Just watched a full replay of Forest game, not at 1am but at 3 pm. Looks a lot different than the live view.
Firstly , so many of our players were dross, namely Palmer, Neto, Madueke and Fernandez. Especially poor was Sancho. Thats 5 of the 11 who did bugger all. Palmer was all over the place except where he should have been. Reason? Spent the entire game looking for the ball cause nothing came to him from midfield. Absolute shambles from midfield who had no control over the play and created absolutely nothing for the forwards for the entire game.We simply cannot continue with Casiedo and Fernandez as a pairing, there is zero connection, interplay, building play, or passing that allows the forwards to do anything except get the pass facing backwards with 2 defenders on them.Casiedo does the job of 2 players as Kante did, while Fernandez disappears too often. Would be very happy to see the arse end of that bloke. Can't defend, can't score, can't create, not in the PL . Off to a slower, less competitive League he might be good.
We are numbingly predictable. Pass backwards and sideways for a while among defence, then a pass to a midfielder facing backwards, back pass to defender long ball to forward who's surrounded by defenders and hoofs it towards goal where no one is waiting for it. That's it, that's our tactics.
My opinion , which is worthless in the real world ,is that the Manager is utterly inept and will never ever improve this squad of potentially good players. His tactics, style and vision are miles below what is needed. You can put Osimhen up front, Van Dyke as CD, Ronaldo in midfield, and this bloke Maresca will reduce them all to mediocrity in 10 games. Rant over. Now expect us to struggle in the Micky Mouse Cup final and couldn't care anyway, be poor in the Club World Championships, and embarrassed in the CL. Hope I'm wrong but sure with a proper Manager we would be competitive in any game we play.
I think I am with you to be honest.
To have spent the money we have spent, and to still have so many gaps in our squad, whilst not necessarily Maresca's fault, is shocking.
So on one hand, the board need to accept some of the blame here. We went into the season with one senior recognised striker in Jackson, who whilst senior is still only 23 and in his second year of PL football.
Then there is the imbalance in midfield, and this is where we are 100% in alignment, Caicedo and Fernandez are NOT a viable pairing, and its no coincidence that when Lavia was out of the squad injured and Fernandez came in, thats when our form slumped, and when Lavia came back for the last couple of months, results picked up again (if not the performances, but we'll get to that in a minute). Fernandez, you are quite right, is not suited to the PL and would be much better off in Germany or Italy, where the game is played at a lower pace. technically Fernandez is a decent player, but he doesnt have the fitness or pace to be partnered with someone like Caicedo, who has had to be a god damned workhorse in the middle part of the season due to necessity.
Then there is Palmer. We all know what this kid is capable of, we saw it last season, and in the Euros for England, and in the first half of this season before Maresca's "unique" brand of football began to take hold of the squad. Unlike Fernandez, he has technical ability AND pace, fitness, good positional awareness, a great pass and can shoot. Yet Maresca's pedestrian style has seen him subdued and lethargic, and with no real focal point other than Jackson, his stats have nose dived.
To have any hope of winning anything other than a two-bit, Mickey mouse European trophy, where the first opponent you play that you have even heard of, is in the final, then we need a proper striker. Not a child with potential, but someone who can hit the ground running like Osimhen.
We also need a CB, and it looks like that will be Guehi, which is about right for our MO, sell him to a smaller club for £20 odd million, then buy him back 3 seasons later for £50m more than we sold him. He is a very good player now though granted. And we need a midfielder who can step in when Lavia is injured, hopefully Andrey Santos can play that part, he has been tearing **** up in Ligue 1 for Strasbourg on loan so he may be the answer to that if we dont want to spend.
Then there is the keeper......Sanchez, whilst he has been okay recently, and his blunders have been minimal in recent weeks, he aint it.....he just aint.
Petrovic has also done okay with Strasbourg on loan, but I am lessed convinced he is ready to step up and be No.1 for us, but we will see.
Lastly, the manager......
He has said **** you to all his doubters for not believing they could make it into the CL, and okay we made it, albeit, we limped over the line and had to rely on Forest and Villa ****ting their beds in the run in and having mares. But I am still not convinced by this man. His style is way too pedestrian and lacking in penetrative play, all possession, no incision or cunning and he doesnt seem all that adaptable either.
I can only hope that with better players, if the positions we require are filled with people of suitable talent, that his style will take off and we will ascend......but he has shown me nothing to be overly enthusiastic or excited about and I think there is every chance we could regress next season if we dont have a good window and make sensible recruitments, because I highly doubt Maresca is going to be the difference.
In short, with a good window, I think we can get top 4 and another pot next year, but a league title is doubtful.
If we get Liam Delap and a bunch of kids, then its back to fighting for a European spot by the skin of our teeth again.
Please dont sign Delap, Mr Boehly. ffs please dont.......
