Maresca spoke about Madueke and Felix post-match
Enzo Maresca used an increasingly common two-word phrase to explain Noni Madueke’s omission from Chelsea’s squad to face Fulham, while Joao Felix’s situation looks even bleaker despite being named on the bench.
Chelsea sought to get back to winning ways on Boxing Day having been held to a 0-0 draw with Everton at Goodison Park last time out. Fulham were the visitors at Stamford Bridge – a ground they’d not won at in the league in 45 years.
Cole Palmer put the Blues one up with a superb solo goal. However, Marco Silva’s side battled hard to remain in the contest and earned their reward late on.
Harry Wilson levelled the scores in the 82nd minute before Rodrigo Muniz sent the away support into raptures with an injury-time winner.
It was a costly defeat for Chelsea if they’re to be considered title challengers. It was also a sobering day for winger Noni Madueke who was left out of the matchday squad entirely.
Asked to explain Madueke’s omission post-match, Maresca – who named two goalkeepers on the bench – simply replied: “technical decision.”
The phrase ‘technical decision’ has become an increasingly common way for managers to suggest a player’s absence is not related to injury.
Instead, it’s often used when referring to players who the manager is aiming to make a point with via their snub.
It is not the first time Maresca has shown his dissatisfaction with Madueke, with the England international relegated to the bench for the league clash with Aston Villa earlier in December.
Explaining his decision at the time, Maresca pointed to what he’d seen from Madueke in training.
“In the moment that he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit,” Maresca explained after the Villa clash.
“The reason he was not playing [against Aston Villa] is because I don’t like the way he trained. He has to understand that he has to train every day good, he has to be ambitious.”
Chelsea situation even bleaker for Joao Felix
Another high profile attacker who didn’t feature against Fulham – despite being named on the bench – was Joao Felix.
The £46.3m signing was an unused substitute for the seventh time in the Premier League this season. His nine league appearances this term – only two of which were starts – have totalled just 293 minutes of action.
Maresca was subsequently asked why he didn’t see fit to introduce Felix to the action in a contest in which he made just one substitution (Christopher Nkunku for Nicolas Jackson).
His response centred around his belief Felix is only useful in the No 10 role that unfortunately for the player, is locked up by Cole Palmer.
And with Palmer already Chelsea’s talisman, younger than Felix, and rarely substituted off, Felix may have to get accustomed to warming the bench in the bigger competitions like the Premier League.
Maresca said: “For Joao I said Joao more or less has the same position as Cole, in some games they already played together but then it’s a matter of balance, this is the season why.”
