- Marseca have been reluctant to make substitutions in a run of four games without a win
- Joao Félix is one of those who have recently been substitutes not used regularly
- LISTEN NOW: It's all starting! New line-up, some new faces, but optimism has faded at Old Trafford
When Joao Félix signed for Chelsea in the summer, the obligatory interview with the club's website took place. “I can't wait to get started,” said the 25-year-old Portuguese. Some would say he is still waiting.
Felix has been an unused substitute in eight of the last 11 Premier League games in which he has been on the bench, including Saturday's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. The three times that Enzo Maresca entered were in the 81st, 86th and 89th minutes.
This is not to say that Felix should be used week after week. Rather, it is a glaring £45m example of how Maresca is not the most proactive coach when it comes to such adjustments, as a potential game-changer whose creativity could occasionally come in handy when the legs get tired.
First, some statistics:
- Only three Premier League clubs have used fewer substitutes than Chelsea's 74: Crystal Palace (71), Manchester City (64) and Everton (58).
- The average time for Chelsea's first substitute is 63 minutes and only three clubs expect more: Brentford (64), Fulham (65) and Ipswich (66).
- Jadon Sancho was the last substitute to score (Southampton on December 4) and Noni Madueke was the last to assist (Aston Villa on December 1)
Enzo Maresca has not proven to be the most proactive coach when it comes to modifying substitutes
Joao Félix has not played in eight of the last 11 Premier League games when he was on the bench
Jadon Sancho was the last substitute to score for Chelsea against Southampton last month.
Chelsea have conceded seven goals in the last 15 minutes of games this season and their next Premier League rivals, Bournemouth, who are ranked top of the table for total substitutions used, have scored more in that period than any other team, 12 in total.
Maresca is right to question the size of his squad after Chelsea were mocked in the summer, but depth? He is up there with the best in the Premier League, including the talent coming out of Cobham. It's such a big roster that they can name a completely new team in the Conference League and still win every game.
There was an interesting exchange in Maresca's post-match press conference at Selhurst Park. He was asked why he had stopped using his substitutes.
It was a fair question. In the midst of this streak of four games without winning, he has used two at Everton (Christopher Nkunku in the 75th minute, Madueke in the 76th), one at home against Fulham (Nkunku in the 73rd), four in Ipswich (Nicolas Jackson in the 55th, Sancho at 65, Pedro Neto and Malo Gusto at 77, all of them 2-0 down) and two in Crystal Palace (Marc Guiu at 81, Madueke to 81). 86).
And then they asked Maresca why. He answered his own question, asking who specifically he should have traded. The back-and-forth concluded with the Chelsea head coach explaining that his job is to know when it's best to make adjustments, adding: “I like to make changes when we know why.”
And that's fair enough. Maresca has a UEFA Pro license and is such a strategist that he wrote a thesis on the similarities between chess and football while studying at the famous Coverciano football school. Meanwhile, we writers try to think of puns that aren't too cheesy.
But it can still be frustrating to watch the clock count down and the players warm up, knowing that they and we know that the probability of an appearance decreases by the minute.
Jean-Philippe Mateta's goal was the seventh conceded in the last 15 minutes of the game
Marc Guiu was one of the two substitutes at Crystal Palace, who arrived after the 80th minute
At the start of this Premier League season, it was working. In the first four games, Chelsea's substitutes registered a third of the goals they achieved in their entire last campaign.
Félix scored against Wolves while Neto helped as a tactical exchange at halftime. Sancho also came on at half-time at Bournemouth (another unforced substitution) and set up Nkunku to score the winning goal. At the time, there was a feeling that if Chelsea could stay in the games until the final half hour, then their substitutes could make the difference for Maresca.
But those impacts have since petered out. Bournemouth is their next visitor in the Premier League, a team unbeaten in their last eight games under Andoni Iraola.
That match is more than a week away, so Maresca is expected to have enough time in training to decide who he can trust enough to call him up, provided the time is right.