“Unpopular” – Maresca criticised for not making most of his “attacking talent” | OneFootball

Chelsea are playing a rotated team in a tough away game in the Conference League, and the first half was as dull as you’d expect.

The Blues have really struggled with generating consistent, exciting attacking play for months now, and today, with the likes of Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez rested, it’s been more of the same.

Coming to a tough place to play like this was always going to be a challenge, and it was very worth playing a nice, slow introduction to the game as they did, to quieten the crowd, find their feet and let the smoke from the pre-game flares fade.

But once that initial bridgehead was established, we wanted the team to go up a gear, and they simply haven’t been able to do that. Bar a couple of bursts form Tyrique George out on the left wing, the Blues have been far too happy to just keep the ball.

It’s all very well in the Champions League quarter finals against Barcelona or Bayern. But this is the Conference League against Legia Warsaw. As Lucy Ward pointed out on commentary for TNT Sports who are covering the game in the UK, it’s a familiar story for Chelsea fans who have been bored silly by a lot of their team’s showings since Christmas.

“There’s a bigger picture here in terms of Chelsea’s form recently. They want to keep possession but it’s unpopular because of the attacking talent they have. This is similar to how their Premier League games have gone.”

Struggling Nkunku anonymous once again

Christopher Nkunku loses another physical duel. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

She identified an issue which has been clear for a very long time – the presence of Christopher Nkunku as our main attacker.

“You need a box presence who’s a number 9 who runs in behind. Nkunku isn’t a 9.”

It really is as simple as that.