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As far as Caicedo goes the 3 game ban with only a CL match mid next week that he will surely play in provide a well needed break. He’s played in just about everything to date and that tackle reeked of tiredness and frustration. That was a crude tackle and normally Caicedo wins those sorts of tackles with quality classy defending. He’ll come back after the 3rd Prem suspension a much fresher player and there are plenty of fixtures coming up where he will be invaluable in late December.
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Feel the same don’t really look forward to watching any games, the fans want to see the best available team in every game, Maresca always tries to be clever only for him to fall flat on his face yet again. Just do what’s best for the team, the club, the fans. Select your BEST AVAILABLE TEAM ALWAYS and if players get injured that’s tough luck.
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Agree with the comments; with Mourinho and Conte you always knew that the spine of the team would play regardless, and you could be 90% sure of who made up the rest of the side. I doubt anyone here would have been able to predict the starting XI against Leeds. Against smaller teams, we need to take control, score some goals and then sub players on to save the legs of the core team.
Under Maresca, I can’t see us winning the League. He’s too naive, his ‘system’ is crap, and his decision making is poor.
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I read your comments about the match against Bournemouth on the other thread. I will comment here. It’s more comfortable as this thread is under Chelsea forum. It’s an awful performance. Bournemouth were the better side. Semenyo and Evanilson should have scored for them. And I agree that Palmer’s introduction disrupted our rhythm. After more than 2 months the team playing without him: Palmer would need to find his place as quickly as possible. I don’t have any doubt though, Palmer is our best player, he is a level above anyone else. Once he is fully fit, he will find his feet quickly. And anyway with Liam Delap injured again (I read about 2 months, dislocated shoulder): Palmer will play with Joao Pedro. There is cohesion between those two technical players as we saw in the Clubs World Cup.
The missing element was clearly Caicedo. Nobody breaks oppositions attack like Caicedo. I was surprised that Santos did not play. It was an away match, Santos with James in the defensive midfield would give us a more solid defense, so that Palmer wouldn’t have needed to do much defensive duties.
Anyway, all in all, the defeat against Leeds and the draw against Bournemouth simply showed us that the team is not ready to be a title contender this season. I just hope that these bad results weren’t a start of December slump like last season. We have Palmer returning, we still have Fofana, Essugo is supposed to be back too, so on the injuries fronts: except Delap we aren’t that bad.
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Aindro – it’s not the injuries that bother me the most, annoying though they are. It’s the bizarre decision making, lack of tactical nous and ability to find a way to break down lesser sides. That won’t change under Maresca.
And then Maresca has the gall to go the press and say we controlled the match and it was a good point… so in a single interview he gaslights us with the first comment, and then says it’s good to come away with a point against a lower table side on a terrible run of form…?
And then you have Sanchez telling us he didn’t have much to do.
We may as well just write off the next couple of seasons if Maresca is getting is contract extended. This makes no sense, unless we really are in the business of buying low and selling high and being a Cup team.
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Ed, I can’t know the owners’s mind. But Boehly is a co-owner of LA Dodgers, who just won the MLB World Series. 2 years in a row mind you. And they added the most expensive player ever in the baseball Shohei Ohtani into their roster 2 years ago and also another expensive player Yamamoto.
So if I could draw a parallel here, I suppose he would apply the same pattern. Once he deems the Chelsea squad is ready to be title contender, he would then add one or two world class players into the squad to be really able to challenge for the title. And I wouldn’t be surprised if a world class manager would come to replace Maresca who isn’t experienced for that level.
And honestly, Chelsea show a lot of potential with obviously Caicedo, Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Reece James (if healthy), Wesley Fofana (if healthy), Cucurella, and now Estevao. For me what’s missing is really one or two additions like Ohtani and Yamamoto in baseball, who can propel this squad to another level. I am thinking a proper goalscorer like Harry Kane or Kylian Mbappé (of course I am dreaming here) and a strong defender or a world class GK.
Anyway I may be daydreaming, LOL, it can be the other way around that Boehly (&co) here at Chelsea just to make money, not to win titles, and he would sell Caicedo, Enzo, Palmer etc once a very lucrative offer would come from Real Madrid or from Barcelona …. Who knows.
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I admire your optimism!
Baseball is one of these typical US sports than can be boiled down to stats and percentages. It’s not a proper team sport. Preset fielding positions, a ball flung at a small box of area by a pitcher, a very limited amount of outcomes from any 1 pitch etc.
Did he really think Delap and Gittens would make the difference in advancing us to a similar position as the LA Dodgers?
And why the confidence in Maresca?
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Ed, LOL, no, I am not optimist. I was just comparing the pattern. And personnally I think Delap would become a decent center forward for Chelsea. Better than Jackson. Of course it’s not the case at the moment. I am surprised that he gets injured so often. He is so young, and he has good physical. Gittens on the contrary I don’t know why we bought him. Probably his stats in Bundesliga were that good? I don’t really follow other leagues than Premier League.
And the Ohtani & Yamamoto did not come this season. Delap and Gittens clearly aren’t Ohtani and Yamamoto :). We can see that we are not ready yet to become title contender. I hope next season we will be ready.
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The manager dicing with failure simply due to team selection yet again. Early signs are our defence is all over the place and while he has given young Josh a run, well, alongside Badiaschiele, really!!. Early signs are not great in this one either. Little cohesion and plenty of panic.
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I can’t watch the match. Is Fofana injured? It seems to me. I think we have no choice but to buy a new centre back. In January preferably. We can’t rely on Fofana, he is so injury prone.
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Never in my time watching Chelsea have I seen a coach lose control of a match as I did today. Maresca completely lost control from the first whistle to the last. The substitutions he made were bizarre and comical. How can you play Gusto in the No. 10 position when we have Estavao and Bounanotte available?
I don’t understand why Santos wasn’t brought on instead of Gusto—such a decision is questionable! Another concerning issue is how Gittens managed to complete 90 minutes. I can only wonder what Maresca was thinking. How did we end up with seven defenders on the pitch? Even Mourinho, who was notoriously defensive, never had that many defenders on the field at the same time.
If Maresca continues down this path of a defensive mentality, I can foresee him coming under immense pressure, and the conversation about his position will undoubtedly start. It was foolish of him to make such comical substitutions.
Unless Maresca comes to his senses and plays players in their proper positions, I anticipate more losses and, inevitably, the worst outcome. I hope I’m wrong and that today was just a one-off match.
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Wise – If you’re hoping that this is a one-off, then you must have missed most of our season so far!
Maresca is hopeless.
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Chelsea1967, thanks for the precision about Fofana! I am glad that it’s not his recurrent injury, yesterday.
Wise-fan and Ed de Goey: I think fans (including myself!!) have to accept that we won’t be challenging for anything this season. The consistency isn’t just there. The team is not title contender quality, yet. We have individual brilliance, like Estevao, Neto, Cole Palmer, Caicedo, but all Chelsea players mentioning about a solid team: Bollocks methink. Not yet. It’s not. And hearing what Maresca often had to say: I think this season is more about managing injuries than winning.
I don’t know what this December brings, but so far: not good. UCL we shot ourselves in the foot. Had we won yesterday, I believe a direct qualification would be almost sure. But now? We did not win against Atalanta. What is our chance against Napoli away?
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Aindro, you’re basically right about the expectations going forward – i.e. we won’t be challenging. But how on Earth is that the case given the amount of money we have spent, and with the talent at our disposal?
Sure, we lack a top class keeper and an experienced CB with quality (Tosin is experienced but has zero quality) but that is also down to poor management.
The best thing we can do is wait until after the World Cup and go cap in hand to Ancelotti and bring him back.
However, I’m long past expecting our club’s top management doing the best thing.
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Ed, all things money, it’s the owners’ problems. Like before with Abramovich. But if the owners really want the club to win titles: their strategy is then not working. So much money spent and three years and counting: the team is nowhere near title contender. Just individual brilliance by here and there. I hope the owners start to realize that an important key ingredient is missing for Chelsea: experienced quality players.
Buying potential young players who would develop to become world class is proven not enough to make our team a title contender. World Cup is not long, I would be happy to have Ancelotti back
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Great to see Chelsea and Tottenham coming down under to Sydney Oz July/August 2026 for some matches against Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers as well as playing each other in the Sydney Super Cup. The tickets won’t be cheap but this is a wonderful opportunity to see my club again live at the match. They last came here over 10 years ago. Dead chuffed.
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Lucky you, mate !! Enjoy CFC in Sydney. Btw what a beautiful city. Went there summer last year, beautiful beaches. Not sure if CFC has ever come to play in Canada, probably not, it’s not a soccer country.
Saturday a totally winnable match against Everton at home, in normal circumstance, but our form has just been poor. I think it was a mistake to start Palmer last weekend just to be rested in Champions League after. He would have better started in a Champions League match that would allow more space for his creativity. Anyway I suspect he will start against Everton, only to be frustrated again as Everton & Moyes are a defensive team since long time. Chalobah & Enzo have been substituted in midweek so they will start too. Fofana if his eye clears up, he should start too. I can’t see James starting every 3 days, so he would be on the bench.
Btw I don’t criticize Sanchez often but I saw the highlights, Atalanta’s 2nd goal : he was at fault, being beaten at small angle.
My team: Sanchez – Cucurella,Chalobah,Fofana,Gusto – Santos,Enzo – Neto,Palmer,Estevao – Joao Pedro
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It leaves a bitter taste when you comfortably dispatch a solid side like Everton, only to drop points to struggling teams like Leeds and Sunderland in the weeks before. It’s clear the quality is there and this squad is more than capable of competing at the top level, but the inconsistency tells its own story. Unfortunately, it once again raises serious questions about whether we have the right man at the helm to get the best out of this team.
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