Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol was scathing in his assessment of Chelsea’s shortcomings, insisting the focus should now be firmly on the players tasked with controlling games. Speaking on ESPN, he dismissed the idea that Chelsea’s inconsistency can still be blamed on youth: “I hate this line about Chelsea being young,” Nicol said. “Sanchez is 27, Cucurella is 28, you have two central midfielders who are 24, but they have as much experience as anybody. Reece James is 26, so I’m past the young thing. At the end of the day, particularly Enzo Fernandez and Moises (Caicedo) in the middle of the park, it all starts with them.”
Nicol argued that Chelsea’s problems become most apparent once they have taken the lead, pointing to a lack of authority and game management from the midfield pairing. He believes Maresca must now be far more demanding of them when the team is ahead and under pressure. “Now, I do believe they have problems at centre-back and I think that doesn’t help,” he added. “But the guts of the team are those two, and, in my opinion, those are the two who should be sorting things around them and behind them when they are ahead and stopping the opposition from playing and then getting the result. You play your football, you get ahead but then you have to be smart. And I’m sorry, these two guys have had enough experience. World Club champions, they’ve won a European title. How much experience do you need?”
“I think Maresca has to get a hold of the two of them and speak to them and make sure that when they are ahead and they are trying to see the game out, that they do certain things at certain times of the game. You can’t just keep playing, keep playing, keep playing, then lose a goal and just keep playing. No, sometimes you just have to do the dirty stuff and make sure you get over the line, and those two guys for me is where this starts.’”
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