Enzo Maresca Reveals Chelsea ‘Regret’ in Leeds Defeat, Digs Out Senior Player

Chelsea were thrashed by long-time rivals Leeds United at Elland Road.

Enzo Maresca lamented his own selection decisions in midweek. / Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has admitted he “regrets” not picking teenage defender Josh Acheampong for this week’s humbling defeat to Leeds United.

The Blues fell to fourth in the Premier League table, slipping a full nine points behind leaders Arsenal, following the 3–1 reverse at Elland Road.

For the trip to West Yorkshire, Maresca made five changes from the team that held Arsenal to a draw last weekend—one enforced because of Moisés Caicedo’s suspension.

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Acheampong, 19, hasn’t appeared in a Premier League setting since he started the defeat to Sunderland on Oct. 25. He sat on the bench in Leeds, but the benefit of hindsight made Maresca see that he should have been recalled to the starting XI.

Maresca wishes Josh Acheampong had played. / Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

“One of the regrets I have after the game is I didn’t play with Josh,” the boss said.

He added that the defenders chosen were done so with specific purpose: “So the reason why we played with Trev [Chalobah], Tosin and Benoît [Badiashile] is because analysing them, we saw that most of the time they were playing long ball for [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin, for [Lukas] Nmecha. And so we prefer physicality to win aerial duels. But even with that, we lost most of them.”

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Maresca Pushes Back on Claims Chelsea Lack Vital Experience

Tosin Adarabioyo had a tough night at Elland Road. / Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

“It’s not [a lack of leadership]. I love a young squad, I love young players and I’m delighted with the players I have,” Maresca responded when asked to decipher the reasons behind the Leeds result.

Rather, the level of overall performance is what led Chelsea down in the manager’s opinion.

“I was very surprised about the performance, no doubt, because I expect more in general, in all the aspects,” he explained.

“But when we prepared the game, we analysed all the small details, we were aware about the Arsenal game, to play with 10 players for one hour, making some rotation because we need to protect players. We were ready in some moments, but not for the entire game.

Maresca seemed to aim a swipe at centre back Tosin, one of the older and more experienced players in the squad at the age of 28. The former Manchester City talent has come in for criticism a number of times already this season and was again disappointing against Leeds.

Experience, clearly, is not everything.

Experienced defender Tosin was poor anyway. / Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

“We always talk about experience when we drop points. When we beat Barcelona, we drew against Arsenal, no one was mentioning about experienced players,” Maresca highlighted.

“I understand that when we don’t win, we are always looking for the reason why, but I think the reason why we didn’t win against Leeds is not because of the experience, it’s because we were not good enough.

“We have experienced players. Unfortunately, they were not on the pitch. [Moisés Caicedo] because he was suspended, [Reece James] because of injury. So, it’s because in that moment, the ones that have more experience, they were out. Who is the oldest one for us in the pitch? Tosin. Did he play good? So, it’s not about experience. It’s about that 11 players, they were not good enough.

“I know that we are always looking for experience, but it was a bad game for all of us.”

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