Enzo Maresca must halt experiment as Gary Neville blasts Chelsea player who lost possession seven times vs Leeds
Enzo Maresca will think twice before shifting his starting lineup after Chelsea were embarrassed by Leeds United at Elland Road.
Cole Palmer returned to the pitch for the first time since September, but not even his impact was enough for the Blues to complete the comeback on Wednesday, 3 December.
Gary Neville was in attendance at Elland Road, as Jaka Bijol, Ao Tanaka, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were all on the scoresheet, and Pedro Neto‘s second-half strike was nothing more than a consolation.
Supporters were baffled to see Leeds take a one-goal lead, let alone a two-goal lead, and everything had fallen to bits when Calvert-Lewin stuck away a third, pouncing on a defensive error for all three points.
Gary Neville takes aim at out-of-position Trevoh Chalobah
Maresca was clearly frustrated by his team’s performance away from Stamford Bridge, but given some of his decisions ahead of the game, he might only have himself to blame.
Leaving Reece James, Josh Acheampong, and Jorrel Hato on the bench meant that Benoit Badiashile and Tosin Adarabioyo were the starting centre-back duo, with Trevoh Chalobah at right-back.
Gary Neville was quick to point out one of the weakest points on the pitch, aiming criticism at the makeshift right-back on The Gary Neville podcast, saying: “He played a very young team; they’ve got very young players anyway.
“Chalobah at right-back was awkward in terms of on the ball first half. Then there was a mountain of passes in the back-three that were sending me crazy.”
Chalobah’s stats speak for themselves after Elland Road nightmare
While the makeshift full-back did win 100 per cent of his tackles, as well as making three clearances and five recoveries, he was dribbled past once and only won 50 per cent of his ground duels [FotMob].
Even worse than that, the 26-year-old won just 17 per cent of his aerial battles, being bullied by Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha when either made runs down the channel, as well as losing possession seven times [Sofascore].
It was a tough night for the visitors in general, who were clearly not ready for the hostile atmosphere, but it was a clear sign to Maresca that, without James, Chelsea‘s options are limited.
The manager has already admitted that Acheampong should have started, and, having not wanted to run the risk of his captain getting injured, his main idea was to play a centre-half out of position.
Obviously, that backfired, and it should not be an experiment that Maresca tries again anytime soon.