Chelsea Board Calm Over Enzo Maresca As Injuries And Red Cards Skew The Picture

Chelsea’s hierarchy has delivered a clear message amid a choppy start to the 2025 season. Enzo Maresca retains the confidence of ownership and the sporting directors, with any formal assessment still planned for the end of the campaign rather than after a bad week or two. 

The stance follows a sequence of results that has rattled supporters, including the late collapse against Brighton at Stamford Bridge. Even so, decision makers remain aligned on a long-term plan, stressing that short stretches of form should not derail a project that is meant to mature over seasons. 

Reports briefed to multiple outlets have repeated that line with notable consistency, which tells its own story about internal alignment. 

Injuries Are Warping Selection And Rhythm

Context matters here. The Premier League defeat to Brighton flipped on a moment that left Chelsea a man down, and the final score ballooned in stoppage time. 

Trevoh Chalobah’s dismissal changed the match state and invited pressure that the 10 men could not withstand, as the visitors struck twice at the death. That specific defeat has become a reference point in the wider conversation, and it is exactly the type of single-game swing the club wants to avoid overreacting to when evaluating the manager. 

The strongest justification for patience is the injury list. Maresca has been forced to shuffle key positions, especially in attack and at the back, where availability has cratered in September. Cole Palmer, the team’s creative reference, will be rested for two to three weeks to manage a recurring groin issue, with the club targeting a return after the international break. 

Tosin Adarabioyo is out with a calf problem, Wesley Fofana suffered a concussion in the cup, and summer addition Liam Delap has had a hamstring setback. That cluster has left gaps in ball progression and in penalty area presence. 

The long-term absentee is Levi Colwill. The homegrown centre back underwent surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament injury in August and is expected to miss most of the campaign. 

That loss has ripple effects through Chelsea’s build-up patterns and defensive duels, and it is not a problem that resolves with a quick tweak on the training pitch. 

Numbers will not tell the entire story, though they do map onto what supporters are seeing. When Palmer has been available, sequences snap quicker into place between midfield and the front line. 

When he sits, the team becomes more reliant on Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernández for progression into the half spaces, which compresses Chelsea’s options in advanced zones. Reece James has been a bright spot in the stretch, driving attacks from the right and assisting the lone goal in the Brighton defeat, which underlines how much of the current thrust is coming from wide and from the back. 

Discipline Is A Self Inflicted Wound

Chelsea’s staff and manager have been blunt about another factor in the slump. The side has been hurt by a spate of red cards across recent fixtures, which have repeatedly shredded game plans. 

The Brighton match was the second league game in which Chelsea finished with 10 men, the first being against Manchester United, which they lost.  Maresca’s public message has been tidy and pointed. The team must stop gifting moments to opponents with avoidable errors. 

This is not just about optics. Playing down a man amplifies the stress on a patched back line and erases attacking rotations that the group rehearses all week. No

 The coach wants to chase a match with a thinned bench and a back four already short of a first-choice pairing. It is therefore no surprise that internal briefings have highlighted discipline as a controllable variable, alongside the pragmatic acceptance that injuries are not. The owners and directors read the tactical film and the data pathways through that lens. 

Why The Club Is Choosing Patience