Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea continue to soar in the Premier League, beating Leicester City 2-1 this weekend, and remaining in third place after 12 games played.
One factor that has been a heavy cause for discussion is Chelsea’s squad building in recent years, whether it was good to build a strong squad with depth, or if it was going overboard.
This Christmas period is bound to tell us a lot, with games coming thick and fast, injuries, players needing rest, and tactical decisions for many different types of games.
But right-back could be the first issue Maresca has to solve, as both his senior options missed out against Leicester, leaving Wesley Fofana to cover in that position.
Chelsea’s right-back situation
Reece James has been ruled out with another hamstring injury and will undergo a scan to check the severity of his latest setback. Malo Gusto, on the other hand, missed the game against Leicester due to illness, but this shows how quickly things can change in the right-back department, with both senior full-backs missing.
Chelsea’s captain has been absent for 50 games since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, missing 38 games last season with multiple hamstring injuries (undergoing surgery for this too), and has now suffered his second hamstring injury of 24/25.
James vs Gusto comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
Stats (per 90 mins) | James | Gusto |
Assists | 0.00 | 0.12 |
Progressive Carries | 0.00 | 1.60 |
Progressive Passes | 2.96 | 4.94 |
Shots Total | 0.00 | 1.51 |
Key Passes | 0.00 | 0.62 |
Crosses into Pen Area | 0.00 | 0.12 |
Passes into Pen Area | 0.37 | 0.74 |
Tackles | 0.74 | 2.35 |
Blocks | 1.48 | 1.73 |
Interceptions | 1.11 | 1.28 |
Stats taken from FBref | ||
The metrics above tell us the role of a Maresca full-back, often having to contribute to all phases of play, defend 1v1s in their channel, but also often invert into midfield, help with progressive duties in the build-up, and even supply the team with creativity in the final third.
Gusto has been an extremely important part of Maresca’s system this season, playing a variety of positions, inverting into deep midfield and advanced midfield positions (sometimes as a number ten), allowing Maresca to platform his best players such as Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in their best positions.
In the absence of James and Gusto, Fofana filled in at right-back for the Blues, putting in a strong performance and becoming that wide centre-back in possession.
This is something we have also seen from Axel Disasi this season, but Chelsea does have a special talent for this role in the academy too.
Related
Reece James injury history: Every game missed by Chelsea star since 2021/22
The defender has endured a torrid few seasons at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s academy solution
18-year-old, Josh Acheampong, is a right-back/right-sided centre-back who has come through the Cobham ranks, making his senior debut last season, and already making one appearance this campaign for the senior side in the EFL Cup.
However, recently the young defender was frozen out from both the U21 and senior squad, whilst Chelsea tried to come to a new contract agreement with Acheampong.
Many top clubs are said to be monitoring the 18-year-old, believing they can offer him a better pathway into regular first-team football, which could be of interest to the young talent. Acheampong has been described as “brave” by Maresca, who has mentioned the youngster on a number of occasions this season, as a player he likes.
However, with Acheampong now in a deadlock with the Chelsea board, being frozen out and awaiting a contract decision, sadly Maresca doesn’t have the choice to use him as a right-back solution, despite the fact he would be an ideal replacement for both James and Gusto. This simply has to change.
In The Pipeline
Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.
