Maresca's Constant Rotation Leaves Chelsea Spinning.
While The London club didn't entirely destroy their chances of ending up in the top eight of the European competition group stage, they performed a targeted blow on their own chances of strolling directly into the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, achieving a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The Central Problem: A Predictable Lack of Consistency
Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Italy. After apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, and then a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, Chelsea have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.
Although critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see the coach change his lineup incessantly, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his first eleven for big matches is largely set in stone.
“I think in that game, first XI, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that play against Spurs, they played against Barca, they played against Wolves, Arsenal,” he stated. “We had most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for these kind of games. So if you see the several alterations that we did from the previous game, it’s different.”
The Path Forward
For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their final two group games. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Serie A champions, Napoli.
“Victories in both are required, otherwise, we try to play the playoff and then progress to the next round,” remarked Maresca, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.
Side Stories
Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s actually funny because his greatest wish was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he pushed me to take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland revealed how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the top flight.
Readers' Letters
“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a sad state. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a public house that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the ground that they were always going to. Just arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.
“I see that a reader not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again dropped points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the regularity of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.
