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LEEDS REALITY CHECK: CHELSEA DEFENSE EXPOSED BY 3-5-2 FORMATION
With young defenders shining on loan, Chelsea faces a decision on selling Tosin next summer to make room and profit, despite Maresca's current selections.
After a big 3-0 win over Barcelona and a good 1-1 draw with Arsenal, Chelsea got a reality check Wednesday night.
They lost 3-1 to Leeds United, who are trying to avoid being relegated. Now, Chelsea is in fourth place in the Premier League, only three points ahead of Everton in 10th.
Enzo Maresca’s team had trouble getting through Leeds' defence, and their defenders, Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Benoit Badiashile, were really slow at moving the ball in the first half.
It got a bit better when Malo Gusto replaced Badiashile, and Pedro Neto came in for Estevao Willian at halftime, but Chelsea still couldn't make many good scoring chances.
Cole Palmer, who came off the bench, shot one wide, but Chelsea created less than 1 xG (expected goals), while Leeds had a huge 2.79.
Daniel Farke used a 3-5-2 formation, which did well against Manchester City on Saturday. The two forwards, Lucas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, gave Chelsea's defence a lot of trouble.
Jaka Bijol scored first for Leeds with a header in the sixth minute. Not long before halftime, Ao Tanaka made it 2-0 after Tosin passed poorly and Enzo Fernandez couldn't control the ball.
Neto scored for Chelsea after Jamie Gittens played well on the wing, but a mix-up in Chelsea's defence sealed the game in the 72nd minute.
After winning the ball back from Gabriel Gudmundsson, Gusto passed to Fernandez and then to Tosin. But Tosin's first touch was bad, and Noah Okafor stole the ball and passed to Calvert-Lewin, who scored into an empty net.
Chelsea might have a problem with transfers in 2026.
Tosin has played 80 minutes or more in nine games this season, and Chelsea has won 44% of those games. But in the 12 games where he hasn't played as much, their win rate is 67%.
Also, Tosin usually plays against weaker teams. He did start against Bayern Munich, but not against Liverpool, Tottenham, Barcelona, or Arsenal.
Tosin isn't the only reason Chelsea hasn't been doing great when he plays, but he's not as good as Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah. Fans think Josh Acheampong should start instead of Tosin because he's been playing well this season.
Maresca still thinks Tosin is important to the team, but with Mamadou Sarr and Aaron Anselmino doing well on loan, Chelsea might have a tough decision to make next summer about transfers.
Tosin will be 29 next September, and Chelsea might start to replace him soon. Since they signed him without paying a transfer fee, they could sell him for a low price next summer and still make a profit.
But Maresca keeps picking Tosin over Acheampong against weaker teams, which means he wants to keep him. So, Chelsea will face a big decision about Tosin next summer, especially since Dortmund wants to keep Anselmino after his loan ends.
The young player from Argentina has been doing great at Dortmund, and it might be smart for Chelsea to sell Tosin and bring Anselmino into the team.
Whether that happens depends on whether the team thinks Tosin is good enough for a team that wants to win titles.
ENZO MARESCA EXPLAINS: WHY ESTEVAO WILLIAN STAYED ON THE BENCH DURING 2-1 UCL DEFEAT
Unused sub Estevao Willian showed his desire to win by kicking a cone in frustration after Chelsea conceded to Atalanta, a moment Maresca explained was due to an injury change.
Estevao Willian's disappointment was clear during Chelsea's 2-1 loss to Atalanta in the Champions League. The 18-year-old winger spent the whole match on the bench Tuesday night as Chelsea blew their lead.
Joao Pedro scored first for Chelsea, slipping the ball past Marco Carnesecchi. Even though they had a few more good chances, the Blues didn't score again before Atalanta tied the game.
Late in the game, Charles De Ketelaere scored, his shot deflecting past Robert Sanchez. With this loss, Chelsea has dropped out of the top eight and hasn't won in their last four games.
Estevao really wanted to play in Bergamo, but he remained a substitute. He warmed up in the second half and was near the field when Gianluca Scamacca scored the tying goal.
A fan caught Estevao's reaction to the goal and posted it on X (the social media platform previously known as Twitter). The young player was clearly upset when Atalanta scored, grabbing his shirt and saying something to himself before kicking a training cone.
He went back to warming up with Jorrel Hato, Andrey Santos, Marc Guiu, and Facundo Buonanotte. Even during this tough moment, Estevao's desire to play, his love for the game, and his will to win were obvious.
After the game, Maresca told reporters why Estevao didn't play. Tosin [Adarabioyo] had to come on because Wes [Fofana] needed to be subbed out; that was a change we had to make, the Chelsea coach said.
If we had another substitution available, Estevao or Andrey [Santos] probably would have played. But that change changed our plan for the game a bit.
Maresca talked about the difficulties of rotating the starting lineup: Tonight, our starting eleven included eight or nine players who also played against Tottenham, Barcelona, Wolves, and Arsenal.
We had eight or nine players who played in most of these matches. So, the five changes we made compared to the Bournemouth game were different.
But if you look at the team, we had eight or nine players who also played against Barcelona, Arsenal, Tottenham, Wolves, you know, those types of games. These are the players who are playing almost every game.
About the results, Maresca commented, "After we conceded, we lost some control of the match." In the first half, we scored a goal, allowed some chances, but also created a few of our own.
In the second half, we had two good opportunities to score another goal. But after they scored to tie the game, we lost control again, and then they scored a second time.
I think we could have stopped both goals. They were easy goals to avoid.
JOE COLE DEMANDS EXPERIENCE: CHELSEA'S COLLAPSE AFTER ATALANTA LOSS IS 'DISAPPOINTING'
Following a major loss to Atalanta, former Chelsea star Joe Cole highlights the team's need for experienced leaders to navigate tough matches.
After Chelsea's loss to Atalanta in the Champions League, Joe Cole made it clear what he thinks the team needs. Their recent form has been really disappointing, he said.
Just weeks ago, after they crushed Barcelona 3-0, people thought Enzo Maresca's team could go far in both the Premier League and Champions League.
But since then, Chelsea hasn't won four straight games. They've dropped to fifth place in the Premier League, eight points behind Arsenal.
On Tuesday, Joao Pedro put Chelsea ahead against Atalanta, but the home team came back with two goals in the second half to win 2-1.
This loss puts Chelsea in 11th place in the Champions League, and they'll likely fall even further after Wednesday's games.
Cole said Chelsea's performance in Italy was really disappointing. He believes that his old club needs to add some experienced players to Maresca's squad.
Since Todd Boehly took over in 2022, Chelsea has spent a ton of money, but they've mostly signed young players with potential rather than established stars.
It’s really disappointing, Cole told TNT Sports after the 2-1 defeat. Chelsea played well in the first half and got the first goal.
But they looked shaky after that, and you could see their weaknesses. It’s frustrating.
They played great against Barcelona, but they haven't kept that up, with three poor performances since then.
I keep thinking that they need more experienced players to help them get through tough games.
The coaches probably told them what to expect tonight, but it helps to have someone who's been there before on the field.
Chelsea isn't quite there yet. They show flashes of potential and have some great games, but then they have games like tonight where they just don't play well.
This weekend is very important because they haven't won in four games. They have to win against Everton.
Steve Sidwell, another former Chelsea player, added, The first half was even, but Chelsea looked disorganised in the second half, maybe because of the changes they made.
They seemed a bit off, and if you give good players time and space, they'll make you pay.
After this disappointing result in Italy, Chelsea's chances of qualifying for the Champions League are uncertain.
Maresca's team will play Pafos at home in their next European game on January 21, followed by a game against Napoli the following week.
When asked about Chelsea's chances in their last two games, Cole said, You'd expect them to beat Pafos at home, which would set up a huge game at Antonio Conte’s Napoli.
That game will be important. You don’t have to finish in the top eight, but you want to avoid playing extra games because the Premier League is tough.
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