Jamie Carragher was ‘really surprised’ by what Enzo Maresca did with £58m Chelsea player vs Liverpool

Add as preferred source on Google

Jamie Carragher has explained his surprise by one thing that happened with Chelsea’s first-team star in the recent loss to Liverpool at the weekend.

Enzo Maresca, the Chelsea manager, watched his side suffer their second defeat in the Premier League this season on Sunday.

The Blues were beaten 2-1 by Liverpool away from home at Anfield. As a result, they’ve slipped down to sixth in the division table.

Speaking recently via Match of the Day 2, Rafael Benitez questioned if Chelsea’s defence is functioning properly. So far, they’ve scored 17 goals but conceded 10 times in their opening eight league matches this campaign.

• READ MORE: Enzo Maresca lost Chelsea the game at Anfield when he took off ‘special’ player

Jamie Carragher shocked by Romeo Lavia substition

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was super impressed by what he saw from Chelsea’s Romeo Lavia against Liverpool at Anfield. In fact, he was astonished when the £58m midfielder (Sky Sports) was substituted off by Maresca early in the second-half.

Carragher said on Sky Sports Main Event channel (7:28pm, 21 October). “The ball goes on to Lavia, who I thought was excellent. I was really surprised he (Maresca) brought him off actually in the second-half… I think Chelsea made a couple of changes, [Enzo] Fernandez came on and there were a few changes in midfield. I don’t think it actually helped them.”

Romeo Lavia may belong in best Chelsea XI

Lavia has played just five first-team games for Chelsea since his arrival from Southampton in the summer of 2023. It highlights just how unfortunate he’s been with injuries.

However, Blues supporters will know that the young defensive midfielder has so much individual quality because he’s shown it in flashes. For example, the Belgium international was superb versus Liverpool a couple of days ago, especially when in possession.

While Lavia’s substitution against Liverpool may have felt strange because of how well he was playing at the time, the head coach did explain after that it was a pre-planned switch to remove him and Reece James to manage their workload as they return from respective injuries.

When asked about the Lavia and James substation in his post-match interview, Maresca said via Football.London: “Yeah, for him and Romeo [Lavia], the idea was for him and Romeo to have one hour or 55 minutes maximum. I was quite afraid to keep them on for more minutes on the pitch so I decided to change both of them on 55 minutes.”

We feel like Lavia’s got the potential to nail down a permanent starting position once he’s fully fit. He’s so effective both in and out of possession in Maresca’s side, which may be worrying news for teammate Enzo Fernandez.