Chelsea files: Why Maresca’s tactical rethink is bearing fruit and how club’s top priority will be made clear this week

IT’S been different eventful play down the King’s Road.

Having flirted with the rubric race, Enzo Maresca’s men are present warring bony and nail for Champions League qualification portion besides competing successful Europe.

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Enzo Maresca’s broadside are warring for European qualification[/caption]

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The Blues thumped Southampton 4-0 past week[/caption]

Starting today, lone connected Sun Club, our squad of experts volition bring you the wrong way connected Stamford Bridge goings connected each week.

TO THE LEFT

EXPECT TO spot Enzo Maresca dressing much to the near from present on.

Chelsea‘s astute manager is being tipped to person a tactical rethink arsenic the manner for inverted afloat backs grips the Premier League.

And once-maligned left-back Marc Cucurella is astatine the bosom of the Italian’s remodelling arsenic helium looks to marque his squad a much potent unit astatine some ends of the pitch.

For immoderate clip Chelsea would resistance whoever was playing right-back into the midfield to adhd value to attacks.

That would beryllium chiefly Malo Gusto oregon erstwhile acceptable nine skipper Reece James. 

But Maresca has been fine-tuning Cucurella to bash it from the other flank and elder unit astatine the grooming crushed are noticing.

Cucurella has risen to the manager’s situation and present has 3 Premier League goals this play arsenic a result. James has conscionable 1 and Gusto nary successful comparison.

The added bonus of employing Cucu successful this mode means the defence shifts near and not close – which seems to suit everyone.

In the lawsuit of the past crippled – the 4-0 drubbing of Southampton successful which Cucurella scored the last extremity – it meant Levi Colwill could determination near and let Tosin to inhabit the centre-back role.

This made for an wholly much comfy nighttime each circular and the tactical tweak looks acceptable to stay.

THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

COLE Palmer’s relation erstwhile Chelsea resume their Conference League run connected Thursday volition beryllium a wide motion of Enzo Maresca’s priorities.

The England prima was omitted from the 25-man squad for the radical signifier of the contention earlier Christmas.

That allowed him immoderate remainder done the autumn and aboriginal wintertime demands and was rewarded by a bid of stellar displays.

Chelsea were unbeaten successful their 8 matches instantly pursuing European games and were 2nd successful the Premier League astatine the decision of the archetypal Conference League signifier successful December.

But Palmer has played each 12 matches since then, scoring conscionable 3 goals and adding nary assists aft 11 goals and six assists up to that point.

The erstwhile Manchester City antheral was added to the Blues squad for the knock-out stage.

But with Chelsea expected to negociate past 16 opponents Copenhagen, leaving him retired of the starting broadside would beryllium a awesome that a apical 4 decorativeness is the bigger extremity than Europe’s 3rd competition.

However selecting him for Thursday’s crippled would awesome that Maresca buys into the doctrine that Chelsea request to commencement winning trophies again.

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Cole Palmer volition beryllium hoping to rediscover his precise champion form[/caption]

DJORD DROPPING

ONE of Enzo Maresca‘s biggest headaches this play has been successful goal.

Neither Robert Sanchez oregon summertime signing Filip Jorgensen person managed to measurement up and drawback the No1 spot for themselves.

Meanwhile, astatine sister nine Strasbourg past season’s No1 is making rather the impact.

Djordje Petrovic, sent connected indebtedness to amended his quality connected the ball, has kept 4 consecutive cleanable sheets and brag Liam Rosenior has touted him for a large future.

Rosenior said: “Petrovic is getting amended by the day. It’s precise important successful our crippled system.

“He is lone 25 years aged and volition go a large player.”

Maresca whitethorn find that the Serbian is simply a inexpensive solution to a large occupation this summer.

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Djordje Petrovic has impressed for Strasbourg this season[/caption]

EXTENDING AN ARM

ARMANDO Broja has had a batch of luck during his vocation – astir of it bad.

The 23-year-old striker is presently injured connected his latest indebtedness astatine Everton. 

He moved determination past September aft an arsenic disappointing impermanent determination to Fulham wherever helium hardly played.

The Albanian besides spent astir a twelvemonth connected the sidelines betwixt December 2022 and September 2023 aft tearing genu ligaments.

But determination is inactive anticipation helium tin marque a spell of it connected Merseyside.

Everton brag David Moyes has told unit astatine the nine that helium does not privation to marque immoderate decisions connected Broja’s aboriginal – abbreviated oregon agelong word – until helium has really seen him play.

Broja whitethorn conscionable beryllium backmost successful clip to diagnostic astatine the extremity of this play and get the accidental to seal a imperishable determination distant from Chelsea successful the summer.

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Armando Broja has endured a luckless spell astatine Everton[/caption]

SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT

TODD BOEHLY’S authorities of the federation code regarding Chelsea past week has been met with a resigned motion of the shoulders by galore fans.

In the aftermath of a pre-match protestation taking purpose astatine his adjacent 3 twelvemonth engagement successful the club, galore were hoping for stronger words from the American who jointly led the takeover astatine Stamford Bridge alongside present estranged concern spouse Behdad Eghbali.

Around 150 diehards took to the streets extracurricular Stamford Bridge past Tuesday to dependable their displeasure. 

At what precisely is conscionable arsenic large a talking constituent among the fanbase, with immoderate believing their chap Blues whitethorn person go a spot excessively utilized to glittery occurrence implicit the years.

Even so, speaking immoderate days aft astatine the suitably thrill-a-minute sounding FT Business of Football Summit, Boehly conceded ‘criticism is par for the course’ and erstwhile you get your caput astir that ‘it brings freedom’. That’s neither combat nor flight.

The wet-lettuce words whitethorn good person done the instrumentality though. 

It appears determination are nary plans yet for further demos. Maybe due to the fact that Boehly’s inert sermon made up of American-ese concern inspired babble has snuffed the beingness retired of the anti-Todd brigade similar 2 damp fingers pinching a tiny candle flame.

One salient fans fig astatine The Bridge told SunSport: “There is excessively overmuch entitlement and revisionment. We haven’t challenged for the rubric since Antonio Conte was manager.

“Chelsea is simply a concern now, not a toy. It’s precise antithetic present to beingness nether Roman Abramovich and that alteration is hard for immoderate to accept.”

The knot of fans who gathered extracurricular the gates to Chelsea’s location crushed past week chanted for their erstwhile owner, present sanctioned by the UK Government implicit his links to Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin.

They besides sang for erstwhile bosses Jose Mourinho and Thomas Tuchel. Conte’s sanction was skipped adjacent though helium is the past manager to triumph the Premier League for the club.

It’s steadfast for fans to clasp their club’s owners to relationship but having spent £1billion positive connected players and with Chelsea inactive sitting wrong the apical 8 connected the nighttime of the protest, determination is simply a feeling among much ‘experienced’ followers of the nine that the younger, much caller arrivals request to get a grip.

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Chelsea supporters protested extracurricular Stamford Bridge past week[/caption]

HOME AND AWAY

BOEHLY is uncovering retired the hard mode that processing the Blues’ location is simply a overmuch harder task than it was with his Los Angeles Dodgers shot team.

Despite MLB sides playing 81 location games successful the regular season, determination are nary matches betwixt October and March.

That is successful stark opposition with a Premier League run moving from the commencement of August to the extremity of May and Boehly conceded: “The happening you larn astir shot is however small down-time determination is.

“When we renovated Dodger Stadium, we had a batch much clip to impact alteration than successful the shot season. There’s a batch little down-time and that makes it a small harder.”

Former proprietor Roman Abramovich pulled the plug connected a planned £1bn revamp of the Bridge, Chelsea’s location since 1905, successful 2018 aft helium was refused an hold connected his peculiar “investor” visa.

That came aft proposals to perchance determination to sites astatine Old Oak Common adjacent Wormwood Scrubs, Earls Court and Battersea Power Station were dropped.

One other complication is that the freehold of the Bridge playing aboveground is owned by the Chelsea Pitch Owners, who tin forestall the nine utilizing the sanction “Chelsea” if a determination takes spot without their consent.

But Boehly appears to consciousness either a determination oregon a large rebuild is some indispensable and inevitable – adjacent if it means Chelsea having to play FOUR seasons oregon much distant from SW6. 

He added: “If you deliberation astir what yet the drivers are, of gathering a self-sustaining, precise competitory club, figuring however to summation revenues is portion and parcel of success.

“So you person to beryllium precise mindful of however you proceed to bash that.”

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Todd Boehly has spoken astir Chelsea’s imaginable stadium renovation[/caption]

WIN-WIN DEAL

COLE PALMER’S determination to Stamford Bridge was win-win for some Chelsea and Manchester City – according to the antheral astatine the bosom of the £40m deal.

Palmer has scored 39 games successful conscionable 75 games for the Blues since his switch.

And long-standing cause Frank Trimboli, who brokered the move, recalled: “When it came to the Palmer deal, Manchester City understood the worth of the subordinate but they had a batch of players that they could usage and play.

“So they besides knew his aboriginal worth would beryllium precocious and fixed the magnitude of shot Cole had played for City it was inactive a precocious number.

“There were radical astatine Chelsea who had antecedently worked astatine City, truthful they knew what they were buying and recognition to Chelsea due to the fact that they were consenting to enactment the wealth connected the table.

“And 18 months aft the deal, that £40m looks similar wealth good spent.”

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Cole Palmer has been a smash deed astatine Chelsea[/caption]

TOOTH ACHE

FRANK LAMPARD inactive feels the symptom from the ‘kick successful the teeth’ erstwhile Chelsea sacked him.

Even though the club’s legendary midfielder and erstwhile brag is present flying precocious with promotion chasing Coventry – it inactive hurts.

Lampard was hired and fired by Cheslea’s erstwhile proprietor Roman Abramovich wrong 18 months – getting the chop successful January 2021 to marque mode for Thomas Tuchel.  

Lampard said: “In this occupation you recognize that you volition get immoderate kicks successful the teeth.

“I went successful astatine Chelsea and was loving doing my occupation there, astatine a nine that I intelligibly love.

“And erstwhile you suffer your occupation – it’s the archetypal clip I mislaid my occupation – it’s a hard infinitesimal and you person your ain feelings astir that, which I had and inactive have. 

“So, kicks successful the teeth, unluckily consciousness harsh astatine the time. 

“And erstwhile you look back, you recognize that they’re portion of beingness and they mould your future.”

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Frank Lampard has enjoyed a instrumentality to signifier astatine Coventry[/caption]