Frank Leboeuf criticised Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca’s team selection after the Blues dropped two valuable Champions League points following a disappointing 2-2 draw against Qarabag last night.
The Italian, with the long-distance travel and a game this weekend against Wolves in mind, heavily rotated his team and handed opportunities to several fringe members of his squad.
Summer recruit Jorrel Hato was handed a rare opportunity from the start but the former Ajax defender showed signs of ring rust and was responsible for the two goals his side conceded.
‘I feel sorry for young Hato and the fact he made two mistakes that allowed Qarabag to score but it wasn’t only about that,’ former Chelsea centre-half Leboeuf told ESPN FC.
He added: ‘I want to think about Hato and I know how traumatic it can be to have a game like that. I really hope that guy is going to step up and his teammates will cheer him up to make sure he can have a great career. I
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‘t’s never good to start like that and people have seen that. You want to find some comfort from everybody. He has mine because he can make mistakes and he has to carry on. That was an off night.
‘It wasn’t a good game away from home for the so call best club in the world but really I was very disappointed by the team today.’
Having embarked on a 2,500 mile journey to Azerbaijan it was, perhaps, understandable that Maresca made so many changes, particularly given side are back in action on Saturday in the 20.00 kick-off.
Leboeuf, however, believes it was the manager’s duty to select a team that would virtually have guaranteed three points and the former France international admitted Chelsea got what they deserved for not treating the opposition seriously enough.
He said: ‘It’s nice to rotate, it’s nice to give some rest to some players but you have to be able to make sure you can win in Azerbaijan.
‘They played well for the first 10 or 15 minutes, they scored a good goal from Estevao. But after that I didn’t see the difference between the two teams so I feel frustrated.
‘Let’s say that the players weren’t convinced it was an important game to play and draw would be enough to get through but I wasn’t convinced by anything today.’
Maresca said the Club World Cup is affecting his team selections after his side lost further ground in the race to secure a top eight place and avoid the need to appear in a play-off round.
‘The intention was to rest Moises (Caicedo), Enzo (Fernandez), Malo (Gusto) and more players,’ he said.
‘They are not able to play every three days. The Club World Cup affected a lot. We tried to rotate. When we win, nobody mentions that but when we don’t, everyone is focused on that.’
The final of the summer tournament in the United States, which saw Chelsea beat Paris St Germain 3-0, was played only five weeks before the start of the new Premier League season.
‘The (selection) is always because we think the plan with the players is the correct one,’ said Maresca.
‘Today, we started the right way, scored the goal but then we conceded two, the first one when they had 10 players. We can avoid both goals. In their box, we need to be more clinical.’