Chelsea were able to come back from 2-1 down to beat Napoli 3-2 at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Wednesday.
Joao Pedro was the match-winner for Chelsea, scoring a fantastic second-half brace against Antonio Conte’s side.
The forward deserves a lot of credit for his team’s turnaround, and so does Liam Rosenior.
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However, there was one stage during the game when Arsenal legend and Chelsea supporter Paul Merson really questioned the 41-year-old.
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Paul Merson questioned Liam Rosenior’s decision to take off Pedro Neto
With Chelsea finding themselves 2-1 down, Rosenior decided to change things and substituted Pedro Neto at half-time.
It was not a decision that Merson agreed with, as the retired England international felt that Chelsea’s system was more of a problem than any individual.
Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: “For me, they needed to bring on [Trevoh] Chalobah or [Benoit] Badiashile to play at centre-half and go back to a four, with [Cole] Palmer as a No.10. But he’s replaced Neto. That’s not a good move in my opinion. I hope I’m wrong.”
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Eventually, another natural centre-back was brought on, with Chalobah replacing Malo Gusto. That change helped the Club World Cup winners massively, but so did the decision to withdraw Neto.
After the full-time whistle, Rosenior did explain his centre-back set-up in the first half and how Chelsea were able to win the game after making some tweaks.
Cole Palmer coming on for Pedro Neto helped Chelsea to win the game
Merson’s point about Chelsea’s system was completely valid, but he got it wrong with the Neto substitution. Palmer replaced the Portuguese and was deployed on the right, while Estevao Willian moved over to the left. From there, the attacking midfielder was absolutely devastating.
Palmer is clearly not fully fit, hence Rosenior’s decision to start him on the bench. However, the Englishman was still able to make a huge impact in Naples.
He set up both of Pedro’s goals, which were the difference between defeat and victory. Had Palmer not replaced Neto, there is no way that the Conference League holders would have won that game.
Hopefully the England international can stay fit now. Chelsea are a completely different proposition when he is on the pitch.
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