MancFox24

It would be hindsight if I was one of the ones slagging him off. I disagree with what you're saying about his performances this year. I think he's done alright considering this season it's a new role for him and looked dangerous at times.

Think that's the best we've played this season after they scored their goal. Looked threatening but in a good shape when we lost it as well

The point is I don't think he's been anywhere near as bad as some on here think all season. He just seems to have become an easy target for some and people seem to make their judgements without actually watching the games

The first 3 pages of this thread slagging wilf's selection look pretty silly now

Wonder what it's like to support a team that's a threat from set pieces

Big game this for Maresca. Both teams are in pretty much the same position after relegation and having to rebuild with a new manager so it will give a better indication of how much the message is getting through than the previous 5 games. Would obviously love a win but I think we need a performance more than anything to show the fans and more importantly the players that the tactics are the right ones going forward.

I agree. One of the issues I have with trying to implement a system played by Man City is that there aren't many players at Championship level who have the all around game to press and then be technically good enough in attack. Hopefully Casedei is one of them though. As clumsy as Wilf looks at times, I actually think he's looked more dangerous in forward areas than KDH so far this season.

Not convinced this style of football is suited to him. I think he's industrious and has moments of quality. But we need players who can play in tight areas, take the ball on the turn and play telling passes, and I don't think that's his game

Said the same thing after the Huddersfield game when I thought Warnock targeted Doyle. Don't know what's going on with JJ bit if he's anything like he was before his injury then I'm struggling to see why he doesn't get in this team

Agree that some will go over the top. But it's ok to point out genuine concerns with the system. We've basically seen the same performance 5 times now and my biggest issue is the fact that there's no changes to the system if we are getting frustrated. The subs are all like for like and if teams work out how to play against us, I can see a few more results like that this season

No point in going over the top, we'll be able to judge it better after the international break. I do have concerns about these tactics as I'm not convinced some of our players are technically good enough or we have the creativity to play this style or football, and we don't seem to have a plan B, which can make us quite predictable at times. I also don't think we're anywhere near as aggressive in the press as we should be and better teams than those we've played so far can exploit that. But it's still very early days and I hope to see some improvement in the performances after the break

Overall it looks promising. Whenever you get relegated you'd expect the squad to look worse than in did before but actually there's certain positions where it's improved or not got noticeably worse. GK looks better, Coady and Doyle for Soyuncu and Amartey doesn't look that much worse, Winks for last year's Tielemans doesn't either, and just having a right winger is better than nobody. My concern would be if Maresca doesn't work out. People complained about Rogers having too much power at the club but Maresca seems to have been given alot of sway in these transfers. If we did need to change manager, we're gonna have to find someone who plays a very similar way to Maresca and doesn't particularly like full backs.

I hope you're right. But the original point was in reaction to the NTT20 podcast and Elek saying that you can't take for granted that our performances will improve just because the players have had more time with the manager, and I agree with that. Over the first 4 league games I haven't seen signs of a team that will smash teams apart as you say, but I hope the new signings change that. As for comparisons with last year, they're so pointless for so many reasons, not least because if we played like we did in those first 4 games against most PL teams we'd have been beaten convincingly

I'm not saying he's just chucking them out on the pitch and saying let's play. I'm saying I haven't seen sustained patterns of play emerging. I don't deny we look good in those isolated clips found, but I've watched all of the 4 games in full and for every one of those clips there'll be plenty more where the passing has been slow and the movement off the ball poor. I think we're about 14th in xg stats having controlled possession for all of the games and played 3 of the relegation favourites. I'm sure Casadei and the new wingers will help, but I think it's ok to reserve judgement until then

But he recognised it would take time for maresca to implement his tactics and that it might come good. But I agree with the point that there hasn't been any noticeable improvement in the performances for the first 4 games and I do struggle to see sometimes what we're trying to do from an attacking point of view other than rely on individual bits of quality.

To be fair to him, I think he has recognised this and he said on this pod that it may come good but he didn't see any evidence of it so far. It gets my back up a bit cus I'm biased as well and would love to hear everyone singing our praises after what happened last year but it's difficult to argue with anything he's said

I thought he showed signs of improvement towards the end of last season and I wouldn't write him off just yet. Every now and again he'd do something which made me think he was a proper player, but unfortunately there were lots of mistakes in there too. Certainly saw more potential there than with Kristiansen and would like to see him have a good season in the PL

He suffered from not having a right winger playing ahead of him last year. He was expected to be defensively solid and provide attacking threat on that side and ended up not doing either very well. I also never really understood why he was the one who got shoved out to the left cus I don't think he was very good on his left foot. Still, I think in the right team he can be a good player and it wouldn't surprise me to see him do well at Fulham. If only he'd have stuck that chance in against Newcastle it might have ended so differently

Absolutely right. I remember watching the game and couldn't believe what Kompany had done to Burnely in such a short space of time and I was certain they'd walk that league after what I saw that game, despite the results not going their way initially. Obviously there's completely different circumstances at each club and it might take us longer to get used to a different style but you can't really argue with what Elek was saying. I'll obviously take the wins but I tend to disagree that the points are more important than the performances at this stage of the season. I would definitely like to see progress made by the team from game to game but I actually thought the performance and structure of the team looked worse against Huddersfield than it did against Cov.

Game of opinions I guess but I think he's looked quite clumsy on the ball. I also thought Warnock targeted him in the air today and he didn't win too many headers. Still early days though

Faes was the best player on the pitch by a mile, I'd be worried if there were scouts watching him today cus he looked way too good for this league. Not been massively impressed with Doyle these first 3 games, his distribution looks surprisingly poor. Still baffled by JJ's continuing absence, he'd seem a perfect fit for this system. Alot of work still to be done in the transfer market but we've had a kind fixture list to start with and it's to be hoped the squad is in a better place when the tougher games start in September

Fair enough. There may be the odd example where he could have played an earlier pass. But the statistics about the chances created and big chances created don't lie- he's up there with the best in the league and proves he's more than willing and capable of making chances for others when the opportunity arises. Either way, my main argument was against those calling him a bottler. Whether you think it was for the good of the team or not, at least he took the responsibility on his shoulders.

I don't think it was to the detriment of the team though. I just don't think he trusted the players around him to look after the ball or make an incisive pass like he could. And I think he was absolutely right about that. Although that meant he lost the ball on occasions, I'd much rather have him on the ball than play it to someone who either lost it or played safe. People often talk about the Wolves game. Firstly, we could have beat them more comfortably with Maddison in the side. Secondly, it was one game- he carried us in that period before the WC when we were doing well and I think the main reason we weren't able to carry that form on after was his injury.

Fantastic player and even on his crap games last year he was our best player. I got the impression that at times in games last year he looked up at the shit options around him when he was on the ball and thought he had to do it all himself- probably why his form suffered a bit. But that certainly doesn't make him a bottle job- the opposite if anything. He tried to take alot of responsibility on his shoulders last year, which is more than I can say for most. I genuinely think had he been getting in the England team on a regular basis, as he should have been, he would have signed a new contract and we would have got more for him than we have. I remember an England squad at the end of a season when he'd played really well for us and Smith-Rowe, who wasn't even playing at Arsenal, got in the squad ahead of him. And we'd finished above Arsenal in the league. At that point, he must have been thinking he needs a move to a 'bigger' club. On the face of it, it does seem odd he's chosen Spurs over Newcastle and CL football. But he comes across as very knowledgeable about the game and I can see why he would think the type of football Postegoglu plays would suit him far more than Howe's. Hope he does well on an individual basis but as always wish nothing but abject failure on Spurs collectively.

In 2 minds about this. On the one hand I'm glad it looks to be getting done quickly cus it will allow us to move on and identify our own targets. On the other, I see that Chelsea have rejected a £55m bid for Mount, who is also in the last year of his contract. For me, Maddison is a far better player than Mount and so I think if it ends up being closer to £40m then that's a bit of a steal