Following Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Atalanta, Enzo Maresca was bashed by the fans for too much rotation with the starting XI and substations.
Will this be this beginning of a fallout between the manager and the fans?
Following the spirited performances against Barcelona and Arsenal, three underwhelming performances against Leeds United, AFC Bournemouth, and in Bergamo have left fans pondering the future and whether they should keep faith in Maresca.
The Blues sit in 11th place in the Champions Leagu table, and have a bit of a mountain to climb, in order to avoid a playoff round in February.
Too Much Rotation
One of the main concerns for Chelsea, is the constant tinkering with their back four and midfield?
You can sort of see what Maresca is trying to do, which is to avoid as many injuries as possible, but he is not doing it correctly.
Tosin Adarabioyo, who has been horribly out of form, is ahead of Josh Acheampong, who started last night’s game at right-back?
You could understand that Wesley Fofana’s eye injury forced him to do this, but replace him with the right option.
Enzo Fernandez who has played every game for Chelsea looked jaded in last nights zame, but to replace him with Malo Gusto and not Estêvão Wilian, makes no sense at all.
It was almost like he didn’t care about this game.
Both changes were because Trev and Enzo, they are playing every minute of every game. They are both not 100%. Trev was on a yellow card. This is the reason why we changed them.
Maresca: football.london
Try Learning From Others
Teams who perform well in competitions, do not tinker with their starting XI. Whenever they make changes, they make sure that it’s that it’s the player who knows that position.
Take Arsenal as an example. If William Saliba and Gabriel Maghalaes are out, Christhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié are perfectly capable replacements.
Riccardo Califiori can also play there if needed.
With Chelsea, it’s almost like Maresca panics midway through the game, and doesn’t know how to take control of it?
For a team that wants to compete in all competitions, that is a huge concern.
Despite facing Cardiff City in the EFL Cup Quarter Final, Everton, Newcastle United, AFC Bournemouth, and Aston Villa are the next five games.
These may be the fixtures that could decide the fate of Chelsea’s season.
To keep the fans on board, Maresca will need to prove that the rotations with his squad will work by winning those games.
What are your thoughts?
Is Maresca out of his depth by rotating too much at Chelsea?
Let us know, on World In Sport
