Paul Merson Rips Enzo Maresca for ‘Pathetic’ Chelsea Call

Paul Merson
has slammed
Enzo Maresca
Over the ‘poor’ squad he selected.
Chelsea
’s
Premier League
clash against Brentford.

Facing west London rivals Brentford just three days after
another derby against Tottenham
Maresca mixed things up by leaving out Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson from the starting lineup.

Chelsea lacked fluidity against Brentford and were
ended in a scoreless tie
As their dreams of securing a spot in next year’s Champions League took yet another hit.

Merson was ‘stunned’ by Maresca’s team choice and has raised questions about why some players are being saved for upcoming matches in the Europa Conference League.

Chelsea
Face off against Legia Warsaw from Poland on Thursday evening in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League.
the competition one level down from the Europa League.

‘I was astonished by the lineup Enzo Maresca sent out for Brentford,’ Merson stated.
Sky Sports
.’ When that team appeared, I was astonished. It was miserable.’

‘Chelsea has clinched the Champions League title. Now we’re talking about the Europa Conference League, and he’s choosing to rest his players for this competition?’

‘Qualifying for the Champions League must be the ultimate goal. They absolutely have to be part of it.’

‘If they finish sixth in the Premier League and lift the Europa Conference League trophy, it would be astonishing. Absolutely astounding.’

‘This is Legia Warsaw; I mean, they’re good and all, but they aren’t going to defeat Chelsea in two matches. However, you really do need to get past Brentford.’

‘If they had claimed victory in that match and followed up by beating Ipswich over the weekend, they would be just six games away from securing Champions League football.’

‘And consider what occurred after substitutes such as Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson entered the game; they took control of the match against Brentford.’

‘However, things have changed as they are now directly facing this challenge. Chelsea may need to be positioned above Manchester City to secure a spot in the Champions League, during a period where every squad finishing higher than City has claimed the Premier League title.’

Chelsea had a fleeting chance of mounting a serious title challenge during Maresca’s initial year with the club at Stamford Bridge, but they now find themselves facing an enormous battle merely to secure a spot in the Champions League.

Earlier this week, the former Liverpool and England defender did so.
Jamie Carragher predicted Chelsea would fall short of Champions League qualification
.

Merson remains skeptical about Maresca and states that it would be an ‘utter catastrophe’ if Chelsea were to fail yet again in qualifying for the Champions League.

’Merson commented, ‘Enzo Maresca needs to perform consistently until the end of May for me to be impressed.’

‘Everyone says Chelsea are performing great, but with one of the largest teams globally, they still have a long way to go for the Premier League title.’

‘Man City and Arsenal have dominated the Premier League the last two years and Chelsea are a million points off the title in the year they drop off.

‘And these players are going to be together for the next six or seven years because of their contracts. It’s madness, absolutely madness.

‘Six high-priced players are presently on loan as they’re not getting game time, which could spell total trouble if they fail to secure Champions League football next season.’

‘Winning the Conference League? Really? There are one or two teams in this competition that I’ve barely even heard of.’

To read more stories like this,
check our sport page

.

Stay updated with Sports for the newest information on

Facebook
,

Twitter
and
Instagram

.

Interested in receiving customized updates about your favorite team? Subscribe to our Football newsletter and let us know which club you back.