Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has expressed his anger at the crowded fixture calendar ahead of his team’s Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. They will play that final league game just three days before their UEFA Conference League final against Real Betis.
The fixture list has upset Maresca, who drew attention to the physical cost to the players. He questioned why the players’ welfare had not been given the proper consideration in his press conference, stating:
“No-one cares about player welfare. If they are tired, they won’t play. We will manage that. It’s not normal the amount of games they play. It’s not normal or correct. [People say] ‘they earn lots of money’. It’s about health and protecting players.”
The Chelsea boss has also complained about the scheduling inequality between the Blues and Conference League finalists Real Betis. Whereas the Spanish side will have wrapped up their La Liga games by Friday, the Blues are awarded a busy break with Sunday’s match. Maresca said:
“I am not happy, 100%. You cannot allow a team 48 hours more time when they are playing a European final. I don’t know if it’s the Premier League, LaLiga or UEFA [responsibility] but it is not normal to play a team who has had 48 hours more time than you. It is not correct. I don’t know who it is but there should be rules, absolutely yes.”
Enzo Maresca Makes Plans to Rotate Players
Despite the problems, Maresca is working to see Chelsea through this challenging phase by rotating players for both games. He stressed the need to think about the next problem:
“Now the focus is on Sunday’s game. The next one is the most important one and then after that we can focus on Wednesday’s game. I said this the other day, we don’t have enough time to recover the energy so, for sure, we need to rotate and change things. We need to make some changes.”
The Blues’ encounter with Nottingham Forest next is crucial, with qualification to the Champions League at stake. Winning would secure their qualification, but losing or drawing would have them miss the boat, all dependent on what else transpired across other stadiums in England.