Maresca's Marauders March On

Chelsea have had a decent start to the season. Under Maresca, they've transitioned from Pochettino's more direct brand of football to something a bit more controlled, much like Liverpool's transition under Slot. And yet, like Liverpool, this doesn't mean that they've completely lost all their bite. Their routs of Wolves, Brighton, and West Ham show that they're still dangerous when they go direct. They can still hurt you when they decide to be marauders.

I would argue that Maresca's work so far has mostly gone into raising the floor of this team and not necessarily into raising its ceiling.

They haven't exactly performed better than their best under Poch so far this season. It's not suddenly a team that can hang with the very best teams in the world week in and week out, not just yet. However, it is now a team that can consistently put out good performances. They've lost two games this season, to Manchester City and Liverpool, the two teams ahead of them in the table. And even in those losses (against Liverpool especially), they did not capitulate. They played about as well as they have all season but lost both games to better individual performances ultimately.

Chelsea fans can expect some kind of consistency going forward. The points that they should be getting against the smaller teams in the league they will probably get. The likelihood of shock defeats to weaker teams was so ever-present last season, but Maresca seems to have found a way to exorcise that demon. And as their win against Newcastle showed, even against tougher opponents they can find a way. It's not glamorous, but, as far as rebuilds go, it's a significant step in the right direction.

The Bees Are Stinging...

But they are getting stung badly as well.

I've been a bit frustrated watching Thomas Frank's team this season. I understand that there have been upheavals at the club over the last year or two. From the Ivan Toney situation to playing large chunks of last season with most of their first-choice defenders injured, Brentford hasn't been the picture of stability. I get that. But I keep waiting for this Brentford team to go up one gear and establish themselves as the Europe contenders I think everyone knows they could be. This is most certainly not just a midtable team and Thomas Frank is clearly a capable manager.

To me, the only relevant stat for the Bees so far this season is their goal difference of 0. They've scored 22 goals and conceded 22 goals, and that in itself tells a story. They've found a way to keep scoring in Toney's absence with Mbuemo and Wissa stepping up to fill the gap. But they haven't found a way to stop letting in goals. If anything, they've gotten worse. After 11 games last season, they'd conceded 17 goals, this season it's 22.

I think that Brentford can still go up a level this season, and under Thomas Frank more broadly speaking. The way to get there is, I think, quite clear. This team needs to defend better. They haven't lost their sting, but now they need to find a way to avoid getting stung regularly. I hope Thomas and his people can find a way to make that happen.

Ten Hag Was Never The Guy

I think everyone knew this before the season began at some level. Even the United fans who were willing to be more hopeful than most. At no point throughout the last season did Ten Hag show any signs of being the man who could fix United's issues and make them title challengers again.

And yet, what did the Manchester United board do?

They gave him a new contract and 200 million Euros to spend on players like Joshua Zirkee, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Lenny Yoro, and Manuel Ugarte. I would just like to say that none of those transfers makes sense to me other than Lenny Yoro. But Lenny Yoro is only 19 and certainly not the player to move the needle instantly for a club in such a quagmire. In de Ligt and Mazraoui, Ten Hag fell back on his old transfer strategy of buying players he's worked with before at Ajax, whether they fit his current team or not. AND THE BOARD LET HIM!!!

Even with the new signings in, Ten Hag's team did not look any better than they did last season. Gaps between midfield and attack and defence continued to appear. The plan when in possession continued to be unclear, the defending continued to be atrocious, 200 million Euros spent and not a single step forward in the right direction. At some point, you got the feeling that Ten Hag was just biding his time until the club decided to sack him and pay him a hefty fee for his trouble. And honestly, if that was his plan, great for him because it has worked out well. After all, the bulk of the blame for this cannot fall at his feet. No, it has to fall at the feet of the United board who let him keep his job despite his manifest incompetence. In my view, Ten Hag is the victim here to some extent.

The Seagulls Are Flying Still

Brighton is currently my favourite example of a team that has a plan and a vision for their club that transcends any one manager. They parted ways with Roberto de Zerbi in the summer and brought on Fabian Hurzeler (who was relatively unknown at the time), but not much has changed about how Brighton operates. The transfer focus continues to be on finding young, undervalued players and developing them. The footballing strategy continues to be playing an attacking, possession-based brand of football that takes the game to their opponents regardless of who those opponents are.

Now, this is not to say that Fabian has come in and done the same things that de Zerbi did tactically, of course not. de Zerbi himself was very different from his predecessor tactically. And so far, Fabian has proven to be different as well, if in subtle ways. His usage of Joao Pedro is one of my favourite bit of tactics so far this season. Pedro drops from the striker position into the midfield to make a third midfielder with the two pivot midfielders, this ends up confusing Pedro's markers, disorganising the other team's defensive shape, giving Brighton an extra body in midfield, and creating space for the other forwards to get into. Very different from the way de Zerbi used his striker.

The point at Brighton is not that each manager should be a clone of the one before him, the point is that every manager's style of play should fit into the overall vision of the club, despite their individual nuances. So, every Brighton manager is going to be a coach whose philosophy leans heavily towards attacking by having a lot of possession, even if they each have slightly different interpretations of how exactly to carry that out on the pitch. This kind of continuity is what every club should be striving for now, instead of having to overhaul the squad anytime a new manager comes in. The seagulls are flying and I don't see them coming down anytime soon.

Ange Is The Captain Of A Leaky Ship

The problem is not that the ship is leaky. The problem is that the leaks are self-inflicted to a large extent and the captain stands on the deck watching the ship fill up with water and does nothing about the leaks.

Ahoy mateys.

Nothing has changed since we wrote our pre-season analysis of the Tottenham team. The issues are still the same, and it doesn't seem like they are going away anytime soon. The risks they take in possession are as great as ever. They are being punished for it as much as ever. And Ange is as determined to keep playing that way as ever. I am so tired of Ange's stubborn refusal to change his game plan that I will not be writing that much about Tottenham here. If you want to find out what's going on at the club, just read our analysis of Tottenham's defensive issues coming into the season. You can find that essay here.