More needed from Chelsea’s rotated cast as Maresca left with questions

No Major Breakthroughs in Maresca’s Premier League Squad

Enzo Maresca has made it clear that for him, performances matter more than just the results. So, what can we take from this?

Let’s start with the basics. Chelsea kicked off their Conference League campaign with a 4-2 win over Gent, a result they fully deserved.

However, it was a bit of a strange game. Gent managed to score twice, both times against the run of play, just when it seemed like Chelsea was about to dominate the match.

Chelsea spent more on transfers this summer than all the other 35 teams in the tournament combined. With Gent now out of the way, Panathinaikos stands as their toughest challenge. Chelsea should have no excuses and should aim to win the tournament next June in Wroclaw.

That being said, Maresca’s second-string players need to build better chemistry if they are to lift the trophy. For now, Chelsea’s results keep rolling in, even if the performances are still a bit hit-and-miss. The club has won five matches in a row across all competitions, making them one of the Premier League’s most in-form teams.

From the start, there was a noticeable difference in quality between Chelsea and Gent, something Chelsea will likely experience throughout the competition. But Chelsea played with patience, especially at the back, where Benoit Badiashile and Tosin Adarabioyo calmly passed the ball around, trusting that their team would eventually break down Gent’s defense.

While Chelsea won, the performance left room for improvement. Their play in attack was inconsistent. There were moments of fluidity, especially midway through the first half when Mykhailo Mudryk, Christopher Nkunku, and Joao Felix combined well. But Gent always seemed to find a way back into the game.

Even after Chelsea’s first goal — a nice move where Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s clever pass set up Mudryk to cross for Renato Veiga to head home — the match didn’t open up as expected. Gent started growing into the game, making things harder for Chelsea.

At times, Chelsea looked like a team that had been thrown together just for this match, and in a way, that’s what they were. These are Maresca’s cup players. As he mentioned on Wednesday, they need to perform consistently if they want a spot in his Premier League lineup.

None of the players made a strong case to start in the Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, but some did show enough to deserve more playing time in future games. One standout was Pedro Neto, who scored a brilliant volley just 39 seconds into the second half. Unfortunately for Chelsea, Gent quickly responded, keeping the game closer than it should have been.

Maresca will likely review the match to figure out how Gent managed to leave three attackers unmarked during a set-piece, which led to Tsuyoshi Watanabe’s free header.

For a brief moment, Gent looked like they might equalize, but Chelsea pulled away with goals from Nkunku, who fired through a crowded box to make it 3-1, and Dewsbury-Hall, who capitalized on a loose ball to score the fourth.

Gent’s final goal reminded everyone that Chelsea’s second string still has some work to do if they want to fully hit their stride.