Enzo Maresca told he has ‘problem’ with two Chelsea signings | Football

Shaun Wright-Phillips says Chelsea’s talented but bloated squad is creating a ‘problem’ for two of Enzo Maresca’s summer signings.

Chelsea spent another £300m on new signings last summer to bolster a squad that had just qualified for the Champions League and won the Conference League.

Joao Pedro was Chelsea’s most expensive signing at £60m but the Blues paid at least £30m on another five players.

Three of those additions – Estevao Willian, Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens – were wingers and bolstered Chelsea’s already-stacked group in that position.

While Estevao is already looking like a future superstar, Garnacho and Gittens have endured underwhelming starts to their careers at Stamford Bridge.

Garnacho has scored twice since his £40m move from Manchester United and £52m signing Gittens just once – his only goal coming in the Carabao Cup.

Wright-Phillips – another winger who had a successful spell at Chelsea – says it is too early to brand the Garnacho signing a ‘mistake’ but says both his and Gittens’ struggles are becoming a ‘problem’ for Maresca.

‘I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a mistake to sign Garnacho, because he’s clearly a good player,’ Wright-Phillips told Best Betting Sites.

‘I think Chelsea’s problem is that they have about seven or eight wingers now. They’re all good enough to get into other Premier League sides, but they need minutes on the pitch.

‘They need games. I remember that I was always better if I was playing more regularly. I just grew into every occasion.

‘I think some of those wingers, it could be similar. They need to be on the pitch regularly to be at their best. I think Jamie Gittens seems like one of those players who needs their confidence high, and he works off his instincts.

‘Those kinds of players need to play regularly. At this Chelsea squad now, that chance doesn’t really happen, so they have to find a way to keep these players ready no matter how much or how little they are playing.

‘Because the only one at the minute I would say that is actually thriving is Pedro Neto. And he’s continuously playing and he’s basically hard to drop.’

Despite a number of players potentially growing frustrated with their lack of minutes, Chelsea have enjoyed a promising first-half to the season.

The Blues are second in the Premier League ahead of Sunday’s London derby against leaders Arsenal and seventh in the Champions League following a huge victory over Barcelona.

Wright-Phillips believes the pressure is on Arsenal as they visit Stamford Bridge this weekend but insists they are still ‘favourites’ to beat Chelsea.

‘I’d say Arsenal are the team most under pressure,’ the ex-England star added. ‘They know they’re top, and they’ve got a chasing pack ready for them to make mistakes.

‘They know they need to keep winning and that pressure is on them. They don’t want to let that gap get chipped away at.

‘If anything, they will be aiming to build the cushion going into the Christmas period, where the games come thick and fast and teams can stumble.

‘But for Chelsea, it’s almost a statement match. A win there, and they will believe that they are real challengers for the title.

‘They might play it down, but a win there puts them in a great position to pick Arsenal off, and it will be a huge boost for their confidence.

‘If you can beat this Arsenal team – scoring loads, defending brilliantly – then you can beat anyone.

‘Having said that, I think Arsenal are the favourites. They’ve only conceded a handful in the Premier League and at times they just look unbreakable.

‘The way they defend, how quickly they recover into their position off the ball, it’s just frightening. That’s even when they’re missing Gabriel.

‘I watched them in the derby at the weekend, and Spurs barely laid a glove on them, couldn’t really hurt them. Arsenal dealt with whatever came their way and they’ve done that in almost every game this season.’

Neto earned Chelsea a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in this fixture last season after Gabriel Martinelli’s opening goal for the visitors.

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