Maresca complacency costs Chelsea as awful Blues star ‘beaten up’ by the new Leeds | OneFootball

Complacency cost Enzo Maresca and Chelsea at Elland Road as a much-changed side cowed under the lights just when we thought they might be able to mount a genuine title challenge.

Maresca has shuffled his pack impeccably in recent weeks in a bid to ensure Chelsea can stay the course in multiple competitions this season. Changes to the starting lineup have made little difference to results or performances as the Blues moved second behind Arsenal before confirming themselves as the Gunners’ greatest rivals for the title in their hugely impressive draw with them at Stamford Bridge.

But a night game at Elland Road when midfield lynchpin Moises Caicedo is already a confirmed absentee after his red card against Arsenal is not the time to be making four further changes to the starting XI.

Reece James was rested after his near-perfect display on Sunday owing to what Maresca described as his “complicated” fitness issues as he continues to manage his minutes. But Malo Gusto and Wesley Fofana were also left out – turning what was a very solid back four three days ago into an absurdly shaky one here – along with Pedro Neto, Chelsea’s most consistent forward this season.

As Gary Neville said on commentary, it was “like Maresca hasn’t told them what to expect” as Leeds’ entirely predictable fast start caught the Chelsea players cold. The Blues defenders spent the game giving the ball away, being caught in possession or beaten in the air as the crosses and long throws rained down on their goal.

Jaka Bijol gave Leeds the lead with a brilliant header from a corner having lost marker Liam Delap and Ao Tanaka made it two before half-time with a stunning strike from the edge of the area after innumerable aimless passes from Chelsea between those goals saw Neville eventually lose it on commentary.

“This isn’t football!” he declared, having shouted at Badiashile to “pass it!” after the centre-back quite literally stood still with the ball at his feet for a full seven seconds.

Whether because of that inertia or the Frenchman’s pathetic display in general he was taken off at the break, but it could and – as it turned out – should have been Tosin hooked after his horrible pass led to Tanaka’s goal before he compounded things with an even worse error to ensure Leeds secured a fully deserved victory.

Pedro Neto had given Chelsea hope with a smart finish at the back post after some fine work from Jamie Gittens to beat his man and deliver from the opposite flank. And Cole Palmer could easily have drawn Maresca’s side level on his comeback having come off the bench but couldn’t quite wrap his foot around Alejandro Garnacho’s pull-back.

Chelsea were by no means battering the Leeds door down but did feel like the likely next scorers, maybe more because of the Premier League hierarchy than anything else, before Tosin dawdled ridiculously in his box as Noah Okafor closed him down to gift Dominic Calvert-Lewin a tap-in that even he couldn’t contrive to miss.

And that moment speaks to a change which has worked in staggering style for Daniel Farke and Leeds. After putting the willies up Manchester City after switching to 3-5-2 in the second half on Saturday, they crushed Chelsea with that system here.

“They’ve beaten Chelsea up,” Neville said of starting strikers Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha, and Okafor, who created that third goal with the sort of pressure they all put the Chelsea backline on throughout the game.

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They were brilliant, the centre-backs were solid, Gabriel Gudmundsson turned future Ballon d’Or winner Estevao into a petty child, Ethan Ampadu was the best midfielder on the pitch against his boyhood club and Anton Stach wasn’t far behind him.

It’s a victory which suggests Leeds’ move above the relegation zone won’t be temporary and Farke – who many thought was this game away from the sack – deserves huge credit, for motivating his players to put in such a wonderful performance, but more for working out a style and system which looks likely to pay dividends for the rest of the campaign as it suits his players perfectly.

It’s a loss which suggests a title tilt is beyond Chelsea. They shrank pathetically. And while it can and will be brushed off as a learning curve for his young squad by Maresca, he should really be looking at himself in the mirror after failing to treat a game against Leeds at Elland Road with the respect it deserves.