‘We cannot use them every game’ – Maresca on leaving out James and Fofana in defeat to Leeds | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca says it is “impossible” for some of his Chelsea players to play every two or three days.

The Blues head coach opted to leave Wesley Fofana out of the squad completely for the 3-1 defeat to Leeds, while Reece James was an unused substitute.

Goals from Jaka Bijol, Ao Tanaka and Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired Leeds to victory despite Pedro Neto’s early second-half goal.

But Maresca insists he had no choice but to make changes to his Chelsea team.

“When you play the last two games against Barcelona and Arsenal, you expect a better performance no doubt,” he said after the loss.

“But for many reasons, it’s not going to be possible for every game, because we changed players, because we have many players that we’ve said many times, it is not possible to play every two or three days.

“When you change players, also the level drops. That’s the reality, because they are important players for us but they can be important players for any team. Moi, Reece, Wes, these kind of players.

“But we cannot use them every game. It’s impossible because otherwise they can get injured again and be out for months and months and months.”