So, in the end Chelsea finished 4th and won the Conference League.
It wasn't the surprise title bid some were hoping for in November, but he did get top four — which I think is a slight overachievement with our players. Yes, I know they cost a fortune, but if you look at how 'good' they actually were in terms of quality, it's a lot of raw young types with potential. Very few finished articles.
But I still don't really know how I feel about Maresca.
I really enjoyed the counter-attacking football at the start of the season, but it felt like that was possibly a legacy of Poch's chaos-ball with slightly better players. The more possession heavy our football became: the fewer chances we had, the more defeats, and frankly the worse players like Palmer and Jackson looked.
On the other hand, few Chelsea managers turn it around like he did. Scolari, AVB, and Potter - to think of a few - were unable to arrest a decline in form, but Maresca did.
If you look at the form table, our run from mid-April to end of season was excellent especially considering the opposition. We just kept winning with only the odd hiccup like Newcastle away.
A lot of people probably didn't like the football, but the 1-0 wins over Leicester, Everton, United and Forest were controlled performances which the likes of Tuchel or Conte would've been praised for.
So, I am kind of left in a place not knowing what to make of our manager. I expect Clearlake to continue buying younger players with an emphasis on potential. That is both exciting but will also make his job harder in the short term compared to buying experienced high level players.
I guess I will judge him on whether I think there's progress.
Results — This would mean sustaining top four while juggling CL football (much harder to do than putting out a B-team for the conference league) and winning a domestic cup. I'd love to finally break that awful Wembley hoodoo, six defeats in a row is embarrassing.
Football — I want us to play a more direct style. It's been more effective in terms of results and I can't face more matches of us passing it sideways across the defence and midfield for 90 mins.
Maresca - thoughts?
posted 14 hours, 43 minutes ago
Our football seemed to get worse as the season went on which is the worrying part. Felt it was just keeping the ball for possession sake in a lot of games with no actual cutting edge.
Have to give him credit for turning it around like you said at the end of the season as we had the toughest run in and I'll be honest, I didn't think we'd get top 5.
I'm yet to be convinced by Maresca but he achieved the season's objectives. I'm hoping with more suited players for his style and strengthening the team in certain areas, we can play a better brand of football next season, make top 4 (close the gap on Liverpool and Arsenal) and win a domestic cup.
posted 14 hours, 2 minutes ago
comment by T.J (U15973)
posted 36 minutes ago
Our football seemed to get worse as the season went on which is the worrying part. Felt it was just keeping the ball for possession sake in a lot of games with no actual cutting edge.
Have to give him credit for turning it around like you said at the end of the season as we had the toughest run in and I'll be honest, I didn't think we'd get top 5.
I'm yet to be convinced by Maresca but he achieved the season's objectives. I'm hoping with more suited players for his style and strengthening the team in certain areas, we can play a better brand of football next season, make top 4 (close the gap on Liverpool and Arsenal) and win a domestic cup.
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Can't really add anything to that as mirrors my thoughts exactly.
posted 13 hours, 28 minutes ago
He wins a lot of brownie points from me for adapting his style to get the job done
We noticeably were just booting it long at times when we needed to in the run in - something i assume he'd have dropped a guy over earlier on
It probably led to Sanchez finding that late season form too, having more freedom to defend how he wanted to rather than strict instructions. When you ignore his errors leading to big chances/goals he is a solid keeper in the stats - so a coach should try and protect him from himself when he can
My concern is he will abandon any pragmatism and now double down on his style - which feels rather likely
I'll cut him some slack if he uses his stronger position to get some high quality experience in though
3 or so players in the 25-30 range that can be starters would be nice
posted 7 hours, 22 minutes ago
Will admit not a fan - as others have said we gradually got worse over the season, and much like last season we got improved results near the end but on similar performances, . Ok couple of games at the end was slightly better defensively but horrid to watch in attack.
However, I will admit Enzo has been somewhat hamstrung by the management - an awful few windows STILL left us lacking in key areas which has been known for at least 2 seasons (Striker, GK, CB). We at least look like we are trying to fix this problem.....but as a few have commented top class players in these positions seem to be lacking, not available,or we aren't willing usually to match the wages - which is fair enough.
But we need to fix our attack - even United and the Spuddlings understood how to attack, we make nice lines and move the ball around so slowly with little idea of what to do with it - our end season wins came about more because of odd goals by defenders FFS. And I believe the players we have got.....well they have proven they are capable of attacking and attacking well just see the first half of the season, so something there needs to be fixed, really hoping we see some strides over the coming weeks.
I would say Enzos biggest puzzle is how to get Palmer involved more. He is our star and when he plays well we are difficult to beat. But I am sure it's easily said then done.
Anyways I am getting excited for next week
posted 6 hours, 37 minutes ago
Feels very similar to his Leicester spell, so i guess going into a second season is an unknown with him, but following the same trajectory at both clubs suggests he didn't learn a huge amount from Leicester or he's too stubborn to change.