Enzo Maresca Thread

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The Premier League is back – and it’s all about the race for a top-five finish

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6226328/2025/03/31/premier-league-champions-league-projections/

With the Premier League title race and relegation battle seemingly wrapped up before April, you might think there is little peril remaining in the final weeks of 2024-25.

Fear not. Any thrill-seekers need only look as far as the race for Champions League spots, with as many as seven teams still fighting to dine at Europe’s top table next season.

Liverpool, Arsenal, and Nottingham Forest have separated themselves from the remaining pack at the top of the table but based on the latest UEFA coefficient standings, fifth is enough for a place in the 2025-26 Champions League. One more win for any of the five English sides remaining in a European competition this season should confirm that additional spot in the continent’s top tournament.

So, with just five points separating fourth-placed Chelsea and 10th-placed Bournemouth, predicting who might stake a claim to those lucrative spots is as difficult as you would imagine.

Of course, that won’t stop us from trying to predict the final league standings.

To do so, we can turn to Opta’s predicted league table. This table is established by calculating a figure for each team’s attacking and defensive strength based on their results in previous seasons, with the algorithm weighted towards more recent results.

A match between any two sides can be simulated many times to see who wins more often. What the grid below displays is the average of the results of each of these 100,000 simulations.

Manchester City and Newcastle United look to have the strongest probability of making it over the line, with Chelsea predicted to drop two places and settle for a spot in the Europa League next season.

The difficulty of City and Newcastle’s remaining fixtures might have a lot to do with that predicted configuration.

Using Opta’s Power Rankings — a global ranking system containing more than 13,000 clubs rated between zero (lowest) and 100 (highest) — Pep Guardiola’s side have the easiest run-in of any side in the Premier League, with a home fixture against Aston Villa deemed to be the trickiest clash in their final nine games.

While Newcastle have an extra game to squeeze in, their run-in is statistically the sixth-easiest in the league.

Things will rarely go to plan in an increasingly competitive Premier League, so what do the underlying numbers suggest for each team? Let The Athletic’s data-driven take on the remaining teams fighting for those European spots be your guide.

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Manchester City 

Current position: 5th

Predicted position: 4th

In a season of dismay for Manchester City, it would still be impressive for Guardiola’s side to clinch fourth spot before resetting their squad for the next campaign.

Aside from their well-established injury issues, City’s problems with their counter-pressing have been glaringly obvious. They have lacked the requisite intensity to close down their opponent in transitional moments, leaving them vulnerable to the counter-attack.

The numbers reflect this neatly, with a 10-game rolling chart of their direct attacks conceded — as a proxy of counter-attacking play — showing a sharp uptick this season compared with previous campaigns.

City’s inconsistency has been unrecognisable from their typical dead-eyed performances that we have grown accustomed to seeing in recent years. Guardiola’s men last won three Premier League games in a row in October — but they have the chance to change that in the final weeks.

On paper, City have the most straightforward run-in among all Premier League teams, suggesting a gentle jog to fourth spot is the most likely outcome. They even have the wiggle room to finish one position lower but given their volatility, it might not be straightforward.

Remaining fixtures: April 2 — Leicester City (H), April 6 — Manchester United (A), April 12 — Crystal Palace (H), April 19 — Everton (A), April 28 — Aston Villa (H), May 3 — Wolverhampton Wanderers (H), May 10 — Southampton (A), May 18 — Bournemouth (H), May 25 — Fulham (A)

 

Omar Marmoush could help City salvage their season (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

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Newcastle United 

Current position: 6th

Predicted position: 5th

Newcastle are flying high from winning the Carabao Cup, their first major domestic trophy in 70 years, but Eddie Howe’s meticulous personality will guard against complacency.

A return to the Champions League is in reach. Howe likes to play with intensity in and out of possession — a trait that has returned this season after a jaded, injury-hit 2023-24 campaign.

Using statistics from data company Footovision, Newcastle are among the top three Premier League teams for the share of time spent sprinting, both in and out of possession, highlighting how much of their game is predicated on physical output.

A stable, injury-free run would allow Howe to keep that intensity high. If the midfield trio of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton can stay fit and firing, Newcastle could dominate the midfield battle in every game they play.

Throw in the mercurial form of Alexander Isak, and Howe’s men have the quality to return to the European stage.

Remaining fixtures: April 2 — Brentford (H), April 7 — Leicester (A), April 13 — Man Utd (H), April 16 — Palace (H), April 19 — Villa (A), April 26 — Ipswich Town (H), May 3 — Brighton & Hove Albion (A), May 10 — Chelsea (H), May 18 — Arsenal (A), May 25 — Everton (H)

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Chelsea

Current position: 4th

Predicted position: 6th

Chelsea are in danger of ending the season with a whimper.

As shown in the first table of this article, their 1.4 points per game is the worst rate among the top nine teams across the past 10 games, with their latest defeat, against Arsenal, arguably their most toothless performance of the season.

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Chelsea fans have grown frustrated with Enzo Maresca’s approach but they are creating more chances and restricting their opponents, as shown in their rolling expected goals (xG) for and against compared with the previous two seasons.

The frustration is likely to come from how Maresca’s Chelsea can be slow and laboured. Looking at each team’s in-possession approach this season, Chelsea’s high-possession, less direct style is only outdone by Manchester City.

There is no right or wrong way to play football, but excitement has not been guaranteed at Stamford Bridge this season.

A tricky fixture list awaits, particularly in the final four games as Chelsea face Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.

In December, Maresca angered fans when he said Chelsea were not in a title race — but he was proven correct. They are still firmly in a Champions League race, but the numbers suggest they might just fall short there too.

Remaining fixtures: April 3 — Tottenham Hotspur (H), April 6 — Brentford (A), April 13 —  Ipswich (H), April 20 — Fulham (A), April 26 — Everton (H), May 3 — Liverpool (H), May 10 — Newcastle (A), May 18 — Man Utd (H), May 25 — Forest (A)

 

Chelsea surely need Cole Palmer back on form if they are to finish in the top five (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

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Brighton

Current position: 7th

Predicted position: 7th

It is not surprising that Brighton are fighting for European qualification, which is a testament to the work done on the Sussex coast in recent seasons.

Players and managers have come and gone, but their upward trajectory has been remarkable. Reaching the Champions League would propel Brighton into uncharted territory after their Europa League adventure last season, but they remain firmly in the mix. Only one point separates them from fifth place.

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Fabian Hurzeler is spoilt for choice in forward areas, with Joao Pedro, Georginio Rutter, Danny Welbeck, Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh all fighting for limited places. Rotation is required to keep his attacking talent happy, both within and between games.

No manager averages more than Hurzeler’s 4.8 substitutes per game — he is often unafraid to tweak at half-time — and Brighton are one of only two Premier League sides to name a different starting line-up in every game this season (Ipswich Town are the other).

Playing from back to front more directly has made Hurzeler’s side a little less predictable than under their previous boss, Roberto De Zerbi. It might come at the cost of less control, but pace and athleticism are embraced rather than stifled.

The numbers suggest that they might just miss out on a Champions League spot, but if ‘settling’ for the Europa League or Conference League is a disappointment that Brighton fans must face, it shows how far the club has come.

Remaining fixtures: April 2 — Villa (H), April 5 — Palace (A), April 12 — Leicester (H), April 19 — Brentford (A), April 26 — West Ham United (H), May 3 — Newcastle (H), May 10 — Wolves (A), May 18 — Liverpool (H), May 25 — Spurs (A)

 

Champions League football would be a leap into the unknown for Brighton (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

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Aston Villa

Current position: 9th

Predicted position: 8th

While the ever-obsessive Unai Emery is rarely satisfied, a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and semi-finals of the FA Cup must give him some comfort, especially as they are only three points off fifth.

Villa have been less convincing than last season as they balance domestic and European football, but they have regained their mojo since the turn of the year. The January arrivals of Marcus Rashford, Donyell Malen and Marco Asensio have certainly helped, with Emery now having the squad depth to rotate his players across competitions with little drop-off in quality.

 

Marco Asensio has won the Champions League three times – now he is trying to ensure Aston Villa are in it again next season (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)

Rashford’s arrival has changed Villa’s in-possession shape slightly but they already tended to attack with greater verve on the left flank, often with Jacob Ramsey rolling inside while left-back Lucas Digne overlaps on the outside.

Nevertheless, Villa have good coverage across the pitch and like to penetrate through central channels, with only Chelsea (32 per cent) having a higher share of attacking touches in the middle attacking third this season.

Greater solidity in defence and an improved counter-attacking threat have seen Villa get back on track. Opta’s predictions suggest that a second consecutive campaign in the Champions League is unlikely, but let’s not forget that if they make it through to this season’s final in Munich on May 31, another win would give them a backdoor route.

Remaining fixtures: April 2 — Brighton (A), April 5 — Forest (H), April 12 — Southampton (A), April 19 — Newcastle (H), April 28 — Man City (A), May 3 — Fulham (H), May 10 — Bournemouth (A), May 18 — Spurs (H), May 25 — Man Utd (A)

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Bournemouth

Current position: 10th

Predicted position: 9th

With just one win in their last six Premier League games, there has been a notable slide from Bournemouth in recent weeks. However, that should not detract from how Andoni Iraola has crafted one of the most energetic, stubborn sides to play against this season.

Iraola’s direct style is well-established by now, with only Everton having a higher share of passes played long than Bournemouth’s 15 per cent. It might appear scruffy to the untrained eye, but there is method to the madness as Iraola’s side intelligently position themselves to win second balls and hoover up any loose balls high up the pitch.

No team across Europe’s top four leagues have won possession in the attacking third more than Bournemouth’s 182 occasions. In an era defined by controlled possession and positional play, Iraola encourages chaos, disruption, and spontaneity.

“The game is for the players. Coaches are just the assistants. Coaches cannot pretend to control the game — luckily for the game,” Iraola told The Athletic in February. “But I try to encourage this creativity, try not to limit touches in training for example, try to encourage them to carry the ball, go one against one, take risks. It’s the easiest way to make a difference.”

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The dream of a Champions League spot has faded after a four-game winless run in the league but Opta’s predicted ninth-placed finish would match a club record. Whatever the outcome, the plaudits that Iraola is receiving are richly deserved.

Remaining fixtures: April 2 — Ipswich (H), April 5 — West Ham (A), April 14 — Fulham (H), April 19 — Palace (A), April 27 — Man Utd (H), May 3 — Arsenal (A), May 10 — Villa (H), May 18 — Man City (A), May 25 — Leicester (H)

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Fulham

Current position: 8th

Predicted position: 10th

Fulham are outsiders for a top-five spot, but the gap between them and Manchester City in fifth is just three points.

Marco Silva’s side have one of the best defensive records in the league. Only Arsenal and Liverpool are conceding fewer non-penalty xG than Fulham (1.1 per 90 minutes).

Going forward, Fulham’s key strength is undoubtedly their wide combinations, particularly down their left flank. Alex Iwobi, Emile Smith Rowe and the marauding Antonee Robinson have been linking up excellently, helping Fulham get into position to deliver back-post crosses, one of their key weapons. Only Manchester City and Liverpool have created more chances from back-post crosses.

If there has been any frustration, it has been Fulham’s failure to turn good performances into victories — they have taken the lead in 21 matches, but only gone on to win 12. In comparison, Bournemouth have also won 12 from four fewer games. Fulham have also failed to win three consecutive games all season, which helps explain why they have flown under the radar.

 

Fulham will have to leapfrog several teams to finish in the top five (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)

Silva’s side require nine more points to beat their club-record 53 points achieved in the 2008-09 season, when they qualified for the Europa League. A tricky end to the season — with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Villa still to play — means a top-five place will be a tough ask.

Remaining fixtures: April 1 — Arsenal (A), April 6 — Liverpool (H), April 14 — Bournemouth (A), April 20 — Chelsea (H), April 26 — Southampton (A), May 3 — Villa (A), May 10 — Everton (H), May 18 — Brentford (A), May 25 — Man City (H)

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

 Maresca speaking to Sky Sports: "The result is an important part because we are close to the end of the season. At the same time we try to achieve the result playing in the way we want to play. At some moments the team was very good, then we don't work every day, we don't like to finish the game like we did in the last five minutes. If we want to become an important team we need to win in a dirty way, ugly way and [I'm] quite happy.

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

This season if we do finish top 4, will very much be like the first season under Lampard.

Got going and were right in amongst it, almost made a cunt of it and then finally got over the line.

Not to be celebrated, big changes will be required this summer to kick on irrespective of if we do or don’t get the CL. Manager included. 

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Enzo Maresca needed Chelsea’s win against Spurs – for his relationship with the fans

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6254067/2025/04/04/Chelsea-tottenham-enzo-maresca/

Enzo Maresca desperately needed Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur to build some rapport again with supporters.

Stamford Bridge has not had a positive atmosphere for a game like this since before Christmas. There is nothing like the visit of Tottenham, even when they are as dire as they have been this season, to galvanise the fanbase to forget all recent gripes about a manager and focus on beating their London rivals instead.

After a bright start to his Chelsea tenure, Maresca’s popularity has waned of late. Writing off his side’s title hopes when they were second in the table in December did not go down well. Suggesting that going out of the FA Cup fourth round to Brighton & Hove Albion was a positive because the team could focus on the Premier League and the UEFA Conference League was even worse.

There have been mixed messages over whether qualifying for the Champions League via a top four/five finish is a target or not, while the quality of football (and results) have deteriorated as well.

Maresca needed this result and felt the impact of the Stamford Bridge crowd.

“My feeling from the bench was that we had the best environment since we started the season with the fans,” he said afterwards. “If they keep being the way they were tonight, we’re going to achieve important things because they push us, they help us. I’m very happy.”

 

Maresca joined Chelsea from Leicester City in June 2024 (GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

Chelsea have lost just once at home to Tottenham in 35 years so Maresca, like many of his predecessors, will have felt the pressure to keep the streak going.

And the Italian showed the strain he was under. This was as animated as Maresca has been on the touchline all season. Every missed opportunity was greeted with an anguished gesture as if bad fortune, rather than bad finishing, was the cause. When Nicolas Jackson fired one shot over the bar before the half-hour mark, Maresca could not hide his frustration.

But then he quickly used that raw emotion for a more positive effect — he turned to Chelsea fans in the East Stand and urged them to make more noise. Maresca has rarely done this, if at all, since taking charge last June. Significantly, they responded to his request.

They could see Maresca had set Chelsea up to try something different. Another cause of the rising angst towards him has been due to the team playing a slow methodical passing game with little attacking intent. The manner of the 1-0 defeat at Arsenal before the international break was the worst exhibition of the lot.

But with Jackson leading the line again after two months out with a hamstring injury, Chelsea no longer looked like they were operating in a straitjacket. Trevoh Chalobah hit a ball over the top within the first minute for Jackson to chase and it could have been an early goal. Soon after, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez struck it deep into Tottenham’s half for Pedro Neto to run on to. This was a deliberate bid to mix it up, something Chelsea fans have been crying out for.

Of the 462 passes Chelsea made, 65 were long. Data from WhoScored shows that the only Premier League game they have played more long balls was against Crystal Palace three months ago (68). In contrast, only 36 of Tottenham’s 458 passes were long balls.

 

Enzo Fernandez celebrates after scoring the winner against Spurs (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

“We are together nine months. I don’t know how long we’re going to be together, but until the day that I will be here, I will tell you that our game plan depends on the opposition,” Maresca said of the change in tactic, when asked by The Athletic. “We don’t do the same game plan. We cannot do the same game plan against Tottenham and against Leicester because they play a completely different way. Tonight we use more balls in behind. It’s because of Tottenham, the way they defend, the way they press.”

And he was proved right. Their opponents struggled with it throughout and in the end, the 1-0 defeat, with Enzo Fernandez scoring the winner, flattered Ange Postecoglou’s side. After getting a lot of criticism from supporters for seemingly having only one way of playing, Maresca showed that he is willing to adapt and it can work when he does.

This was also Chelsea’s fifth successive home league victory. It was crucial, lifting them back up to fourth in the Premier League. Their record at Stamford Bridge means only Liverpool (38) and Arsenal (34) have accumulated more points at home this season than Chelsea’s 31. Maresca has sparked a turnaround in this department, given they ranked 10th in January. However, it has coincided with a decline in their away results — their last league triumph was at Tottenham in December.

It would be premature to say Maresca has become a fan favourite again. It has become the norm for Tottenham to soothe Chelsea’s problems. Maresca’s approval ratings will still depend on where Chelsea finish in the standings and if he can win the Conference League.

No matter the quality of the fixture, beating Tottenham again has done him and Chelsea some good. Now he is tasked with keeping that good feeling alive.

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Chelsea’s Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana undergo scans on muscular injuries – Enzo Maresca

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6254873/2025/04/04/Chelsea-injury-news-fofana-lavia/

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has said Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana have had scans on muscular injuries and is awaiting news on a timescale for their absences.

Lavia and Fofana missed Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday with the issues and have already been ruled out of Sunday’s Premier League fixture at Brentford.

Both players had only just returned from a spell on the sidelines. 24-year-old Fofana played twice before the international break after being ruled out for three months with a hamstring strain, while Lavia, 21, made his comeback after two months out from a muscular injury a few weeks ago as a late substitute against Arsenal.

Maresca admits Fofana is looking like the more serious of the two and said: “We don’t know yet (how long they will be out). We are waiting for the test results for both. Romeo is looking a better injury compared to Wes in terms of he can be back earlier than Wes.”

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Lavia has yet to complete 90 minutes for Chelsea since he joined from Southampton for an initial £53million in 2023. He made just one appearance, lasting 32 minutes, in 2023-24 due to a variety of injuries and has played only 13 times in this campaign.

When asked if Lavia’s lack of game time is becoming an increasing concern, Maresca added: “If you compare Romeo’s games this season to last, he has already improved. The target with Romeo is just to keep him fit as much as we can and next season to play more games than this season.

“We are trying to do the same with Reece James (who has played just 15 times under Maresca due to injury). Reece was on the bench against Tottenham and he is one of our best players. Why was he on the bench? It is because we try to take care of him.

“We know in this moment he cannot play every three days but hopefully soon he can start to play every three days. But the main target with him, Romeo and Wes is to keep them fit because we know how important they are for us.”

[DDA 9,924]

 

 

[Vesper 30,083]

Chelsea’s top Premier League scorer in 2025 is left-back Marc Cucurella. That is a problem

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6259252/2025/04/07/chelseas-top-scorer-in-the-premier-league-in-2025-is-left-back-marc-cucurella/

How long will the inquest into Chelsea’s latest Premier League slip-up against Brentford run before someone asks the big question: why did Enzo Maresca wait until the 77th minute to bring on his top Premier League goalscorer of 2025?

No, not Cole Palmer, introduced for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall just shy of the hour mark.

Not Pedro Neto, brought on for Noni Madueke at the same time.

Definitely not Nicolas Jackson, who made only his second Premier League appearance after a two-month injury layoff when he replaced Christopher Nkunku at half-time.

The correct answer is, of course, Marc Cucurella. The roving left-back represented Maresca’s last attacking roll of the dice in the 0-0 draw when he came on for Reece James with 13 minutes left.

Given that Chelsea have played 12 Premier League games in 2025, the Spaniard’s three goals since the turn of the year should be nowhere near enough to distinguish him as the most consistent attacking match-winner in the squad over that span, yet they are.

Palmer has found the net only twice in 2025, the latest on January 14. His struggles have understandably garnered the most headlines but Chelsea’s attacking problems are far bigger.

Madueke also has two Premier League goals to his name since the beginning of January, but none since tapping into an empty net in the third minute against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on January 25 (largely because of a significant injury absence).

Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez are the only two other players in Maresca’s squad who have scored more than once since the turn of the year.

Jackson’s failure to pass that threshold makes sense in light of his injury absence, though his scoring drought already stood at eight Premier League matches before his hamstring gave way in early February.

 

Jackson failed to score against Brentford (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The inability of Jadon Sancho (goalless since December 😎 and Christopher Nkunku (one league goal in 2025) to clear such a low bar is harder to justify, but easy to explain when observing them on the pitch.

Sancho, in fairness, has at least responded to the repeated urging of his team-mates and Maresca by trying to shoot more often in recent weeks.

The problem is that on the relatively rare occasions when he manages to overcome his lack of explosive speed or overwhelming strength to create an advantage against his defender with skill, his attempts at goal lack conviction. At the Gtech Stadium, his only effort in the second half trickled well wide of Mark Flekken’s post.

What more is there to say about Nkunku? Maresca’s post-match insistence that the Frenchman’s struggles are not down to a lack of effort felt as feeble and unconvincing as the sum of his contribution over 45 listless first-half minutes.

Everyone knows that Nkunku is not a natural No 9, but his apparent limitations in recent months go well beyond that. Can he press? Can he make runs? Can he protect the ball from any level of physical pressure? Can he combine with others?

Against Brentford, as for much of this season, the answer to all of the above was no, and the Frenchman’s limitations — whether due to a lack of effort or ability — caused visible frustration among his team-mates.

Nkunku has always been an unusual footballer: not a true striker, winger or No 10, but a hybrid connector who does his best work somewhere in between.

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Last season’s pre-season injury that deprived him of the opportunity to become the hub of Mauricio Pochettino’s team will always be a sliding-doors moment, but it could not be clearer that his best position is away from Chelsea — and that in the meantime, Maresca cannot count on him to be a helpful force.

That would be a significant problem for Chelsea even if their other attackers were producing in line with expectations, but as things stand Nkunku’s frequent disappearing acts form only part of a broader crisis of production across Maresca’s front line.

Goals from Fernandez or Cucurella arriving late in the opposition box cannot save them forever, and did not against Brentford. Maresca’s response after the Brentford draw was to point out the fact that Chelsea are behind only Liverpool in expected goals (xG) this season.

Their average xG of 1.7 in their 12 league matches in 2025 is only a marginal dip on their average of 1.9 xG per game this season, and against Brentford they had the most shot attempts (21) without scoring in a Premier League away game since December 2017 against Everton at Goodison Park.

There is plenty of reason to believe that Chelsea’s numbers will rebound in a healthier direction now that Jackson and Madueke are fit enough to play around Palmer, and to make sure that Nkunku plays less.

 

Maresca and Palmer after their draw with Brentford (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

But they have only seven Premier League matches remaining, the final four of which are against Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. That is a small and perilous enough sample size to fear a continuation of this collective attacking slump.

If it continues, there will be plenty among the match-going Chelsea support who will lay the blame directly at the feet of Maresca and his insistence on patient, possession-focused football. Many of them could be heard chanting, “Attack, attack, attack” in the first half against Brentford and greeting a Madueke shot in the 34th minute with a sarcastic chorus of “We’ve had a shot”.

Even more consequentially, Chelsea’s chronic lack of attacking punch in recent weeks belies the reality that their margin for error in the race for Champions League qualification is exhausted. Only time will tell if being held to a goalless draw by Brentford will be regarded as a disastrous point, but there is no world in which it is an encouraging one.

Maresca will not care in the slightest who gets the goals in his team’s final seven Premier League games, as long as they arrive with frequency and volume. But if Cucurella is still Chelsea’s top league goalscorer of 2025 come the end of May, the club is highly unlikely to be returning to Europe’s elite club competition next season.

[Vesper 30,083]

Christopher Nkunku’s Chelsea ‘struggles’ not due to lack of effort – Enzo Maresca

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6259050/2025/04/06/christopher-nkunku-Chelsea/

Enzo Maresca has insisted that Christopher Nkunku’s struggles at Chelsea are not due to a lack of effort.

Maresca selected Nkunku to play as a No 9 in Sunday’s goalless draw at Brentford, but the Frenchman failed to impact the game before being substituted for Nicolas Jackson at half-time.

Nkunku is widely expect to depart Chelsea at the end of the season in search of more regular game time, but the club’s head coach does not believe his struggles are down to a lack of effort.

“I don’t think it’s a lack of effort because at the end I can see Christo every day and he’s working well,” Maresca said after the match.

“Sometimes probably he wants to give more during a game and he struggles a little bit, but for sure I don’t think it’s a lack of effort.”

Maresca also said it was unfair Premier League required Chelsea to play Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday and Brentford three days later due to a lack of recovery time.

Chelsea lined up against Brentford with Cole Palmer, Jackson, Marc Cucurella and Levi Colwill all on bench after all four played big minutes in a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Spurs at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, 24 hours after Brentford lost 2-1 against Newcastle United.

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Enzo Maresca made a bold team selection against Brentford and it failed to pay off. The Athletic's Liam Twomey analyses the action

Asked if he felt the scheduling was unfair, Maresca replied: “I think so, especially at this stage of the season, but we tried to adapt.

“We said many times that when it’s a transition game, it’s demanding, physically demanding. So Tottenham was more transition than compared to (this game), for instance. But at this stage I think 24 hours make the difference (in terms of recovery).

“The reason why first half we started in one way and the second half we finished in the other way is because of that. And probably if we decided to start the first half in the way we finish, probably after half an hour, 45 minutes, the team was not physically good enough to finish the game. So we tried to find a solution.”

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

Nkunku’s struggled because 1) he hadn’t been used often enough/in a run of games sooner and 2) because Maresca shunts him out left wing or plays him as an actual number 9.

The guys made a career out of scoring goals playing off a number 9 or as a split striker. Disappointing it hasn’t worked out and likelihood he will leave because the ability and sort of numbers he can deliver are very good and will appeal to teams. I know Werner had good numbers in Germany but Nkunku is certainly a different case to Timo in terms of ability, technical skill and footballing intelligence. Positionally Maresca has no idea on where to use him but surely it is not rocket science, you don’t see Pep playing Haaland/Slot playing Salah/Howe playing Isak/Glasner playing Mateta/Frank playing Mbuemo out of position? If the guys a 10 or a second striker use him as one. Don’t try and be too clever or certainly don’t use him as a left winger where the fullback on the same side inverts a lot meaning he is often the one on the touchline providing the width as opposed to getting in and around the box.

Granted his season has been start stop and when he did get a regular run (eventually), he really struggled but he had scored 13 goals in all competitions before he made more than 2 consecutive starts for us - which was the beginning of February. Why did it take so long to give him consecutive starts? Jackson on the other hand, missed countless big moments costing us m points and nothing happened. Not dropped. Not rested. Then injured and you’re forced to play a guy you wouldn’t trust to start more than twice in a row after scoring 13 goals prior to then when the other striker who has previous for this, couldn’t finish his dinner at times. It is little wonder Nkunku looks so bad he’s probably thrown the towel in or confidence will be shot. Mismanaged 100%. 

Edited April 9 by OneMoSalah

[milka 3,390]

With Roman this loser  would have been fired months ago , he wouldn't even be considered as an option for a coach by Abramovich, and we would have had a top coach like Tuchel and probably since 2022 we would have won the Premier League .
 

[Special Juan 28,090]

I hate this bald cunt but I'm starting to hate the club and what it's become more and more

[Mhsc 1,091]

Feel like Boehly and Egbhali need to have a proper dust up, agree that its not working and find a resolution with either them both selling up or 1 of them selling to the other and a plan to move forward with a new vision.

Something major has to change or it will just be groundhog day, changing manager is not enough.