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| Credit: Getty Images (Jacques Feeney/Offside |
There were some harsh reactions to Enzo Maresca's team lineup against Brentford on Sunday.
Enzo Maresca made five changes to the team that beat Tottenham just three days prior - the likes of Nicholas Jackson, Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella all making way.
Chelsea's two big targets for the end of the season remain: they want to finish in a Champions League qualifying position (likely fifth place or higher) and they want to take home the UEFA Conference League title. It means that in the final two months of the season, the fixure list will be packed.
Maresca's changes on Sunday represent a more conservative approach - making use of the Blues' backup players, and hoping the likes of Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall would have enough to secure a victory.
That was not the case, and both were substituted before the hour mark in favour of Palmer and Jackson.
A big majority of the Blues fanbase is heavily invested in their club's success, and mood around the head coach and management team has darkened slightly in recent months.
There's been protests outside Stamford Bridge pointed at the BlueCo hierarchy, as well as an ongoing feud over whether the club should remain at Stamford Bridge or move to a new, larger site.
Scrolling Twitter, as I often do before kick-off, I was somewhat put off by fan's reactions to the team, with many outraged at the number of changes. Some even conceded that Chelsea would now surely miss out on Champions League football - based solely on a starting lineup.
It's hard to preach positivity when the large majority have differing opinions to you, but I respected Maresca's choice. The game ended 0-0 in an evenly matched, relatively boring affair, and in the end Chelsea stayed in fourth place, due to the Manchester derby ending in the same scoreline.
What puts me off even more is that fans are very lazy when it comes to pointing blame. They are angered by our transfer strategy, but instead of blaming the sporting directors, they blame the owners. When there's such negative reaction to the team lineup, you shouldn't be wishing for Maresca to get the sack, you should point issue at Chelsea's reserve players.
These are the players that Maresca has been given. With Felix on loan, Dewsbury-Hall is our backup to Cole Palmer. Reece James was in at left-back because we have no other left-backs at the club (no Chilwell, no Veiga, and Lewis Hall and Ian Maatsen are long gone).
The team lineup may look odd, but that is the result of rotation. And I will concede the likes of Christopher Nkunku and Jadon Sancho are under scrutiny at the moment, and perhaps should not be near the starting lineup to begin with, but they are still Chelsea players for the time being.
Drawing 0-0 with Brentford is far better than playing Cole Palmer for the full ninety minutes and risking a long term injury. Same with Nico Jackson, who's been one of our best players this season when fit - you could see the difference he made coming on in the second half, Chelsea were attacking so much better and creating more chances after being pegged back by Brentford in the first.
The Spurs game was special because fans were in loud voice - it was the loudest the stadium had been in a good while, and we won the game 1-0. We need that type of energy for the final run-in, what we don't need is useless debate over if Mauricio Pochettino was a better Chelsea manager.