All eyes were on Enzo Maresca at the end of Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United for some of the decisions he made during the game.
The boss was dealt the worst possible hand to start the game when goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was sent off within the first five minutes at Old Trafford.
It was Maresca’s knee-jerk reaction to this refereeing call that saw plenty of eyebrows raised. He subbed off both Estevao Willian and Pedro Neto, essentially nullifying any threat they had on the counter attack.
- READ MORE: How Pedro Neto reacted to being subbed off after Robert Sanchez red card vs Manchester United
His problems were only added to when Cole Palmer was forced off injured moments later, and the boss stated after the game that he was looking to set up his 10 men to nullify the threat United were bringing to the game.
Enzo Maresca follows worrying Mauricio Pochettino trend during Chelsea defeat to Man United
He said to Football London: “The reason why we changed Pedro [Neto] and Estevao [Willian] was because they attack with the five players always, and we defend with the four, and we can defend with the four when we are 11 vs 11, but 11 against them, I think we need to defend on the width, so we decided to go with the back five, this is the reason why.”
Chelsea fans will point to just how poor United have been this season, and question whether even with 10 men they needed to play down to their opponents.
The Blues left themselves with very few attacking options even when the numbers were evened up following Casemiro’s sending off, however even then the boss used one of his last two subs to bring on Malo Gusto.
There was a similar story when Chelsea blew a great chance at winning their first trophy under the new owners in the EFL Cup final against Liverpool in 2024, when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge.
Pochettino’s mentality lost Chelsea crucial fixture
Despite Jurgen Klopp having to rely on his young, unproven talents when the game got to extra-time, the Blues for some reason decided to hold on for penalties, and ended up conceding late to a Virgil van Dijk header.
Gary Neville infamously brandished Chelsea the ‘Billion Pound Bottlejobs’ after the game, and the amount of money spent by Todd Boehly is something they will not be able to shake off.
However, many have thought that Maresca has been taking the club in the right direction since taking over from Pochettino, although he will not want to slip into bad habits the Argentine carried out during his time in West London.
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