Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has taken extreme measures against his senior stars after they reportedly suffered a humiliating defeat to the Under-21 squad in a training match on Wednesday. Reports suggest Maresca moved to cancel a scheduled day off for his senior players this week after they were beaten 3-0 by the club’s Under-21 team in what has been described as a ‘training exercise’. The Italian has been working with the players who were not called up for international duty during the two-week period, but it appears their work has yielded little improvement.
Maresca made the decision to scrap the day off after he was ‘disappointed’ by what he had seen during the drill, according to The Athletic. The training drill was not a typical 90-minute match between the two sides, yet there was still enough time for the Under-21 development squad – filled with graduates from their Cobham academy – to pull off a convincing win. Striker Donnell McNeilly, 19, produced an eye-catching performance and scored twice.
Senior players who were left at home during the international break were involved in the match and represented Chelsea. The Under-21s had included some youth scholars in their team to make up the numbers, indicating that the teams would’ve been unbalanced in terms of experience.
But McNeilly – who has bagged the most goals of any Chelsea player from the U16s upwards during the 2023-24 season – fired two goals past the Blues’ goalkeepers. While many academy graduates have made their debuts this season, McNeilly is yet to appear for the west London outfit.
Maresca had reserved Thursday, March 28 as a day off for his players, with other players returning from international duty and injury in time for Friday’s session. But his underperforming flops were summoned to the training base and put to work after he was ‘not happy with what he saw’.
The 45-year-old would’ve been happier to see Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke finally make their long-awaited comebacks from injury and join the squad for training on Friday.
Palmer hadn’t trained for the entirety of the international period due to a back problem and withdrew from the England squad, while Madueke has spent several months out with a hamstring issue.
Chelsea do not have a game scheduled for this weekend as the FA Cup quarter-final fixtures take place. That gives Palmer and Madueke time to recover and Maresca will be delighted to have the pair back in time for their crucial clash with Tottenham on Thursday.
