Athletic: Chelsea “not good enough” and Maresca denials “unconvincing” | OneFootball

The Athletic dropped a piece today comparing the fortunes of Chelsea and Liverpool on the day they face off in the Premier League.

Disappointing Chelsea “not good enough” in opening stages

Enzo Maresca with Alejandro Garnacho. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

The Blues and the Reds are in different places right now – but there are some things in common. Simon Johnson provided the answers to questions about Enzo Maresca’s side, and he didn’t hold back in some of this thoughts.

“[The start to the season has been] a disappointment, albeit there are mitigating factors. Chelsea have yet to play well for a full 90 minutes… two league wins out of six is not good enough.”

It’s hard to disagree with that. But what does Johnson make of Maresca’s adaptation to the tough realities of rotating for Champions League and Premier League games?

Enzo Maresca “learning to cope” with Champions League

“Maresca is learning to cope with the harder schedule, just like his players… The 2-2 draw with Brentford last month raised alarm bells as he named key starters Reece James, Marc Cucurella and Palmer on the bench that day,” Johnson wrote.

“The Italian ended up bringing on all three (and had made four substitutions by the 56th minute) with Chelsea a goal down. He denied, unconvincingly, afterwards that his team selection had anything to do with the trip to Bayern Munich four days later.”

It’s been much the same since – Maresca doesn’t have the options to rotate much, and he’s constantly juggling the priorities of winning in the league, winning in the Champions League, and not burning players out.

It’s not an enviable position, and the only good news is that multiple players are expected back after the international break, while others will get a little break too.

Points today would be a huge bonus.