“Question the manager” – Rooney urges Chelsea players to confront Maresca over key issue | OneFootball

Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney has advised Chelsea’s senior players to question Enzo Maresca’s current policy of heavily rotating his side.

The Blues boss has made the most frequent changes to his starting line up this season, and it seems like it’s hurting the team from time to time.

Chelsea haven’t made the worst start by any means, but there have been some games where they’ve under-achieved and failed to look like a coherent and settled side.

In recent weeks, Maresca’s men have surprisingly lost at home to Sunderland in the Premier League, while this week they slipped up in the Champions League with a 2-2 draw away to minnows Qarabag.

Wayne Rooney on punditry duty (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Chelsea players need to challenge Enzo Maresca’s rotation policy, says Wayne Rooney

Speaking to BBC Sport, Rooney made it clear he felt that CFC should not be chopping and changing so much, and that the club’s senior players need to confront Maresca about this.

“The players want to play, they want to build relationships,” he said on the Wayne Rooney Show.

“When you keep chopping and changing then the players won’t be happy. I think that will come back to bite them.

“If they are getting results all the time then you can’t question it but if they’re not, there has to be questions asked.

“I think most clubs now have a leadership group and as a group you have to go and question the manager.

“You hear people talk about ‘player power’ but this isn’t player power.

“I’d be concerned if the team kept changing. If i was in that [leadership] group I’d be speaking to my team-mates saying ‘Look, I’m not happy with this’.”

Does Enzo Maresca know his best Chelsea XI?

One problem for Maresca is that he’s so often had to work with such a big squad at Chelsea.

This current Blues ownership have spent vast sums of money on new signings each summer, with a long list of names joining again this year.

According to the Guardian, the ownership are backing Maresca’s current rotation policy, and it’s certainly hard to know how else the Italian tactician could manage things.

Chelsea need to compete in a variety of competitions, but that also means keeping players fresh, and giving opportunities to as many players as possible, both to keep them happy and to work out who most deserves a regular place.