Enzo Maresca defends selection decisions in Chelsea’s draw with Brentford | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca defended his decision not to start several of his key players in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Brentford.

The Blues were denied victory by Fabio Carvalho’s late equaliser at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Cole Palmer, Reece James, and Marc Cucurella were among the players who did not start, but Maresca denied he was thinking about the Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Wednesday when it came to his team selection.

He also revealed Joao Pedro was “not 100% fit” to play, and pointed to him starting as an example of his full focus being on the game with Brentford.

“Joao Pedro, before the game, told me that he was not fit 100% and it’s better he doesn’t play,” Maresca said. “So if I was thinking about Bayern Munich, Joao was on the bench.

“But Joao played because the focus was about tonight. But for sure when you have so many games, you have to plan a different option. For instance, Reece James played two games with the international team.

“Our focus was about tonight and the reason why is because if this season we play Champions League, it’s because we did well in the Premier League, and if we want to play again Champions League next season, we need to do well in the Premier League.

“Cole was not fit to play from the start. It’s from the medical staff, it’s from the player. When we take a decision with an injured player, it’s always from all of us.

“So when Cole is fit, we are very, very happy.

“20 minutes, half an hour, it’s a bit different. But we said many times that with Cole in the team, we are a much, much better team.”

Wesley Fofana, Jorrel Hato and Facundo Buonanotte, meanwhile, were all taken off at half-time, but Maresca insists that was pre-planned.

“No, we planned 45 minutes for Wes because it was a long time out,” he said.

“We planned not all the game for Jarrel because we said already many times, when you arrive from another country you need time to adapt.

“Facundo joined us two weeks ago, physically he is also not 100%.

“But we needed to manage different situations, like Estevão that was out. Joao Pedro also was not 100% but he did the effort to play for part of the game. And as I said, probably in the second half we were much better.”

Striker Marc Guiu did not make the squad at all, despite being recalled from his loan spell at Sunderland after just three games.

“Marc is a striker we know from last year, he spent all season with us,” Maresca explained.

“But in this moment, one of them was out from the squad. I thought also to give Ty (Tyrique George) a little bit more confidence because he’s doing well. Against Fulham, he did quite well.

“Tonight, again, when he was inside he was OK. But the season is so long that for sure Marc is going to find space.”