Enzo Maresca has explained what Liam Delap did inside the away dressing room after Chelsea’s win against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup.
The Blues are into the Carabao Cup quarter-final, where they will face Cardiff City, after securing a dramatic 4-3 victory away to Wolves on Wednesday night. Even so, Liam Delap stole the headlines because he was sent off during his return to action.
Delap, who hadn’t played since August because of a hamstring injury, came on for the final half an hour against Wolves. However, he lasted just 25 minutes on the pitch because of two foolish bookings. He received his first yellow card for pushing Yerson Mosquera in an off-the-ball incident and then picked up a second booking for an aggressive aerial barge into Emmanuel Agbadou.
Delap’s disciplinary record was pretty poor at Ipswich Town during the 2024-25 season, picking up many yellow cards even if he wasn’t actually ever sent off.
Enzo Maresca after Liam Delap is sent off during Chelsea against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup.
Photo by DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images
Liam Delap apologised to Chelsea teammates in the dressing room
Speaking on Friday morning, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca shared that Delap apologised to his Blues teammates for his red card against Wolves.
Maresca said via Football.London: “Straight after the game in the changing room, he apologised to everyone.”
He also added: “I don’t need to speak with Liam. I spoke with him but he knows everything. He is aware of the situation. He knows he made the mistake. Full stop, no more than that… I know Liam will be a fantastic player for us, but there are some things he can improve.”
Chelsea striker Liam Delap inspecting the pitch before facing Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup.
Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images
While we don’t want Delap to lose his aggressive streak on the football pitch, it’s quite clear that the centre-forward needs to be more streetwise.
Unsurprisingly, Chelsea supporters were fuming with Delap following his dismissal against Wolves. As a result, the English frontman misses this weekend’s important trip to rivals Tottenham in the Premier League.
It feels like the door is open for the 22-year-old striker to make himself a key part of Maresca’s team. Like the Chelsea manager says, he’s still got many areas to improve on, especially his discipline.