Enzo Maresca admitted he feels “bad” every game because he has to leave players out, but revealed it’s the only way to try and compete.
The Blues returned to winning ways on Sunday as they ground out a hard fought 2-1 win against Newcastle to move up to fifth in the league, just a point behind Arsenal in third.
Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring before Alexander Isak equalised, but it was that man Cole Palmer who fired home the winner early in the second half.
Maresca reveals why he feels “bad” every Chelsea game
Maresca has so many options at his disposal it inevitably means that players have to miss out and you can imagine that’s always hard news to break.
The Blues are in a unique position where they can field two different starting teams, one in the Premier League and one in the Conference League.
It means there are good opportunities for players to get minutes that need them, but ultimately everyone wants to play in the league and that simply isn’t possible.
Against Newcastle Maresca omitted Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Carney Chukwuemeka, Ben Chilwell, Cesare Casadei, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Marc Guiu from the match day squad.
Most, if not all of those players would start for other Premier League teams and shows the incredible squad depth the Blues have.
However, Maresca admitted every game he feels bad because he has to leave players out, but added it was the only way to try and compete.
“No matter how many changes we make, it’s important the style is there, the identity is there.”
Some of those players left out will likely feature against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, with Maresca set to make more changes to his team, although it would be a surprise if he made 11 changes like has been the case in the Conference League.
