I read from fans want him sacked._____________________________
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Pajero – I hadn’t seen those post match comments, but that’s just pure gaslighting from the two of them. It was an utterly awful performance and we were lucky to come away with a point. Bournemouth had 13 shots with 5 on goal, so Sanchez needs his head examined. When people constantly gaslight you, it’s because they’re grifters.
Agree about the fan comments – I’ve not seen any where fans come to the defence or praise Maresca. He’s out of his depth.
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Totally agree, an awful performance. The difference Caicedo makes being in that side doing his thing. I hoped for more once Estevao came on and even then I was calling for his introduction at least 10 minutes before he got out there BUT he made zero impact which disappointed. Why is Josh Acheampong being totally disregarded? Why is Maresca making 6 or 7 changes to his line ups match after match? This is starting to look like last December’s crash and burn all over again and that surprises me after the back to back quality performances we saw against Barca and Arsenal. Is it doom and gloom all over again?
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Why I Should Side with Enzo Maresca in This Fight
Since BlueCo took over Chelsea Football Club, the club has struggled to reclaim its past glory. Our lowest point came during the 2022/23 season, when we finished 13th in the league and were, at times, uncomfortably close to a relegation battle. That season symbolised a club in chaos—poor recruitment optics, injured leaders, and players who looked completely disconnected from their roles.
In the 2023/24 season, a new head coach was appointed, and although there was some improvement in results, the overall picture remained unconvincing, especially considering the level of spending. At that time, players who are now central to the team—such as Moisés Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, and Enzo Fernández—looked broken and out of sorts. Cucurella was even offered to Manchester United on loan with a buy option, an offer they rejected, highlighting just how far our stock had fallen as a club.
The media narrative was equally damaging. Chelsea were ridiculed for spending over £220 million on Caicedo and Fernández, both of whom were quickly branded as flops. Meanwhile, our club captain, Reece James, spent most of the season in the treatment room, Wesley Fofana was similarly unavailable, and Roméo Lavia failed to play a single competitive match. Robert Sánchez lost his place after a series of poor performances. The only real positives from that season were the emergence of Cole Palmer and the consistency of Malo Gusto.
Fast forward to the 2024/25 season, and the club made yet another bold decision by appointing Enzo Maresca as head coach. This appointment was met with widespread scepticism. Many fans and pundits questioned the wisdom of hiring a coach with only one season of Championship experience, and the media once again mocked Chelsea for what they perceived as another gamble.
However, Maresca has since proven those critics wrong and repaid the club’s faith. He has successfully translated his coaching philosophy onto the pitch, implementing a clear and coherent system that plays to the strengths of the squad. Most importantly, the players have responded.
Under Maresca, Marc Cucurella—once labelled a flop—has enjoyed the best season of his professional career. Moisés Caicedo was voted Chelsea’s Player of the Season, a remarkable turnaround from the criticism he previously faced. Enzo Fernández has rediscovered his attacking influence, contributing goals and assists while dictating games from midfield. Reece James has been carefully managed, staying largely injury-free for a full season and performing at a high level in multiple roles. Wesley Fofana is steadily returning to his best form, finally justifying the £70 million investment. Levi Colwill was performing at an elite level before his unfortunate injury, and Robert Sánchez has shown significant improvement, looking far more composed and reliable than before Maresca’s arrival.
Beyond individual performances, Maresca has made important structural decisions. He has moved on players who did not suit his tactical approach, reducing squad bloat and removing deadwood. The results speak for themselves: Chelsea have reclaimed a Champions League spot and won two trophies in the process. Additionally, players have become more tactically versatile—Malo Gusto is a prime example, now capable of performing effectively in multiple positions. Trevoh Chalobah has also impressed, particularly in partnership with Fofana.
Given all this progress, reports of a power struggle at the club are deeply concerning. The suggestion that the ownership is reluctant to fully back Maresca, or worse, that they are considering replacing him with Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior, reflects deeply flawed thinking. Chelsea already gambled on Maresca—and that gamble is clearly paying off. Why gamble again?
We have seen this movie before. The Graham Potter era cost the club valuable time, stability, and resources. Repeating that mistake now would be reckless. Stability, continuity, and trust in a manager who has demonstrably improved the team are essential if Chelsea are to build sustained success.
For these reasons, siding with Enzo Maresca is not an emotional choice—it is a rational one grounded in evidence, progress, and hard-earned lessons from the recent past.
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Very well scripted Wise Fan and agree with it 100%. Nothing the owners do would surprise me. The manager of the club leading the Championship could be on their radar, who knows. I’d say Maresca will retain his job for next season unless the wheels completely fall off between now and May.
Regarding the log in for this site is starting to p me off a bit. I shouldn’t have to log in all the time, should remain in and also the password should be retained when I tick the box for that to happen. Anyway life goes on.
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