Chelsea are now joint second in the Premier League and are the division’s top scorers, with a third of the season already played. Any lingering doubts about whether this team are for real have faded, and that means a huge amount of well deserved praise coming Enzo Maresca’s way.
ESPN pundit Nedum Onuoha is among those now ready to give the Italian coach his dues. He pointed to the way that Maresca has dealt with his squad as something he deserves praise for. Before the season started there was a lot of (very valid) concern about how the coach would keep so many players happy.
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Enzo Maresca congratulates his players. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
But Maresca’s decision to use an entirely different team in the Conference League (helped by the fact that the standard is just so low that he can get away with it) has meant he can keep 22 players a week happy, and even the remainder get a sub appearance here and there.
“What I also find interesting, is that at the beginning of the season it was said to be a problem that they have so many players” Onuoha said.
“But now at this point in the season, with them competing in the Conference League too, it is almost a strength of theirs. The strength in depth is good as long as the manager is using them well and keeping everybody happy.”
Enzo Maresca in his press conference after Chelsea win over Panathinaikos.
Enzo Maresca in his press conference after Chelsea win over Panathinaikos.
Maresca’s challenges for next season
What’s interesting is what comes next season, assuming Chelsea are back in the Champions League. In that case, Maresca will have to play stronger teams in midweek, and be a little more clever in his rotation than just changing ten or eleven players at a time.
Given how well he’s deal with challenges this season, and given he will have two transfer windows before then to tweak his squad, we’re sure he will cope just fine.