Maresca: Chelsea’s large squad ‘not the mess it looks from outside’ | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has reaffirmed his confidence that the sixed of Chelsea’s squad will not hamper the club’s season prospects.

He noted that, given the size of Chelsea’s squad, it may be a challenge to keep players happy. He adds that a group of fifteen are training apart from the main squad in a bid to establish clearer roles.

“I think it is the job of all managers to keep the players happy. This is almost impossible because they train everyday to get minutes, but only 11 are going to play.

“In this moment, the noise is more outside because I am working with 21, 22 players since we are back from USA. I am not working with 42 or 43 players. More than 15 players are playing apart. They are not with the team.

“It is not a mess like it looks from outside.”

Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell find themselves unfortunate members of that separate group. Both players were left out of Maresca’s squad for the Premier League opener against Manchester City, a decision Sterling responded to with a public statement asking for “clarity” as to his position in the squad.

“The situation with both of them is quite clear, there is not any update on the situation,” he said. “We have a big squad and it is impossible for me to give them minutes. If they are looking for minutes, it is better for them to leave.

“I just try to be honest. I said I spoke with Raheem before the City game, I said that he is going to struggle to get minutes with us, and this is the reason why he is out of the squad.

“With Chilly, he is a lovely guy, but he is going to struggle with us because of his position. It is not brutal, just honest.”

The squad is set to get larger still with the newly announced addition of Joao Felix, who will join the already congested ranks of forwards in the squad as fan favourite Conor Gallagher heads the opposite direction, signing this morning for Atletico Madrid.

Maresca lauded his new signing, saying that “he is a good player, he is a talent. The club already knows him from two years ago. The whole thing about Joao is that he can play different positions, he can play inside, as a nine, outside, so this is the reason why [he was signed].”

He noted that there will be plenty of opportunity for players to find minutes given Chelsea’s long season, which will not end until July 2025 due to participation in the Club World Cup.

Fingers were pointed at profit and sustainability rules as the main culprit for Gallagher’s departure.

“It is not only for Chelsea. Many clubs in this moment are selling players from Academy. In Italy, we have Totti, played with Roma 20 years, we all love that. Now in this moment the rules are different, we have to sell our academy players to get 100% profit. We have to try to respect the rules.”