Chelsea give ‘full backing’ to contentious Maresca approach that’s key to ‘peak performance’
Chelsea are more than willing to accept ‘the odd stumble’ as they give their ‘full backing’ to the questionable approach of Enzo Maresca this season amid talk he could be sacked for their inconsistent performances this term.
The Blues have been difficult to work out, with excellent displays in victories over Tottenham and Liverpool combining with insipid performances against Sunderland and Brighton to leave them seventh in the Premier League table.
Maresca was criticised following the 2-2 draw with Qarabag in the Champions League on Wednesday, which was the first time an English team had failed to defeat the Azerbaijani side in their history.
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The seven changes the Italian coach made to his starting lineup for that clash made it a whopping 85 in total across their 16 games this season.
It’s been suggested Maresca should avoid so many switches in a bid to extract more consistent performances from his side, but the Daily Mail claim the Blues hierarchy, including co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, both of whom are engaging in constant conversations with Maresca, have given their ‘full backing’ to the rotation policy.
‘It is a Chelsea-wide approach and one on which they are fully aligned and consider necessary as they aim to compete in four competitions’, with the report claiming that the Chelsea chiefs are ‘impressed’ with Maresca’s rotation and believe it will be crucial to ‘extract peak performances out of their stars over the course of a long campaign’.
The report adds:
‘They are not panicking. They are not disappointed in Maresca’s decision-making. They are not suddenly questioning whether they should rip up their rotation policy because of one unfortunate night, and nor should they do something so knee-jerk. Rather, they remain confident that they can reap the rewards of their strategy once the season is further along.
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On the importance of rotation and Maresca’s use of their deep squad, the report continues:
‘It is not only a requirement for player health and injury prevention, but with the aim of extracting peak performances out of their stars over the course of a long campaign which could see Chelsea compete in 65-plus matches. Internally, Maresca’s handling of James, the club captain who can now appear in three games a week if required, has been appreciated.’
Chelsea host managerless Wolves on Saturday night and could head into the international break in second place in the Premier League should (a lot of) results go their way this weekend.
