Enzo Maresca’s thinking for why Estevao Willian doesn’t start – it’s all to do with a red card | OneFootball

Chelsea’s team news for this afternoon’s game against Everton is out, and there are some interesting decision sin there from Enzo Maresca.

Frustrated fans want more Estevao starts

Estevao fires in. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

We wouldn’t say we were surprised by his selection – it’s largely gone along with what we would have expected given this is a team without Liam Delap and Moises Caicedo but with Cole Palmer now back in the mix and fit to start his first Premier League game since August.

However there are a lot of fans puzzled and annoyed by Estevao Willian’s absence. We can’t say we’re surprised at all by it. He looked great coming off the bench in games earlier this season, but his starts in the first team have seen him struggle a little more, and he’s not lasted beyond half time in a couple of them.

When results go badly, managers are always going to lean on work rate and experience. That’s just what you get from Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto out wide, rather than the talented but raw teen Estevao.

We’re sure we will see him later in the game today, whether we’re winning or not. Palmer is not going to last 90, and his floating free role can be taken up by the Brazilian talent. Having both of them on the field would really test our defence, especially without Moises Caicedo in the team.

In other news…

You can see our full team from the game in the post here, where we look at Maresca’s decisions through the whole team. 

Enzo Maresca has been pretty relaxed in press conference despite our bad recent results – that’s clearly his attitude to the whole slump we’re in now, and it’s going to be interesting to see if it gets the desired response from the players.