Maresca claimed that everyone was playing well all game and no need to change . Really?? Jackson was hopeless all game Neto not much better, Sancho faded 2nd half and no one looked capable of actually scoring a second. The longer it went the more we lost control of the match. Yet again a team who defended well, played with much more vigour and intent, proved too good for us to overcome. Our passing became sub standard and we just kept on doing the same thing. No leadership, no new ideas just like the last few games. Again no subs until it was too late. So however poor we were, the Manager was poorer. Josh Achampepong was excellent. Maresca had to trust kids like him and Tyrique just their energy and fearlessness would lift our turgid form.
Seems no one is going to put forward any talking points so from football starved Melbourne, here's a viewpoint from afar. Firstly overall you have to be pleased with 4th place. Should be better but Marescas annoying way of selecting strange teams and his real push back against trusting really good players is obvious. Why Disasi EVER at right back ?? Nkunku ever as a striker for starters. How long will he keep playing Cole Palmer before he gets injured? Same with Collwill. Maresca has to be honest, he says he trusts his subs but he has to be bullshitting. No, he must be under directions from above to play those who cost us too much. Neto being the latest, he's underwhelmed almost every game. Fernandez is NOT a player we need, Lavia is miles better for our Team. If Fernandez could score great, but he's no Lampard, Joe Cole or Steven Gerrard is he? Just a slow, poor defending midfielder who we don't need for my money. I just don't think he suits the speed and pressure of PL football. Then there's all the players who have not had the game time the big money guys have. Too many in fact to mention them all. Then there's the players we treated so badly, like Chalobah and still Chilwell. Now we are thinking of recalling Chalobah who's better by miles than any CDs we bought in ,and always was. We seem to have a mortgage on selling players who are world beaters. De Bruyne, Musiala, Solanke, Guehi, Salah come to mind. Why?? Where are the REAL judges of talent?? Not those mugs who overpaid millions on kids they now can't sell. Oh well that's enough, I'll be up again middle of the night to hope the Team can win a game, Sick of getting used to them folding.
Agree about Enzo and our midfield. Our midfield only ever looks balanced when its Lavia and Caicedo, if either of them are replaced with someone else, it goes to ****. I also worry about Palmer being overplayed....he looks like a solid kid, and he doesnt have a record of injuries, but he also has never played 50 games in a season so we need to watch that and make sure he is looked after, because if he goes out for an extended period, we are truly ****ed. Jackson seems off the boil, as does Neto, both were looking pretty good up until a few weeks ago. We still need a new spine, bar Palmer. For me we need a new Keeper, a new CB, a back up CM and a striker. I am happy for Nkunku, Madueke, Neto and Sancho to rotate as our forward wide players. I was hoping Jackson might be able to be our starting striker, and he is improving, but I will give him till the end of the season before I make a proper judgment. A keeper and a striker can wait until the summer, but we need both if we want to challenge, because Sanchez aint it in goal I am telling you. Go for Pickford, especially since Everton are in deep ****. What we need now is a CB (rumours are that we are going back for Guehi!) and we need a CM who can start when Lavia or Caicedo are out and who want completely **** up our vibe in midfield, someone who can play with either of them. I am drawing blanks of candidates for this though, my knowledge of international football has waned in the last couple years as I havent been following the Bundesliga or Ligue 1, as I normally do. I hate the Spanish league and the italian league is a joke these days.
Jackson is out of form but when you look at his earlier really good games, he was getting far better service. That was especially so when Enzo was out and Lavia was in midfield. Same goes for Madueke and Neto. Playing Marescas way has diminished Gustos form. Gone are the charging bursts forward and link play with Madueke. It's also true that Cuccurellas change to coming inside has transformed his play, but made it more difficult for Sancho or Mudryk,( when he played.) Unless Maresca sorts these things out ,we'll need a few different players who CAN play his style. If he won't play the ones he's got to see if they do fit, we'll need to buy yet again. Despite all his really good work, Maresca is now having to do a lot of it again to find a plan B. PL teams don't take long to suss out a way to make life difficult for their opponents. And Winstanley and Cos' scattergun buying is now causing Maresca problems he doesn't need.
Football starved Melbourne is not so bad mate, have relatives living there and the weather is 38' degrees on a cold day. Got a mate staying in Yarrawonga, couple of hours north of you. He has been on a tour of your place doing Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and then going back to Blighty via Thailand, says the spiders are scary but he does not kill them. On a side note Joe Lolley ex Notts Forest, a player for that plays for Sydney FC, seems to be on fire. He is from my home town and I used to play in the same team as his Dad, Martin, we grew up on the same street and played on the same muddy patch back in the day. Life is to short to be angry dude just try and enjoy it, and not try to read so much into other peoples ideas of playing the game. Happy new year CP.
