Chelsea’s head coach, Enzo Maresca, has acknowledged that he has had to use center-backs Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo more than he would have liked due to injury issues. Wesley Fofana, Tosin, and Chalobah are Chelsea’s three available, healthy center-backs at the moment because Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill are sidelined.
While Badiashile’s recent return to the training field is good news for Maresca, the head coach has few choices until he is well enough to participate in a game. Specifically, Fofana has not yet played a full ninety minutes after undergoing hamstring surgery.
This is problematic because Maresca acknowledged that he was unable to provide Adarabioyo and Chalobah with enough sleep. “I would love to rest both of them because they deserve to rest,” Maresca said in response to a question concerning Tosin and Chalobah.
“Wes Fofana is also playing after a long break, which is the issue. Therefore, I’ll probably have to play a part in the game if we rest Tosin, Trev, and Wes. Some of them must play because we lack defenders.
Enzo Maresca aims subtle dig at Chelsea owners
In a veiled jab at Chelsea’s management, Enzo Maresca hinted that he could have to play against Lincoln City on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup third round. Cole Palmer had a groin injury during Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United on Saturday, and Levi Colwill, Liam Delap, and Dario Essugo are all out due to long-term injury concerns.
Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile have also not yet fully recovered, while Maresca has acknowledged that Joao Pedro and Moises Caicedo are not as fit as they once were. After Colwill’s season-ending ACL injury, Maresca was keen for Chelsea to add a new center-back, but the team chose to disregard his requests in favor of strengthening their attacking alternatives.
Although Jorrel Hato did join from Ajax in early August, Marc Cucurella is considered his backup, and he hasn’t been seen since making a difficult 45-minute cameo against Brentford two weeks ago.
Due to Wesley Fofana’s injury history and the continued absence of the aforementioned Badiashile, Maresca is left with just Tosin, Chalobah, and young Josh Acheampong as completely fit center-back alternatives.
