Chelsea head coach, Enzo Maresca, has shed light on the tactical reasoning behind his decision not to start Christopher Nkunku alongside fellow forward Nicholas Jackson
Nkunku’s remarkable performance in Chelsea’s Carabao Cup victory over Barrow (5–0) has drawn a lot of notice
Nkunku delivered a sensational hat-trick, netting twice within the first 15 minutes before Chelsea took full control of the match.
The third goal came as a Joao Felix free-kick ricocheted off the post and bounced in off Barrow’s goalkeeper, Paul Farman, sealing a commanding 3-0 lead by halftime.
When asked about the possibility of starting Nkunku with Jackson in future games, Maresca expressed his concerns about maintaining defensive balance with a heavily offensive lineup.
“The problem is the defensive balance,” Maresca explained. “We can think of playing Nicolas, Christo, Joao, Palmer, Noni—fantastic. But then who is defending? Me and you? We need to run back.”
Maresca went on to elaborate that while he admires the skill and creativity of his attacking players, putting all of them on the pitch at once could leave the team vulnerable defensively.
“I would love to put all of them in because I really like football, and I really like to keep the ball,” he added. “But the problem is, when you lose the ball, you have to defend, and not all of them can defend at the same level.”