Scott Minto was not too convinced by one decision Enzo Maresca made in Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Flamengo on Friday.
As he did in Chelsea‘s first game at the Club World Cup against Los Angeles FC, Maresca put out a very strong team at Lincoln Financial Field.
The likes of Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and new signing Liam Delap all started, though they were powerless to stop the Blues from losing in the end.
Plenty of spectators came to watch Caicedo, who lined up alongside Reece James in midfield on the day. Since then, Minto has questioned Maresca‘s decision to play the latter there.
Scott Minto feels Chelsea lack control without Romeo Lavia
Instead of James, Minto thinks Lavia should have partnered Caicedo in the middle of the park, feeling that Chelsea lost control without the Belgian.
Speaking on talkSPORT after Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Flamengo, the former Blue said: “I think Reece James is a wonderful player, but I don’t see him as a central midfielder. And I think Chelsea lost a bit of control by not having Lavia on the pitch.
“I would have played him. I said at half-time, maybe he would have put him on there and then to try and take control of the game.”
Maresca, of course, has to manage Lavia’s minutes after all of the injuries that the 21-year-old has picked up. It is perhaps one reason why the Chelsea manager decided to leave him on the bench.
That being said, Maresca still had other midfield options, such as Andrey Santos and Dario Essugo, making his decision to start James in the engine room baffling for some.
Santos’ father wanted to see the Brazilian in action, with Flamengo being the rivals of his son’s former club Vasco da Gama. But Santos was not handed a single minute against either them or LAFC.
How Romeo Lavia helped convince Mamadou Sarr to join Chelsea
Clearly, Minto feels that Lavia does a lot of good work when he is on the pitch, but the Belgium international has also done plenty off it.
Lavia helped convince Mamadou Sarr to join Chelsea after a conversation with the central defender when he was still at Strasbourg.
“I spoke with Malo [Gusto] before coming here, and Romeo a bit, and Andrey and Djordje [Petrovic],” Sarr revealed.
Like Santos, Sarr did not feature against Flamengo or LAFC and is still waiting to make his competitive Chelsea debut.
