YELLOW CARD RISK: ENZO MARESCA EXPLAINS ESTêVãO'S HALFTIME SUBSTITUTION
Enzo Maresca discusses his halftime sub of Estêvão, calling the Leeds match a "shock" and a vital learning moment for the 18-year-old Brazilian.
Enzo Maresca thinks Estevao can learn a lot from being subbed at half-time. It was done to keep him from getting a red card, and Maresca thinks the game was a real welcome-to-the-Premier-League moment for the young Brazilian.
Maresca made two changes at halftime, bringing in Neto and Malo Gusto for Benoit Badiashile and Estevao, who is 18. Estevao started well but got a yellow card after a bad foul on Gabriel Gudmundsson.
This is the second game in a row where the Brazilian was taken off at half-time, after being subbed during Sunday’s draw with Arsenal.
"I think Estevao got a little taste of what the Premier League is like, especially playing at Leeds," Maresca said after the game.
It must have been a big shock for him. We subbed him because he already had a yellow card.
It's hard for an 18-year-old to control their emotions, so it was better to take him off to avoid a red card.
Maresca admitted that Leeds outplayed Chelsea.
I believe Leeds were better than us in every way,” Maresca said. “They deserved to win. There's nothing positive we can take from this game.
All we can do is try to figure out what went wrong and reset because we have another game in 48 hours [against Bournemouth].
No one played well tonight. The third goal really ended the game. Leeds was much better than us in every aspect, with and without the ball.
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.