On the eve of the @Liverpool_Always fixture, Marc Guiu approached Enzo Maresca after training to speak about his lack of games this season and find out if there were things he needed to do better to secure more involvement.

Sources familiar with the situation, insist this was not an angry exchange or a sign of someone with an attitude problem after being left out. Rather, the chat was respectful and polite. Maresca did not take exception to Guiu raising the subject with him, either. As a former player, the Italian understood Guiu’s desperation to feature and eagerness for answers. So the head coach reassured the teenager that, if he kept working hard in training, his opportunity would come. Guiu is making a more positive impression on Maresca.

Guiu played a part in two goals against Nottingham Forest. For the first, it was his run to the near post which caused such concern with Murillo and Ibrahim Sangare tracking him. That left Josh Acheampong all alone to head in Pedro Neto’s cross. Soon afterwards, his sharp jink inside Morato earned the free kick outside the area from which Neto doubled the lead. Guiu’s introduction also improved the balance of the team, with Joao Pedro going deeper. He did not give Forest a moment’s peace.

His movement vs Liverpool helped #CFC get the winner by dragging Van Dijk out of position and created space. Guiu has a strong chance of starting against Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday. With the timing of Delap’s return in November uncertain, Guiu could now enjoy the run of games he was hoping for, even if a good proportion of them are off the bench.

Guiu has been told he will be under consideration for Spain’s World Cup squad next summer if he plays enough. 🇪🇸

(sjohnsonsport)

Chelsea’s last 3 permanent managers before Enzo Maresca, are now in International management:

- Thomas Tuchel 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
- Graham Potter 🇸🇪
- Mauricio Pochettino 🇺🇸

(tovers98)

Crazy stat. #CFC

🗣️ Enzo Maresca ahead of Ajax [H] in the UEFA Champions League:

💪 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬:

“Enzo [Fernandez] took part in the session yesterday.

“We have one more session this afternoon and then we will decide what we will do with him for tomorrow.

“As I said before Forest game, it was not something [injury niggle] to be overly worried about, it was just about protecting him for the games that we have coming up.

“And to answer your second question, Liam [Delap] is very close. He’s not working with us yet, he’s still out but hopefully in the next few days he can take part in a session with us.”

🤔 𝐎𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐨𝐚𝐨 𝐏𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝:

“We have different options, we have one more session this afternoon and then we will decide [who starts].

“We have Marc [Guiu], we have also Tyrique [George] who has played games as a nine in the past. He did very well previously playing in that role, such as against Benfica.

“We trust Marc. We trusted him already last year and he was always playing and training with confidence.

“We gave him some Premier League minutes, which shows we trust Marc. Now he’s with us [following his loan recall] and he’s going to play games for us, for sure.”

🇳🇱 𝐎𝐧 𝐀𝐣𝐚𝐱:

“It is a team that they try to play always, like DNA from the club. So for sure it will be a tough game.

“They are also a team and a club that they won this competition in the past, so they want to prove everyone, the players, the manager, the club, but they’re going to come here and try to do their best to beat us, and we’re going to try to do exactly the same.”

🙌 𝐎𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧:

“It’s a nice competition because you play against a fantastic club.

“But when you face this kind of club, like Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax tomorrow, there are always things that you can learn after the game. It’s going to be exactly the same tomorrow after the final whistle.”

(Via ChelseaFC & Bobby Vincent - Football London)

#CFC #Chelsea #ChelseaFC

It’s Henrique Hilario’s birthday! 🎁