Maresca suggests he cannot select two in-form Chelsea players together.

Enzo Maresca, the new manager of Chelsea, has certainly made an impressive start to his reign at Stamford Bridge. In fact, he has hinted that his two in-form strikers, Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson, may not be playing in the same starting XI anytime soon.

Last Saturday, Chelsea had a comprehensive win against West Ham, and Maresca followed it up with a masterful 5-0 thrashing of Barrow in the EFL Cup. Nkunku, who had a tough first season in England due to injuries, scored an impressive hat-trick in this match. This has led to a lot of talk about him playing a bigger role in the Premier League.

However, Maresca has mostly used Nkunku as a substitute so far this season. While Nkunku did prove to be the matchwinner in a recent game against Bournemouth, he has mostly had to play second fiddle to Jackson. Jackson, a former Villarreal player, has had a fine start to the new campaign, scoring smartly taken braces against West Ham and other teams.

When asked if the two strikers' potency was the main reason for Chelsea's early improvement under his management, Maresca said, "It's difficult to judge because I was not here last year. The only thing I can judge is that they're both doing fantastic. Not just because they score, but also because they work hard off the ball. They sacrifice for the team."

Maresca also mentioned that it was a nice problem to have two strikers who can continue scoring for the team. He added that Marc Guiu, another striker, was not scoring at the moment but hopefully would soon. This gives Maresca the luxury of choosing between Nkunku and Jackson, depending on who is in better form.

However, when asked if Jackson and Nkunku could play together in the same starting XI, Maresca expressed his concerns about maintaining defensive balance. He said, "It could be possible, but the problem is the defensive balance. We can think of playing with Nicolas, Christo, Joao, Cole Palmer, Noni, all fantastic players! But then who will defend? You and me?"

Maresca also shared his love for football and keeping possession of the ball, but he acknowledged the importance of defending when the team loses possession. He said, "I would love to play all of them, but not everyone can defend at the same level."

In other Chelsea news, sign up for exclusive content and analysis. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]