ENZO MARESCA WISHES HE STARTED JOSH ACHEAMPONG AGAINST LEEDS
Maresca admitted a tactical error focusing on aerial ability backfired against Leeds. He defends his team's experience but hinted at a return for academy defender Acheampong.
Enzo Maresca says he wishes he had started Josh Acheampong in the Chelsea game against Leeds United. This might mean he's thinking about putting Acheampong in the lineup for Saturday's game at Bournemouth.
After Chelsea played well in previous games, like when they beat Barcelona 3-0 and tied 1-1 with Arsenal, many people thought they could actually win the league.
But on Wednesday, they lost that spark when Leeds United beat them 3-1.
People criticised Maresca for changing up the defence too much. He took out Wesley Fofana and Reece James and moved Trevoh Chalobah to the right-back position.
Tosin Adarabioyo and Benoit Badiashile were the two centre-backs, but Badiashile got subbed out at halftime. Later, his replacement, Malo Gusto, and Tosin made a mistake that allowed Leeds to score their third goal.
In his press conference before the Bournemouth game, Maresca admitted he made a mistake with his team selection.
"I regret not playing Josh, he said.
The reason we went with Trev, Tosin, and Benoit was that we saw that Leeds often play long balls to [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin and [Lukas] Nmecha.
We wanted players who were good at winning aerial battles. But even then, we still lost most of those battles.
Acheampong has played well when he's had the chance. The 19-year-old has played in nine games this season, starting five of them. However, he hasn't played since the loss to Sunderland in October.
People have been saying that the academy should play more, and Maresca said that he thinks the Bournemouth game will be against Leeds. So, it will be interesting to see if he gives Acheampong a chance this time.
His intensity, and Leeds was very intense. I said that they were better than us. We need to learn from that and be ready for tomorrow.
The coach also disagreed with the idea that his team is too inexperienced. We only talk about experience when we lose. When we beat Barcelona and drew with Arsenal, nobody mentioned experience.
When we don't win, we look for reasons why. But we didn't win against Leeds because we weren't good enough.
Who's the oldest player on the field? Tosin. Did he play well? It's not about experience. All 11 players just didn't play well enough. We're always looking for experience, but it was a bad game for everyone.
DID LIAM ROSENIOR’S PAST AS A PUNDIT INFLUENCE HIS DEFENSIVE STRATEGY AT ARSENAL?
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior hits back at critics after a defensive approach saw the Blues exit the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Liam Rosenior stood by his cautious approach after Chelsea couldn’t overturn their first-leg deficit against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Down 3-2 from the first match, Chelsea never really put Arsenal under pressure at the Emirates. In the end, Kai Havertz—of all people—put the game to bed in stoppage time, scoring against his old club.
Rosenior switched things up, going with a back three and playing it safe. He wanted to keep the game close and try to push hard late on. He brought on Cole Palmer and Estevao around the 60th minute, hoping for a spark, but Chelsea still couldn’t carve out real chances. Arsenal just wouldn’t budge.
Pundits didn’t love Rosenior’s tactics and let him know it. He brushed it off. “I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,” he said. “If I go all-out and press high, we could give away two early goals, and then everyone asks what I’m thinking. That’s just how it is. Lose, and you’re hammered. Win, and you’re a genius. Usually, it’s somewhere in the middle.”
Chelsea were up against the league leaders, and with both Reece James and Pedro Neto missing due to minor injuries, Rosenior planned to hang in there and try to frustrate Arsenal—and maybe turn the mood in the stadium.
“That was the idea. You saw it,” he said. “I thought the psychological side of the tie mattered, and you could feel it in the stadium too. At 60 minutes, I brought on Cole and Estevao, and suddenly we had some moments around the box. I think people sensed this game could flip.”
It didn’t happen, though. Rosenior said he couldn’t fault his players for their effort, and in the end, Arsenal’s clinching goal came while Chelsea were throwing everything forward, desperate to turn things around.
IS JOãO PEDRO ACTUALLY BETTER THAN LIVERPOOL’S £79M HUGO EKITIKé? THE STATS REVEAL ALL
Liam Rosenior makes history as Chelsea win three in a row! Discover why João Pedro is the Premier League's best summer signing.
Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over Chelsea in 2022, they've been anything but quiet in the transfer market. In just three and a half years, they've signed 54 new senior players and spent well over £1 billion.
Some of these signings haven’t even made it onto the pitch for the first team—guys like Gaga Słonina, Ângelo Gabriel, Omari Kellyman, and Caleb Wiley, just to name a few. But others have really made their mark. Think Marc Cucurella, Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández and, of course, Cole Palmer. Now, the question is, has one of Chelsea’s latest summer signings done enough to join that group? Is he about to become one of the Premier League’s signings of the season?
Let’s talk about Chelsea’s summer addition and what he’s bringing to the table. It’s been a great week for Liam Rosenior’s squad. On Saturday night, they were 2-0 down at halftime to West Ham at Stamford Bridge. Somehow, they turned it around and won 3-2, with Enzo Fernández scoring in stoppage time to seal it.
That win made it three league victories in a row for Rosenior. He’s now only the fourth English manager to start his Premier League career with three straight wins—joining Bobby Gould, Sam Allardyce, and Craig Shakespeare. Not bad company at all.
Just three days earlier, Chelsea booked their spot in the Champions League round of 16 after a wild 3-2 win away at Napoli. Down 2-1, João Pedro scored twice in the second half to turn the game around. The Brazilian’s goal at the weekend kicked off Chelsea’s comeback, bringing his total to 15 goals for the club—including three at the Club World Cup. So, how does he stack up against other strikers who switched clubs last summer?
Looking at the numbers, here’s how the new strikers have done since moving in the summer of 2025:
Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool, £79m): 15 goals (10 PL, 2 UCL)
João Pedro (Chelsea, £60m): 12 goals (9 PL, 3 UCL)
Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal, £54.8m): 11 goals (6 PL, 4 UCL)
Nick Woltemade (Man United, £69m): 9 goals (7 PL, 1 UCL)
Benjamin Šeško (Man City, £66.3m): 6 goals (5 PL)
Alexander Isak (Newcastle, £125m): 3 goals (2 PL)
Liam Delap (Spurs, £30m): 2 goals (1 PL, 1 UCL)
Only Ekitiké has scored more than João Pedro across all competitions, but Liverpool paid about £20m more for him than Chelsea paid for Pedro. In the whole Premier League, only Erling Haaland, Igor Thiago, Antoine Semenyo, and Ekitiké have more league goals than Pedro’s nine.
But stats aside, Chelsea just look more dangerous with Pedro leading the attack. Their last league defeat? He started that one on the bench at Craven Cottage. Since Rosenior took over, Pedro has started and scored in every match.
Chelsea have brought in plenty of players from Brighton during the BlueCo era, but with the way things are going, João Pedro might end up being the best of the bunch.