Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has hinted at dropping Estevao for their trip to Bournemouth on Saturday following their midweek defeat by Leeds.
Enzo Maresca Hints At Dropping Estevao
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has hinted at dropping Estevao against Bournemouth on Saturday.
The 18-year-old has started in the Blues’ last three games across all competitions, the first coming as he scored in the 3-0 Champions League win over LaLiga giants Barcelona last week.
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He was withdrawn at the break in the following two matches however, first in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal last Sunday and then in the 3-1 defeat by relegation-battlers Leeds in midweek.
Ahead of the West London club’s trip to the Vitality Stadium this weekend, journalists questioned Maresca about the Brazilian’s performance away at Elland Road on Wednesday night.
Some suggested the Whites targeted Estevao, but Maresca feels he wasn’t the only one.
“My feeling was not Leeds targeted him, my feeling was they targeted all of our players, not just Estevao. It’s something that will be a process for him to become better and better.”
He continued, hinting that the youngster may drop to the bench as he needs to be ‘managed’.
“It’s too easy to put him on the pitch and play, play, play but we need to manage him a bit.”
In total, Estevao has played in 19 games for Chelsea across all competitions this term, totalling five goals and one assist – an impressive return halfway through his debut campaign in Europe.
Despite this, he may now be set for a spell on the substitutes’ bench, especially as Cole Palmer has made his return from injury. Palmer fractured his toe and has suffered with a recurring groin issue since late August but returned to action against Leeds earlier this week.
The 23-year-old is in line to make his first start in almost three months against the Cherries.
Maresca Provides Chelsea Injury Update for Bournemouth
In terms of injury news, Maresca confirmed that there are no new concerns within the squad.
Their only injuries are with Levi Colwill (knee), Romeo Lavia (thigh) and Dario Essugo (thigh).
The Italian said: “Just Moi [Caicedo] is suspended and then we don’t have any new injuries.”
Caicedo’s red card against Arsenal means he is out for three games, with the Bournemouth clash being the second he misses out on. He will also miss the Everton game next weekend.
Maresca continued, providing an update on Lavia’s muscular injury: “It’s a muscle problem. We don’t know yet when he can be back. We don’t know [whether it’s long or short term].”
Chelsea’s rotations against Leeds were another key point discussed, with Maresca responding to criticism over naming the likes of Pedro Neto and Reece James on the bench.
“Most of the rotation we do is because the other ones cannot play,” he said.
“We have players in this moment that are not able to play every three days.”
But while he was firm in his decision to rotate the starting lineup, the former Leicester City manager admitted his regret at not playing Cobham academy graduate Josh Acheampong.
“One of the regrets I have after the game is that I didn’t play with Josh [Acheampong].
“The reason why we played with Trevoh [Chalobah], Benoit [Badiashile] and Tosin [Adarabioyo] was because we saw long balls to their strikers, but even that, we lost most of them.”
Looking ahead to Saturday, Maresca said: “Bournemouth will be a similar game to Leeds, that is why we need to be better. Leeds was very intense and were better than us in all the aspects.
“Hopefully we can learn from that and be better tomorrow.”
The pair face off in one of five 15:00 kick-offs on Saturday, with the Blues looking to bounce back after their midweek defeat, while the Cherries are looking to end a five-game winless run.
