Chelsea’s attacking talents must accept that they will not start every match, as head coach Enzo Maresca has underlined that rotation is essential to his team’s function.
In Saturday’s FA Cup victory over Morecambe, all five goals were scored by players who had not been regular Premier League starters as Maresca changed his squad against the League Two strugglers.
Tosin Adarabioyo scored twice from outside the box, and Christopher Nkunku scored his 13th goal of the season across all competitions.
Joao Felix also scored twice in the second half, the second of which was a fantastic curling attempt from range, but despite having 20 goals between them, his and Nkunku’s league beginnings have been inconsistent.
Both players like to play as number 10, but with Cole Palmer practically untouchable at that position, they have been either moved elsewhere or confined to bench appearances. “The only thing I’ve said since the start is it’s difficult to play games with so many attacking players,” Maresca reported. “If Joao plays, Cole does not play, or if Joao plays, he has to play alongside Cole but it depends on the game.
“For me, it’s simple; we have three players that are more or less comparable, Joao, Cole, and Christo. Joao has played various games, as has Christo; they both faced Ipswich (2-0 defeat), Southampton (5-1 win), and Leicester (2-1 win).
“In some games we can play with them all together but not every game.” Palmer has 13 goals in all competitions and has been perhaps the league’s best player in the first half of the season.
He was an unused substitute on Saturday, with Levi Colwill, Enzo Fernandez, and Nicolas Jackson, as Maresca continued his philosophy of high rotation in cup tournaments.
That meant starts for 18-year-old striker Marc Guiu, who is the Conference League’s top scorer but has yet to score in the league after two outings, and academy graduate Tyrique George, who made his fourth start.
Renato Veiga and goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen also arrived, and Maresca intimated that his players understand that having a huge roster means that there would be inevitable changes between competitions.
The Blues meet Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, trying to snap a four-game losing streak.
“It was the idea (to leave players out),” he said. “Since we’ve started we’ve tried to share minutes. The idea was to give them a rest and hopefully they can be ready for Tuesday’s game.”The desire is good, they show that they want to play all the games.
But also there are players that are not getting many minutes in the Premier League. The good thing is they show that they want to play always.”