Enzo Maresca’s decision in Chelsea loss vs Atalanta shows he has not learnt from his mistake | OneFootball

Chelsea suffered a crushing 2-1 loss against Atalanta, continuing their poor recent run of form (D2, L2).

Chelsea took the lead against the run of play but threw the game away lackadaisically, leaving themselves in 11th place in the Champions League table.

The Blues look like a shadow of the team that beat Barcelona and pushed Arsenal to the brink with only ten men weeks ago.

Chelsea are lethargic, creatively bankrupt, and defensively suspicious. Enzo Maresca’s tactical set-up also has its faults.

However, the Blues’ biggest problem might be Maresca’s inability to learn from his mistakes.

The Italian tactician recently admitted that he made a mistake by playing Tosin Adarabioyo ahead of Josh Acheampong versus Leeds United.

Thinking Leeds would play a lot of long balls, Maresca opted for Adarabioyo, but he gave away a goal and had a dodgy performance. It is a recurring theme.

Adarabioyo is enduring a massive downturn in form and has been prone to mistakes. Ideally, he should be on the bench.

Unfortunately, Maresca failed to learn from his mistake and summoned Adarabioyo when Wesley Fofana went down against Atalanta.

Maresca could have shifted Acheampong to centre-back, his natural position, moved Malo Gusto to right-back and brought on Andrey Santos to shore up the midfield.

Instead, he brought on Adarabioyo, who gave away the needless foul that eventually led to Atalanta’s winner.

Maresca needs to understand that Adarabioyo is currently a liability for Chelsea on the field.

This is not the kind of bad form the player can play through. He needs to be dropped to avoid costing the West Londoners more points.

Maresca needs to stick with the first-choice pairing of Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana. The Blues look miles better with those two starting.

Acheampong should be directly behind the duo in the pecking order.

Adarabioyo should be out of the first team picture for some weeks. Benoit Badiashile can deputise when needed.