Premier League football is a weekly exercise in high-stakes problem-solving. Like most coaches, Enzo Maresca knows when his team does not have all the answers.
There was a reason, beyond mere expectation management, why Maresca insisted this week that Chelsea are not ready to compete with Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League just yet. The contrasting experiences of their last two league games at Stamford Bridge succinctly summed up why.
Against Brighton, as against Wolves at Molineux last month, Chelsea proved they are even better equipped than they were last season to destroy teams who afford them the luxury of space to attack; to overwhelm less talented opponents who seek to do what they do: press the passer and pass through pressure.
Nottingham Forest arrived at Stamford Bridge determined to deploy asymmetric strategies.
You want to dominate open play? We will play for set pieces. You want to control the ball on the ground? We will control the air. You want to play fast? We will waste time on every restart. You want to press us into turnovers? We will grab the ball in both hands to stop you getting away.
James Ward-Prowse’s second yellow card is likely to be the funniest seen in the Premier League all season, but it was also indicative of Forest’s broader approach. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team were dogged in a low block that only got lower after being reduced to 10 men, but were unerringly wily. Every bit as sure of their own advantages as they were of their limitations and utterly focused on dictating the terms of engagement.
Chelsea controlled the first 49 minutes, but it was no great shock when they were stung by a well-worked set piece.
Even with a man extra, they gave up almost as many good chances to lose the game during 13 mad minutes of additional time as they generated to win it. They also got sucked into a mass brawl that came within one rush of blood to the head (beyond Nicolas Jackson’s moment of silliness to strike Morato) of returning the two teams to equal numbers.
On another day — perhaps one on which Matz Sels does not react with such spectacular agility to deny two quick Cole Palmer shots after a genius first-time flick around a defender, or one on which Joao Felix simply finds the target with a surprisingly towering header — Chelsea might have won this game anyway.
The point is that days like this one happen, and tend to happen fairly frequently in the Premier League, to teams who are less than fully formed.
Maresca will be less worried about the problems his Chelsea team could not solve against Forest than the ones he now faces on the other side of the October international break. Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana are both suspended for the trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool, having picked up their fifth yellow cards in seven appearances on Sunday.
Levi Colwill signalled to Maresca early in the second half that he had pulled something on his left side, and was substituted in clear discomfort in added time. Noni Madueke also limped heavily out of the mass brawl, though Maresca was keen to play down both issues in his post-match press conference.
Last but not least, Jackson could also face retrospective action from the Football Association for striking Morato, even though the VAR mysteriously decided that his actions fell short of violent conduct.
Add all of those together and Chelsea could look very different against Liverpool. Any suspension for Jackson may not spark much anxiety in supporters if it means giving Christopher Nkunku a chance in the Premier League, while Pedro Neto’s increasing sharpness makes it easier to stomach a short Madueke absence, despite his well-taken goal against Forest.
The defence is a different story.
Chelsea have not exactly been shutting down opponents in the Premier League so far — of their two clean sheets in seven games, the one recorded against Bournemouth was highly fortunate — but there has at least been consistency of selection, and a sense of growing familiarity within the unit.
Colwill and Fofana in particular show real promise as a partnership, with highly complementary skill sets and styles. Malo Gusto looks more comfortable inverting into midfield by the week, and Cucurella has built on his Euro 2024 form by providing a consistent, effective nuisance to opponents. Behind them, Robert Sanchez rebounded from several bad errors against Brighton to make a series of excellent, vital saves against Forest.
Only a minor injury to Gusto has disrupted that back five in Chelsea’s first seven Premier League games, but Maresca is certain to be without Cucurella and Fofana against Liverpool and may also have a difficult decision to make about the readiness of Colwill, who punctuated a largely impressive display against Forest by brilliantly blocking a goal-bound Ryan Yates shot towards the end of the first half.
As highlighted by his decision to square up to Neco Williams after the Wales international sent Cucurella flying into Maresca in the Chelsea technical area, Colwill is also a leading purveyor of the “spirit” that his head coach referenced repeatedly in his post-match press conference. If he is not fit enough to play against Liverpool, that might be missed most of all.
Tosin Adarabioyo and Benoit Badiashile are capable players who will be motivated to seize an opportunity like this one, but their partnership did not fully convince in the Europa Conference League group phase opener against Gent. Axel Disasi looks unlikely to be picked at centre-back ahead of either. Renato Veiga has flashed improvement and increasing assurance in recent weeks, but that progress is not quite sufficient to put the mind at ease when the assignment is defending Mohamed Salah at Anfield.
“We have the international break, time to see how we can organise,” Maresca said when asked about the suspensions that Cucurella and Fofana must now serve. The problems never stop coming in the Premier League, and the next two weeks might constitute the biggest test yet of Chelsea’s head coach and his ability to provide solutions.
(Top photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
