🔗 Share this article Maresca's Constant Rotation Leaves Chelsea in a Spin. Although The Blues didn’t completely torpedo their hopes of ending up in the top eight of the Bigger Cup opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own chances of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the recently revamped competition, achieving a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The Central Concern: A Monotonous Inconsistency Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon following their defeat in Bergamo. Since seemingly confirming their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, and then a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, the team have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now lost against a average team from Serie A. Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the manager maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his first eleven for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed. “I think tonight, starting team, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that play against Spurs, they played against Barca, they played against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he stated. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you look at the five changes that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s different.” What Comes Next For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. In the first, they welcome the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side. “We need to win both, if not, we try to play the extra round and then progress to the next round,” remarked the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a match against an Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of the top half in the Premier League. Side Stories Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me turning pro in golf. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he pushed me to take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been teeing off rather than scoring goals in the Premier League. Readers' Letters “Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a sad state. As any longtime reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve walking from a public house that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium that they were always going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent. “I see that one correspondent not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the regularity of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.