'No one can sleep' with Chelsea's insane squad depth
During this transfer window, and probably the last few transfer windows, my silent plea to Chelsea would have always been to not go overboard with too many transfers.
Despite that, it seems that the direction of the board is to flood the club with several talented prospects in each position, which leaves a difficult dilemma for the head coach regarding his main squad of players.
Maresca caught flack when he admitted that out of the 40 or so players Chelsea had on their books in pre-season, he had trimmed down a 'main squad' and sent the rest to train separately. Of course, Chelsea were not able to get rid of every single one of those fringe players, which is why you see players like Ben Chilwell (who Maresca stated wouldn't get any minutes in the team) getting a 45 minute run out in the Carabao Cup.
Chelsea's squad is a talented one, though, and most players will see some game time in the many competitions the Blues will feature in this year, namely the domestic cups as well as the Conference League, especially as the latter omits a few of Chelsea's star talent, namely Cole Palmer, who is having a lot of the weight taken off of him this year.
"In Wolverhampton, I was going to play maybe 90 per cent of the games. Here I have to work. It makes you play even better. With the quality we have, no one can sleep. It's the mentality that I hope can take us to the top."
Whatever Maresca is doing seems to be working - Chelsea made 11 changes to their starting 11 when they played Barrow on Tuesday night, and that B team looked just as switched on and aware of their roles as the first team did. A front four of Mudryk, Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto and Nkunku is formidable enough for most league games, let alone a league cup tie against a League Two team.
And although the defensive challenge from Barrow wouldn't be the same as that of a Premier League opponent, Chelsea's attack looked in tune, with all four players picking up at least one goal contribution.
Chelsea may have spent unfair amounts to get there, but the quality they have in squad depth is unbelievable. There's always the worry that the players who do not play will start to get complacent and unhappy, but hearing that quote from Pedro Neto is extremely promising.
The fact that comeptent and in form players can only make the bench for Chelsea shouldn't lead to anger or, in some ways, competition to get one over your positional counterpart, but it's an oppurtunity to learn from one another, and as Neto is saying, to grow and develop as a team.
Nkunku offers a different profile to Jackson, the same with Mudryk and Sancho, Palmer and Felix, Neto and Madueke. Each can improve the other so that Chelsea's attack is always firing.
Not only our depth, but now that our new signings are starting to link, good partnerships are being built in attack. The main ones being Cole Palmer and Nicholas Jackson, who have combined for 10 goals since the start of the 23/24 season - the most out of any attacking pairing.
It was Pochettino who sowed the seeds for it, letting Palmer thrive by giving him the freedom in attack, and whilst Jackson may have been occasionally unlucky in front of goal, he's begun this new season with a clinical nature and looks a lot more confident with a season under his belt.
Maresca should play to the strength of this pairing and continue to work towards cohesion in attack, which is where Chelsea will be formidable this season.