What sources are saying about “unhappy” Enzo Maresca’s thoughts on his squad | OneFootball

After some damaging results, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca’s job is being talked about as under threat.

No matter how many times the briefings come out that he’s not under pressure, the fact that there are briefings taking place at all tell us all that there is certainly some strain behind the scenes.

But rather than looking just at what the owners and sporting directors think about Maresca and the job he’s doing, we can also look at what Maresca is thinking. FourFourTwo’s piece in the buildup to tonight’s game in the Champions League is particularly interesting.

They claim that “sources say Maresca has been unhappy that his request for a ready-made replacement for Levi Colwill was brushed aside.”

Maresca’s fears already coming true

Trevoh Chalobah celebrates. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

It was the one point of contention we’ve seen out in the open – Maresca saying it was important that Chelsea sign a new defender after his key man did his ACL, then getting nothing in the weeks that followed. Briefings came out that Chelsea were confident with the options they had – but that didn’t really square with what Maresca said.

Clearly he was expecting more, and given we’re going to line up tonight with either a half fit Benoit Badiashile or an out of position Jorrel Hato, he probably had a point.

“Those close to Maresca say he genuinely believes this squad simply isn’t good enough to compete in both the Premier League and Champions League,” they go on to say.

Chelsea need 3 points tonight or bad season turns worse

Just a few weeks into the season, most people would probably agree with that. Certainly the injuries haven’t helped, but we should have been expecting injuries, especially after the Club World Cup and non-existent preseason we had.

A loss to Bayern Munich in the first game of the group stage was acceptable, and probably even expected. But a win at home tonight against Benfica will not be tolerated as easily.