Chelsea are in an interesting situation right now. Preseason is in full swing, and with three games played, we’ve moved beyond the stage where the coach is just picking each player in his group for 45 mins a game, to get some running in their legs.
From tonight’s game against Man City, through the subsequent match-ups with Real Madrid and Inter Milan, we’re playing top teams. Not only that, we’re going to be transitioning from just getting players fit into starting to get an idea of what Maresca’s starting XI will be for the big kick off of our Premier League campaign on the 18th of August – a game for which tickets are still available at www.livefootballtickets.com.
A few players have the chance to force their way into Maresca’s plans, and that’s especially true because three potential starters (Conor Gallagher, Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella), are yet to join up with the squad, and are unlikely to be fit to play in the first week.
So who stands to potentially benefit most from these next 3 friendlies? Who can use this time to show they deserve to start? We picked 3 who might not have come to mind right away.
Levi Colwill jumps out at us right away. He’s a quality player, and potentially perfect for either the left back role in this team which inverts into midfield, or just the left centre back role. With Cucurella out and Ben Chilwell being used more as a winger, it feels very likely that we see Colwill used a lot in these final 3 games. He has the chance to earn his place in the team, but with so much competition at left back and centre back, he knows he has to step up and perform.
Romeo Lavia is another player with it all to do. He’s impressed in his minutes so far, but with so much competition in his position, it’s not certain if he can actually secure a starting spot. Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez cost so much that they HAVE to play, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is Maresca’s lieutenant on the field. Where does Lavia then fit in, if you want to keep 3 attackers on the field?
Christopher Nkunku has looked really tidy in the games so far, but there are still questions about where he fits in. Nicolas Jackson will lead the line, Cole Palmer likely play off the right. Does Nkunku get squeezed into the team playing off the left? It means leaving out Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk, but right now it’s hard to see any other way it happens.
