‘Makes no sense’ – Liverpool legend slams Enzo Maresca decision after Chelsea defeat

Liverpool legend Steve Nicol was dumbfounded by Enzo Maresca’s decision not to start two Chelsea players in their defeat to Leeds United.

The Blues had seemingly strengthened their Premier League credentials by holding leaders Arsenal to a 1-1 draw with ten men at the weekend.

However, Maresca’s side were unable to build on that positive showing, instead suffering a damaging 3-1 defeat at Elland Road on Wednesday night to slip nine points behind the Gunners.

With a jam-packed festive schedule ahead for his side, Maresca opted to make five changes from the draw with Arsenal, with Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Pedro Neto, and Reece James all dropping to the bench as Moises Caicedo also missed out due to suspension.

The Italian has made far and away the most changes to his side of any Premier League manager this season, but Nicol could not understand why the Chelsea boss chose to leave out Neto and James for the tricky away fixture, especially given their form and importance to the side.

‘No team is going to put a run of 12, 13 wins together like City did in the last few years when you keep continually changing the team every time it steps on the field,’ the former Liverpool defender told ESPN.

‘We were talking about the standards Chelsea set against Arsenal, but then they walk on the pitch with changes up front, changes in the middle and changes at the back.

‘How are you expected to keep your standards up when you’re making all these changes? It makes no sense at all.

‘How about you start Reece James and Pedro Neto, and when you see them look as though they are a little bit tired, then you take them off.

‘Do it the other way round – don’t bring them on for the last half and hour when it’s too late and you’re chasing the game.

‘People say we’re old school, but there are a lot of things that used to happen and they worked, but all of a sudden everyone has thrown them out of the window, and this is how we do it now. Well, guess what? The way you’re doing it now, particularly Maresca, it’s not working.’

Given his questionable fitness record in recent years, Maresca has been wary of starting James in too many consecutive games to try and keep the Englishman fit.

James had started back-to-back games against Barcelona and Arsenal prior to Wednesday, but former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley feels Maresca is being overprotective with his captain.

‘I know he’s had a lot of injuries, but not recently,’ Burley said.

‘He looks back to peak fitness, he looks sharp, he looks strong. He was playing in midfield against Arsenal and he was excellent. Really calm, good passing of the ball, and he was on the bench tonight.

‘You have got to put some momentum and a run of results and keep the pressure on. And you’re unlikely to do that if you’re leaving your best players out. Chelsea are not good enough to leave their best players out.’

Speaking after the defeat, Marecsa said he expected a better performance from his side, but admitted it would be ‘impossible’ for him not to make any changes given his side’s busy schedule.

‘Again, because we change players, because we have players that we said many times that for them it’s not possible to play every two, three days,’ he said.

‘And when you change players, also the level drop is the reality, because they are important players for us, but they can be important players for any team. Moi [Caicedo], Reece [James], Wes [Fofana], these kind of players.

‘But we cannot use them every game. It’s impossible, because otherwise they can get injured again and be out for months and months and months.’

Chelsea will hope to get back to winning ways at the weekend when they visit Bournemouth.

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