Athletic writer claims Maresca decisions show he doesn't "trust" his squad players

Yesterday at 11:30 AM

As we entered this busy period of the season, we expected the fact that Chelsea have been able to play an almost separate A team and a B team though the first few months of the campaign to really start to benefit us.

We thought other teams would tire, while we had fresher first teamers, as well as quality depth on the bench which has been kept in reserve and tuned up to match fitness by regular run outs against lesser opposition in the Conference League.

Instead, we've had our first big stumble of the season – a tired draw at Goodison Park followed by a home collapse from a winning position against Fulham. Rather than ramping up the rotation and using his depth off the bench in games, manager Enzo Maresca has stuck with the same side and has made just 4 changes from the last 15 available.

It's a bizarre strategic decision we've already questioned – but why has it happened? Liam Twomey of the Athletic has some suspicions.

Maresca shows lack of trust in squad players with sub decisions

In his piece for the Athletic today, the writer speculates that there is a lack of trust from the coach in his players. He notes that two of our 6 worst performances of the season in terms of xG (expected goals) have come in these last two games. We've run out of steam, but with a host of attacking options on the bench, Maresca chose not to roll the dice.

After the game, the coach said he thought he guys out there were doing well, and he didn't want to make change for change's sake. But Twomey sees it differently:

"[The lack of subs] was the continuation of an emerging trend. [Maresca's]… actions in recent weeks have been those of a coach who does not fully trust the depth of his squad in tight moments of the matches that matter."

It's hard to disagree with that theory – it's the only way to explain a puzzling reluctance to use his bench.