Enzo Maresca’s first competitive game as Chelsea manager ended in a 2-0 defeat to retaining Premier League Champions Manchester City.
Goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic in each half were enough to give Pep Guardiola’s side a comfortable win at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea midfielder and captain Enzo Fernandez was labeled the worst Chelsea player against Manchester City by Chelsea legend Frank Leboeuf.
Who was Frank Leboeuf’s worst Chelsea player against Manchester City?
Frank Leboeuf, Rating Chelse’s performance against Manchester City, said on ESPN: “I found Enzo Fernandez the poorest in that game.
“He is the skipper. He has to set an example. I didn’t feel he was sharp or ready to fight.
“They are still trying stuff… I can feel something is getting better at Chelsea. But at the end of the day, if you can’t score goals, because you don’t have a striker, that is a big problem.”
Meanwhile, Former Liverpool, Tottenham, and England midfielder Jamie Redknapp has expressed disappointment in Chelsea’s starting lineup and claims Chelsea has failed to strengthen two important areas.
Jamie Redknapp, who was impressed with Chelsea’s performance against Manchester City, has claimed that Chelsea lacked a proper striker and a goalkeeper, as evident in their 2-0 loss to the retaining Premier League Champions.
The former Premier League star said on SkySports when analyzing the match: “If Savinho had played for Chelsea today, I think he would have found it really difficult, but he’s come into a Manchester City team that is just a well-oiled machine,’ Redknapp said shortly after City’s comfortable victory.
“He knows what he’s got to do, he knows his job. Pep had to change it just to make that tactical tweak, and it’s much easier to play in a team when there’s a calmness and an assurance.
“With this Chelsea team it’s like you’re throwing a bunch of strangers together and it’s very difficult to do that.
“You’re bringing players off the bench, you’re trying to make things happen. It’s going to take a lot of time for Maresca to get them playing how he wants and find out what his best XI is.
“They’ve spent £1.2billion and they still haven’t got a top striker and I’m not even sure they’ve got a good goalkeeper.
“For all the money they’ve spent, they haven’t really filled two of the most important areas.”
Chelsea’s next Premier League game is on Sunday against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium.
