Enzo Maresca put out a strong Chelsea team for the club’s second pre-season game against Celtic on Saturday.
The likes of Benoit Badiashile, Reece James and Christopher Nkunku all started, but that did not prevent Chelsea from losing the match.
Celtic went on to win 4-1, with Brendan Rodgers’ side finding themselves 4-0 up at one point.
Enzo Maresca wasn’t happy with his Chelsea defence, which obviously included Badiashile, who was at fault for one of the goals the Blues conceded.
Benoit Badiashile’s costly error
Badiashile’s passing on the day was not great, though the same can be said about some of Chelsea’s other players.
However, it was one of his sloppy balls that resulted in Celtic scoring, while his overall performance did not seem to impress Chelsea supporters.
One Chelsea fan took to X to say: “Badiashile, rubbish, should be loaned or sold. Believe me, this guy is not good enough for CFC.”
Another supporter said: “Badiashile needs to hold bench in our next game. I want to see a Tosin-Colwill-Veiga back three in possession.”
One user on X stated: “Badiashile shouldn’t be anywhere near the starting XI from here on.”
Another questioned what the Frenchman has become: “Badiashile, what happened to you, man?”
And one other fan said: “I’m not even joking, Malang Sarr would do a better job than Badiashile and [Wesley] Fofana.”
Possibly having to compete against both Levi Colwill and Renato Veiga for the left centre-back spot this upcoming season, Badiashile really needs to up his game.
It has been claimed that Maresca could still get rid of Badiashile before the transfer window closes.
Wesley Fofana’s performance against Celtic
Badiashile’s compatriot Fofana looked way more confident and assured on the ball than the former AS Monaco man did.
However, defensively, Fofana and Chelsea’s other defenders were not good enough against Celtic.
How high their line was at times and the manner in which Celtic were able to beat it with just one ball over the top was worrying.
That is something that certainly needs to be worked on, otherwise Chelsea will find themselves in big trouble when the Premier League restarts next month.
Maresca’s men welcome Premier League champions Manchester City to Stamford Bridge. It will be an easy three points for them if Chelsea repeat the performance that they put in against Celtic.
Chelsea will not take any risks with Fofana in pre-season, so that should help him get to August 18, when the Blues face City, unscathed hopefully.
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