“The reason…” – Maresca explains half time change for second game in a row | OneFootball

Chelsea were beaten by Leeds tonight, and there was a lot for Enzo Maresca to cover in his post match press conference.

He was asked why he had taken off Estevao Willian, who looked frustrated in the first half and picked up a silly yellow for a frustrated lash out at an opposition player.

Maresca explains Estevao’s sub

Enzo Maresca subs off Estevao. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

“I think the feeling with Estevao was a little bit, ‘welcome to Premier League, welcome to Leeds’. The impact for him must have been probably a big, big impact for him,” Maresca explained with a rueful chuckle.

“The reason why we changed him is because he was already a yellow card. Sometimes when you are 18, you struggle to manage emotion, so it was better to change him and to avoid any red card.

Estevao had really struggled to get into the game in the first half, and the sub could have been for performance just as much as the yellow. Dropping him into an intense night game at Elland Road in midweek was not a smart move.

It’s funny that all those positive cameos off the bench in the last few months had people demanding he start games – today made it two games in a row where he was taken off at half time. He’s a star in the making, but for our money still should be used as a second half sub for a little while later.

In other news…

Maresca wasn’t pulling any punches on the overall performance either, calmly admitting that Leeds were better in “every aspect” of the game and saying there was “nothing” Chelsea could take from the game.

Gary Neville was on Sky commentary duties for the game, and he slammed Chelsea as not good enough in three areas of the team, as well as criticising their general effort.