Enzo Maresca reveals one fear he had during Chelsea’s defeat to Liverpool | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has admitted he had fears over the fitness of both Reece James and Romeo Lavia as they both started in the Liverpool game on Sunday after both missing a lot of football due to injuries in the last year or so.

James was making his first appearance of the season for the Blues, while he managed only eleven in total for the entire previous campaign, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him go straight back into Maresca’s first XI for such a big game.

Lavia, meanwhile, made just his fourth appearance for Chelsea since joining the club almost a year and a half ago, as the young Belgian midfielder has also had major fitness problems during his time at Stamford Bridge.

It’s therefore not too surprising that Enzo Maresca’s press conference made reference to this issue, with the Italian tactician admitting he was anxious about using these players again, and always planned to give them a maximum of 45-60 minutes before subbing them off.

“For James and Romeo, it was 45 minutes to one hour maximum,” Maresca said after the game, as quoted by the Metro.

“I was a bit afraid to give them more minutes on the pitch. decided to change them after 50, 55 minutes.”

Enzo Maresca discussed Romeo Lavia’s return for Chelsea (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Enzo Maresca boosted by returning Chelsea stars

Overall, even if James and Lavia couldn’t yet play the full 90 minutes, it’s very encouraging news for Maresca that he has them back, and that they came through the minutes they were on the pitch without any issues.

Chelsea have gone through so many changes under their new ownership, with managers coming and going and a host of new signings coming in, while some big names have left.

Still, there’s no doubt Chelsea would surely have found life a lot easier if a quality player like James had been available all this time, with the England international one of the top full-backs in the game when he’s fully fit and confident.

Lavia is also someone with huge potential, even if he’s not yet as proven as James, so there’s every chance that his return could give the west London side something a bit different in midfield, as both Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo have had their ups and downs since joining the club.

Maresca has a pretty big squad, but the more options he has, the better he’ll surely be able to do in these testing weeks and months ahead.