Maresca’s comment about 0 dribble, 0 shot winger tells you everything you need to know

Enzo Maresca made three half time changes yesterday, and while he later claimed the switch of Romeo Lavia for Moises Caicedo was pre-planned, the same can’t have been said of the removal of Alejandro Garnacho for JAmie Gittens.

Maresca wanted to give his summer signing a go after a tough start to life at Chelsea, but once again he basically looked to be throwing someone in out of their depth. Even Maresca’s comments after the game didn’t disguise how disappointed the coach was, damning the summer signing with faint praise.

“Jamie [Gittens] came on, he was okay.”

Maresca on winger’s impact as a sub

Jamie Gittens fights for the ball. (Photo by Jack Thomas/Getty Images)

Maresca went on to explain a little about how things had improved in the second half, without mentioning the winger.

“I think Marc Guiu was good. But also we planned the game expecting them back four, not back five. I think back four with Joao Pedro as at No.9 is better. With back five, Joao Pedro at No.9 is not… If you remember, West Ham away; back five, we played Liam Delap and Joao Pedro against a back five. So we expected them back four, but they were back five. And then after half-time, we changed.”

Even with Chelsea looking better once Guiu led the line, Gittens wasn’t up to it on or off the ball.

It always just felt like it was going to be a matter of waiting until Maresca brought on Estevao, who made more of an impact in his limited time on the pitch.

In other news…

Josh Acheampong scored his first pro goal and then spoke to Chelsea TV about how it felt.

Meanwhile, post game there were breaking reports from David Ornstein that Chelsea are on the verge of appointing a new figure to their recruitment team.