Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca admits three Blues stars can't play together - 'I feel a shame'
Chelsea have been in positive form under Enzo Maresca but the Italian has been left with a major headache on how to fit his best players into the Blues side consistently
by Daniel Orme · The MirrorEnzo Maresca admits he has been left feeling ‘shameful’ after failing to fit stars worth £135m into his Chelsea team.
The Italian has enjoyed a bright start to life at Stamford Bridge since arriving from Leicester. He has the Londoners sitting fourth in the Premier League after five wins from their opening ten games.
Maresca has also secured a spot in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, while Chelsea have enjoyed a perfect start to their Europa Conference League campaign. There is still one problem that he hasn’t worked out yet though - how to get their expensive attacking recruits into the side together.
Joao Felix has made just five Premier League appearances for the club this term after returning on a permanent basis. Christopher Nkunku meanwhile has made just one league start this term.
Speaking before Chelsea’s clash with Noah, Maresca said: “I feel a shame for Joao and I would like to give him more minutes in the Premier League, but we need defensive balance and we cannot play with Joao, Cole [Palmer], Christo [Nkunku].
“I’d like to put all of them on the pitch but then you need to defend, and you need the right balance. I don’t have any doubts that if Joao keeps working well, he will find his moment in the Premier League.”
Nkunku in particular was expected to stake a claim this term. He struggled with consistent injury issues last term following a big-money move from RB Leipzig.
And while he has already scored eight goals this season, the vast majority of them have come in cup competitions. Maresca added: “Christo, every time he plays, he scores, and he does well. Also, he was probably our best player in pre-season, no doubt.
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“He was playing then as an attacking midfielder and now we are using him as a nine, which we all know isn’t his position, he’s more a second striker or between the lines.
“But I try to find solution and balance with all of them but not all of them can be in their position, they have to adapt a bit. It’s for Joao, Christo, Misha [Mudryk], they are all players who deserve more chances in the Premier League, but there are also more players who deserve that.”
Maresca could reshuffle his side for Thursday’s clash with Noah. The Blues then take on London rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
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