Enzo Maresca has just admitted that he’s finding it difficult when trying to find a place for Chelsea’s £50m player in his team.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has had a month getting to know the squad as he prepares for his first main role in the Premier League. He’s going to be under a completely new kind of pressure next season as Blues manager compared to his stints as an assistant boss at Manchester City and West Ham.
Maresca did land the job at Stamford Bridge this summer after guiding Leicester City to promotion from the Championship, which he did implementing a clear possession-based style of football. It’s encouraging that a report from The Daily Mail a couple of weeks ago said Maresca’s been greeted positively by Chelsea’s players so far.
Enzo Maresca shares headache with Ben Chilwell
Maresca has explained during a recent press conference that he’s still working out the best way to use Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell.
The £50m star (Sky Sports) was the vice-captain at the Bridge last season and is one of the more experienced individuals in a young squad. However, the 27-year-old defender may not be a natural fit for the new coach in the manager’s dugout.
When asked on Chilwell’s best position, Maresca said via Football.London: “Chilly is a left-back, for sure. I see him as I’ve always seen him like a left full-back.”
Maresca was then asked if Chilwell is capable of playing the role of an inverted full-back. He replied: “His situation is a bit delicate in terms of we are trying to find a solution for him in terms of position. But he probably needs a bit of time. Delicate in terms of finding the right position for him.”
Ben Chilwell should be worried
If you’re Chilwell listening to the manager’s quotes this week, you should definitely be very alarmed. It sounds like he’s facing a real uphill battle in the new 2024/25 season, and when you look at it from a tactical viewpoint, you can see why.
Chilwell has been an attack-minded left-back all his career and he’s lined up as a left-back so far in the opening pre-season matches this summer. Unfortunately for him, Maresca’s system means that the full-backs operate quite differently to the conventional way.
The usual practice in Maresca’s defence is one full-back inverts into midfield, while the other one drops in and makes it a back three in possession. Chilwell’s style doesn’t really suit dictating the ball from the midfield, plus becoming an extra centre-half isn’t his game because he’d much rather be overlapping higher up the pitch.
A report from The Athletic claims that Chilwell could be sold by Chelsea this summer if they receive an appropriate offer.
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