Rare training-ground time might help Enzo Maresca fix Chelsea's soft underbelly

The sequence that enabled Crystal Palace to extend Chelsea’s winter malaise into 2025 unfolded with grim inevitability in the 82nd minute at Selhurst Park.

A risky pass from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez through the middle of the pitch to Cole Palmer saw him immediately swarmed by two Palace players. The ensuing quick turnover exposed an ocean of space around Moises Caicedo for Ismaila Sarr to exploit, with Enzo Fernandez far ahead of the ball and both Chelsea full-backs spread wide rather than inverting into midfield. Palace’s Eberechi Eze recognised the potential of the situation much sooner than opponent Malo Gusto.

One tackle, three quick passes, and a tap-in for Jean-Philippe Mateta made it 1-1.

It was the logical culmination of a second half in which Palace brought a level of intensity to the game that Chelsea simply could not equal and were rewarded in the final stretch of a match that Enzo Maresca’s team began with a swagger but ended with a stagger.

The first-half shot count was Palace 4-9 Chelsea. In the second half, it was Palace 9-6 Chelsea. Of the 15 times the visitors were dispossessed on Saturday at Selhurst Park, 11 occurred after half-time. Whether due to fatigue, structural weaknesses, complacency or a cocktail of all three, a level of carelessness crept into their game which, in the Premier League, is rarely conducive to winning.

Chelsea’s head coach offered his explanation. “If I had to decide the reason why we didn’t win the game, we need to be clinical when you have the chance to kill the game,” Maresca said in his post-match press conference. “Because if it’s 2-0, the game is probably finished, but if you continue to be open, open, open, you are likely going to concede some transitions and some corners and then you can concede (a goal).”

But in reality, Chelsea had few clear chances to double their lead after half-time, beyond a left-footed shot that Nicolas Jackson screwed wide in the 70th minute. Eze should have brought Palace level much earlier in the second half when he connected with Daniel Munoz’s inviting cutback unmarked in the penalty area, but he somehow failed to find the target. Sanchez was by far the busier goalkeeper, making five saves on the day to counterpart Dean Henderson’s zero.

Most of Chelsea’s best attacking work came in a bright opening 45 minutes when Jadon Sancho dazzled in combination with Marc Cucurella, Fernandez and, most effectively, Palmer, who opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Would 2-0 have been enough? Chelsea are yet to lose a two-goal lead under Maresca halfway through his debut season, but the knowledge they almost always concede at least once (the wait for their fifth Premier League clean sheet of 2024-25 goes on after this 20th fixture) would likely have been enough to keep most opponents pushing until the very end.

Seven of the 24 league goals Chelsea have conceded this season have been scored after the 75th minute. Another sign of creeping fatigue? Maresca’s decision to make five changes to his starting XI against Ipswich Town on Monday seemed indicative of a belief that fresh legs were required to navigate the frantic festive schedule, but he has downplayed the notion whenever questioned about his striking reluctance to make substitutions, which was in evidence again at Selhurst Park.

Jackson was the first Chelsea player withdrawn against Palace in the 81st minute and, notably, he was replaced by enthusiastic youngster Marc Guiu rather than a more expensive attacking signing in Christopher Nkunku or Joao Felix. Noni Madueke came on for Sancho five minutes later as Maresca chased a winner, but he looked ill at ease on the left.

“Let me ask you: which player would you change today?” Maresca fired back at the journalist who raised his relative lack of substitutions in the post-match press conference.

“I know that is my job, but sometimes when we do some changes, it is because there is one that is not good enough and we change for another one. Or simple: one that is playing is tired and is not pressing good. I think the 11 on the pitch were all good. Pedro (Neto) was very good, Jadon was good, Nico (Jackson) was good, Cole was good, Enzo was good, Moi (Caicedo) was good, Levi (Colwill) was good, Josh (Acheampong) was good… to make change for (the sake of) change, I don’t like.

“I like to make changes when we know the reason why and the reason why we changed Nico was because he was pressing and was a bit tired. Marc (Guiu) was fresh, new energy, and it is exactly the same with Noni for Jadon. This is the reason.”

Chelsea’s late-game execution against Fulham on Boxing Day and at Palace in particular did not justify Maresca’s bullish faith in his starters and as long as that remains the case, the impression will persist of a head coach who is simply not convinced of the viable depth of this squad in the unforgiving heat of Premier League matches.

Put simply, the list of players Maresca truly trusts when it matters seems to be shrinking rather than growing — though it may have gained one new name on Saturday in teenager Acheampong, highly impressive with and without the ball in central defence next to Colwill on his full Premier League debut and surely primed for more appearances in the coming weeks at the expense of Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi.

This now four-game winless run has been clarifying for the progress of the Maresca project. No longer seen as feel-good fringe title contenders, Chelsea have found a truer level in an increasingly congested race to join leaders Liverpool and second-placed Arsenal in the final top four come May.

Manchester City appear to have woken from their two-month doze with successive victories and Newcastle are rapidly gaining ground, having won five straight league matches. Nottingham Forest continue to confound all expectations, Aston Villa are far from done and Bournemouth, the next Premier League visitors to Stamford Bridge on January 14, are playing well enough to dream of the first European qualification in the former non-League club’s history.

Before then, Maresca has a luxury he has not had since September: a full week to work with his players in the meeting rooms and on the pitches at Cobham. A hands-on, training-ground type of coach, the Italian will not get a better chance for the rest of this season to reinforce tactical details, while a UEFA Conference League-level assignment against League Two visitors Morecambe in the FA Cup third round next weekend should enable the first string to refresh bodies as well as minds.

The circumstances are there for Chelsea to snap out of their Premier League mini-slump in that match against Bournemouth, but Maresca and his players have work to do to make it happen.

(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)