We built a deep squad over the summer so that we can prepare for moments like this. That’s literally the reason they wanted such good squad depth. Now we have it, use it!
I don’t want to see any of our big name players starting tomorrow night against Wolves. I don’t even want to see some of them come on either. We have enough other quality options to cover and to go to Wolves and get a win. We also have a world class academy with some superb players who can come in and more than do a job.
We signed these players for a reason, so surely we must trust them? I will have no sympathy or time for fatigue excuses if I see the likes of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, and Joao Pedro starting tomorrow night – rest them. They clearly need it.
Chelsea can go with this lineup tomorrow night:
Robert Sanchez, Josh Acheampong, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Jorrel Hato, Romeo Lavia, Andrey Santos, Facundo Buonanotte, Jamie Gittens, Estevao Willian, Marc Guiu.
This is more than enough to go and get a result against Wolves and go through to the next round.
Yes, we should be taking this cup seriously because it’s all about winning silverware and building on last season’s success in that department at least. It’s also about building confidence and momentum back.
But Maresca now has to do a perfect balancing act and attempt to keep our players as fit as possible for a HUGE game at the weekend against a Tottenham side who are in good form. That is most important right now.
So many players need to rest this week and be fully fit and ready to go on Saturday. This is the time to do it.
Lavia and Santos are more than good enough to run the midfield against Wolves, a team who are full on meltdown mode right now. Back your players, back your depth. Now is the time. Give our key players a full week off.
