Former Liverpool player Steve Nicol is not too impressed with some of Enzo Maresca’s recent comments following Chelsea’s 4-2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Going forward, Chelsea were really impressive in their victory over the Seagulls, with Cole Palmer scoring all four of his side’s goals.
Defensively, though, they were shaky. Robert Sanchez made two costly errors but was not reprimanded by Enzo Maresca for doing so.
Maresca tried to encourage Sanchez after his mistakes and even warned supporters to expect more errors at the back because of the way the team are trying to play.
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Steve Nicol in disbelief after Enzo Maresca’s comments
After the Brighton game, the Chelsea boss shared with reporters that he had told his players that they would concede more goals from playing out from the back.
“I said to Robert and the players, ‘From now on, we are going to concede 10 more goals like the way we conceded the second goal’,” Maresca was quoted as saying by Goal. “It’s the way we want to play.”
In response to those comments, Nicol said on ESPN: “I’ll tell you what, that’s garbage. Seriously? I’ve never seen this [Maresca’s post-Brighton comments]. This is the first time I’ve seen it. That’s nonsense, that is absolutely nonsense.
“You know what’s happening? It’s one thing every now and again [for] somebody to make an error when you try to play the ball out and it’s actually on to play it out but they make a mess of it, that’s one thing. But to turn around and just say ‘I don’t care; this is what we do’ is nonsense.”
Enzo Maresca needs to find balance
Maresca has got this Chelsea team firing. With 15 goals to their name, they are the highest scorers in the Premier League.
They are shipping in goals, however, letting Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton all put two past them.
If Chelsea are going to continue playing out from the back, which you would expect after Maresca’s comments, then they probably will let in more silly goals like Carlos Baleba’s.
Maresca needs to minimise those errors and make his Chelsea side a more balanced one. Do that, and they could go on to have a very successful season. Jamie O’Hara already believes Chelsea can compete at the top this term.
Their ultimate objective, though, will be qualifying for the Champions League. They failed to do that in the last campaign and the one before that.
It now looks like Chelsea have the firepower to do the above. You just have to wonder if Sanchez and the rest of the team’s backline can do their part.
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