MARISCA hints she wants older heads at Chelsea after a chaotic week

Chelsea Manager Enzo Maresca insisted that speculation over his future would not distract his team ahead of the clash Newcastle – but that wasn’t the case for 45 minutes on Saturday.

Even before kick-off, Maresca appeared to question Chelsea’s focus on buying only youth, stating that having more experienced players is “invaluable”.

After that, the Blues were unable to get going at St James’ Park, a stadium where they have lost 15 times in the Premier League era, and found themselves 2-0 down through two first-half goals scored by striker Nick Woltmad.

The first half was so poor that Chelsea gave up an expected goals figure of 1.97 – the worst in the first 45 minutes in more than two years. They were prone to errors in defence, wasted possession, fought back and failed to get a shot on target.

The lack of performance was astonishing given that Chelsea put in an impressive display when they beat Everton at home last weekend. This form was even more evident after the break as they bounced back through a brilliant 25-yard free-kick from Reece James and a brilliant individual goal from Joao Pedro.

Despite Chelsea’s improvement, they were still counting on a decisive strike coming their way as Newcastle controversially saw their penalty shootout fade away moments before Pedro equalized when Trevo Chalupa collided with Anthony Gordon inside the box.

It felt at times that Maresca’s post-match comments from last week – in which he said “a lot of people” had caused him his “worst 48 hours” since joining the club – were continuing to weigh on the players.

Since those comments, the Italian has been linked with Manchester City – speculation he described as “100 per cent baseless” – and his relationship with the hierarchy has been constantly called into question.

He also gave some insights into his team’s line-up ahead of the match which suggests he would welcome more experience.

Earlier in the week, he said: “I love the team, I love the young players” and before kick-off he told TNT: “I’m very happy. I’m just focusing on what I can control – the side of the pitch – knowing that there is always noise that you need to control.”

However, he then added: “When you have players who are 20 or 21 years old and a player who is 30 or 31, and he starts saying something to them, it’s invaluable. But it’s the club’s strategy.”

Was this just another example of Maresca lowering expectations and highlighting what part of the project was under his control?

He was also fighting for the players, even getting booked for dissent in the second half as they managed to pull off a commendable response.

It was only the fourth time in the Premier League that Chelsea had avoided defeat after trailing by two or more goals at half-time. In the end, both teams had chances to win in an entertaining end to the match.

However, despite Maresca’s display of commitment, it remains an open question as to whether this ongoing power struggle could impact the progress of Chelsea’s players.