Tosin was our best defender tonight btw. Hopefully he can get back to his best for the rest of the season and be a reliable backup again.

Need to watch Cardiff's goalkeeper more - Nathan Trott was unbelievable on the ball. I'm not good at judging goalkeepers, but he really impressed me honestly.

Garnacho's movement without the ball is too good, I gotta admit. Gittens needs to learn from him in that aspect and firm sitting on the bench for now.

I just realized we had better depth for conference league year than this season with UCL. KDH, Sancho, Nkunku, Felix weren't ideal, but had some experience and quality already to help in that moment. Now Maresca is expected to win every game with literally inferior squad in terms of quality.

Our left side on the ball is the biggest issue imo. Badiashile and Hato incredibly poor in build-up so Gittens is usually 3v1 or 2v1. I've said it in pre-season that Hato further up the pitch is like a fish out of water, has no clue what positions to occupy

If our plan wasnt to use their man to man press to give our striker a 1v1, I would say George needs to go upfront for Guiu who is incredibly poor on the ball. I have no clue what is going on with Buonanotte though, shocking half for him.

• Cardiff (A) Just please don't play Cucurella or Enzo, please. Let them rest.

If Maresca walks or gets sacked at the end of the season, we will very likely take multiple steps backwards again. If anyone needs to go, its clearly the sporting directors. I cannot believe how they get contract extensions after another shocking window in terms of squad-building. Its baffling.

Malo Gusto I am in love

Enzo Fernandez not tracking his man, covering 0 space and awful on the ball. GET. HIM. OFF.

Exhausted Enzo Fernandez starting with no Caicedo to cover for him scares me

• Everton (H) Not a back 5 team thankfully, but physical and dominant aerially. Worried about Ndiaye a lot and really not happy with Joao Pedro at all recently. Really wouldn't be mad at Acheampong at RB either for height, but Gusto adds so much dynamism we need so I went with him.

Enzo Maresca sees its december on his calendar and decides to throw games. This man management I'm seeing every game is baffling and so strange

If Fofana is out for couple games, we should just forfeit them, there is no point

• Atalanta (A) Very tough game again. Expect lots of long balls and direct play (most aerial duels won in UCL btw lol). They are very non-aggressive while defending so Gittens and Estevao's 1v1 ability will be our biggest weapon. Expecting Enzo and Cucu to start, but I prefer them later on.

With Delap out for 6-8 weeks we need to move in January. Loan out Guiu and bring Emegha from Strasbourg. Please learn from your mistakes of last January window Winstewart.

Absolutely embarrassing performance from the players and Maresca's man management

How is Neto still on the pitch? Ineffective offensively and is to gassed out to even go back to defend

Santos for Enzo to fix physicality in midfield issue (we're getting dominated). Neto and Cucurella are playing on fumes aswell so Estevao for Neto would be good since he is often in 1v1 situations.

• Bournemouth (A) Hyper-direct, high-pressing and physical team away... I went with our best team pretty much - adding physicality in midfield with James, most reliable CB pairing, dynamic and aggressive FBs, runners on the wings and Palmer behind a real number 9. Enzo can rest imo.

Maresca's system can only work if we have a high line and activate the counter-press instantly after losing possession. Not having a fast, excellent frontfoot CB like Fofana hurts us already, but playing Tosin who is extremely slow with a very light midfield on top of that...

I'll fucking pay myself for his wages please

This ref is genuinely worse than Anthony Taylor

Will Fulham accept him back in January?

This is how our defence looks like without Fofana and people are talking about title challenges

Back 5 it is for Leeds. I don't mind a back 3 against their 2 strikers. I'm expecting this 1st half to be very safe for us to hit them in the 2nd half with the subs we have. JP + Delap will be crucial for our attacking play.

My Spotify Wrapped 2025 As expected its dominated by Lucy Bedroque and Kuru. Also 266 genres seems like a lot wow

• Leeds (A) They can either play a back 4 compact mid-block or completely play the 5 atb low block with 2 strikers up-front since it worked better against Man City. My preferred line-up:

I only see it now that they didn't strengthen their most important position - fullbacks. When your midfield cannot play a progressive pass with Maddison injured, you need to create overloads out wide and their FBs bar Spence are awful. Need to sell Porro in January and buy a LB imo.

Sorry for doubting you Sir Bob

Proud of the whole team, but don't ever compare Reece James to Timber

• Arsenal (H) Arsenal looks to take away any chaos from games and control it on and off the ball. They pretty much never concede more than 1 point of xg aswell. They are the best team itl so we have to ride on that momentum and use the atmosphere of our stadium to win. My preferred lineup:

Proud of the team. Huge game in couple days. UP THE CHELSSSSS

MY STARBOY!

Best LB on the planet. Marc Cucurella.

Yet another Maresca masterclass in a big game

• Barcelona (H) 2 huge games at the Bridge. I'm expecting us to to be very aggressive and it wouldn't surprise me to see Gusto at RB, James at RCM and Neto at LW, acting as that LWB like against PSG. Either way I trust our squad is good enough to compete and hopefully win

I was wrong. Thomas Frank is a terrible manager.

• Burnley (H) Burnley statistically is the worst team in the league with least xG and most shots on target allowed, but this is exactly the type of team that will frustrate us the most. Some key players need to rest and this should be enough to get us 3 points and be ready for 2 big games soon 🤞🤞

I really have a new appreciation for games like portal, fallout new vegas or red dead redemption 2 Watching Dispatch and playing through Cyberpunk made me realize how easy it is to fuck up the ending. Its like the expectation is big and it all builds up to disappointment

Redemption. Pretty much perfect matchweek this time 👍

Everybody including Maresca knows how good Estevao is, but he cannot keep starting games at such young age. He is being protected in a right way.

On the other hand Arsenal is so much better than us. Just look how much movement there is in the attacking third when they have the ball - they are so well coached and its clear to see not to even mention their defending

This United vs Spurs game makes me less worried about them catching up to us. They are still a mess

• Wolves (H) - best current CB pairing - Delap in-front of JP - Gittenstevao wing We won't be able to maintain the energy (shoutout Azerbaijan) all game so its important to finish our chances and hopefully put the game to bed early. I am worried looking at our recent low block performances though.

The biggest issue of a forever young squad is the lack of experience to actually control games. One negative thing happens and the whole team loses their shit.

I think I enabled him, on me

I prefer Hato to do those mistakes and learn instead of Chalobah/Tosin

• Qarabag (A) Qarabag 1-2 Chelsea 43' Marc Guiu 78' Delap (pen) 82' Delap (red card)