Maresca Fires Back After Wayne Rooney Aims Shocking Dig at Chelsea Boss
After being challenged by Manchester United great Wayne Rooney, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has defended his rotation method.
For Chelsea’s Champions League draw at Qarabag on Wednesday, Rooney thinks Maresca made seven changes to his starting lineup. It was obviously “too much rotation” because the Blues were unable to win.
We wouldn’t even be praising the depth of the team if they had won since Chelsea, who have spent more than £1 billion in three years, should easily defeat Qarabag regardless of who starts.
Rooney vs Maresca: The Full Story
• Rooney slammed Maresca for rotating his squad too much against Qarabag
• Maresca fired back during Friday’s press conference, calmly defending his choices
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• The Chelsea boss explained his tactical reasoning with confidence
• Meanwhile, Rooney’s growing reputation as football’s most outspoken pundit just got stronger
As a manager, you can’t always succeed, particularly when you don’t win on the pitch. Chelsea performed poorly in Azerbaijan, and Jorrel Hato, one of the new players, was responsible for both of the goals in the 2-2 draw.
In addition to Tyrique George, Estevao, Jamie Gittens, Romeo Lavia, Andrey Santos, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Hato, Joao Pedro, Marc Cucurella, Reece James, and Robert Sanchez maintained their positions from the 1-0 victory at Tottenham Hotspur.
Maresca has a large team, and it is hard to satisfy everyone, but he must at least make an effort. The organisation still has to pay tens of millions for these guys.
Former England striker Rooney stated on his podcast after Chelsea’s 2-2 tie in Azerbaijan: “The players want to play, they want to build relationships.”
“The players won’t be satisfied if you keep cutting and replacing. That will, in my opinion, come back to haunt them.
You can’t question it if they consistently produce results. However, if they’re not, enquiries must be made.
“I think most clubs now have a leadership group and you have to go and question the manager as a group,” Rooney continued. This isn’t player power, despite what you hear others say about it.
“If the team continued to change, I would be worried. I would be telling my teammates, “Look, I’m not happy with this,” if I were in that group.
Maresca responds to Rooney’s critism with quiet confidence
Maresca was questioned over Rooney’s remarks during Friday’s news conference prior to Chelsea’s Premier League match against bottom-club Wolves. He wasn’t “hitting back” in his response. There was no “war of words.”
As a pundit, Rooney shared his thoughts, and, to be fair, Maresca responded to a journalist’s query in a cool, collected manner.
Regarding Rooney’s comments, the Chelsea head coach remarked, “We are in an era where anyone can say what they want.”
Since I joined the team, I have believed that players should be rotated. When you succeed, nobody is upset. I can see why nobody is in agreement when you don’t win.
“As a player, I like rotation because football is a little different now than it was in the past in terms of toughness and intensity.
Playing 65 games in a season with the same players is not feasible. “If you want to see the season like a marathon, you have to think in a different way when you are in February and March, the last sprint.” It’s a long race, though.
Wayne Rooney’s evolution into football’s most outspoken pundit
We claim that Rooney “said his opinion as a pundit,” yet this season, his views have been… controversial. That’s his right, after all.
Talking about recent criticism of the Premier League winners on Tuesday, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk towered over a nervous Rooney, who had previously questioned his form since signing a new contract.
Rooney has made a few dubious remarks this season, despite the fact that Liverpool has received a lot of just criticism.
He has been quite talkative since he started his career as a pundit, albeit his managerial endeavours have occasionally halted it. This is mostly because he seems to speak before thinking.
It makes for good television, and he’s talking a lot more this season now that he has his own podcast and no managerless club will touch him with a bargepole.
Rooney’s statement that Manchester United ought to have re-signed Danny Welbeck may seem like a terrible opinion to some, but it isn’t. It’s simply not a trendy view since Welbeck isn’t a flashy, youthful, foreign striker.
Other instances of Rooney’s controversy include his prediction that Mohamed Salah would depart Liverpool in January, his questioning of Bryan Mbeumo’s “ability” following his 20 Premier League goals for Brentford the previous season, and his insistence that Harry Maguire be included in England’s World Cup team.
Rooney’s archives are essentially filled with controversial viewpoints. And to tell the truth, we adore it. Wazza, keep them coming. Somehow, we have to keep the lights on.
