Chelsea’s depth can be both a blessing and a cursepublished at 11:46 British Summer Time
Chelsea – Barrow 5:0
Nizaar Kinsella
Football news reporter at BBC Sport
Chelsea made eleven changes to their 5-0 home win over Barrow but still retained a £238m attack featuring Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk and Pedro Neto.
It’s hard to believe, but the only regular players on the bench for the 3-0 win over West Ham were Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill. The other nine players were taking a break and watching from behind the dugout in their casual clothes.
No other team in English football has the depth of a squad that Chelsea have. Last week’s team photo featured 29 players – not including £17m signing Deivid Washington and academy duo Tyrique George and Josh Acheampong – both of whom featured against Barrow.
In the second half, there was a strange scene when Ben Chilwell made his first appearance under Enzo Maresca in a 45-minute cameo when the game was already won – a far cry from his previous successes such as winning the Champions League or his 19 appearances for England.
Carney Chukwuemeka was expected to start these games after joining from Aston Villa two years ago, but he only played 15 minutes, coming on for Felix, who looked frustrated at not being able to play the full 90 minutes after only playing as a substitute since joining from Atletico Madrid.
Even the two youngsters Acheampong and George, both 18, might have wanted more playing time after Manchester City had to field many academy players against Championship club Watford.
But as the season progresses, depth can be both a blessing and a curse for Chelsea.
It will be difficult to please everyone, even if Maresca tries to spread the playing time, but there may also be moments when he will be the envy of the rest of the Premier League for his opportunities.
