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Enzo Maresca’s Decision about Brighton Up Coming showdown
All the latest team news ahead of Brighton and Hove Albion’s trip to Chelsea
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca insists he has studied Brighton’s new manager Fabian Hurzeler ahead of Saturday’s Premier League showdown at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues prepare to host Hurzeler’s unbeaten Brighton and a win for Chelsea would be a third in succession in the league, having beaten Bournemouth and West Ham, and fourth in all competitions.
Hurzeler, at 31 years old the youngest full-time manager in the history of the Premier League, has earned the admiration of the Chelsea boss ahead of their meeting.
He’s doing a fantastic job, I watched some of his games last year at the other team in Germany (St. Pauli) and I can see clearly the idea,” Maresca said.
He’s doing a fantastic job, I watched some of his games last year at the other team in Germany (St. Pauli) and I can see clearly the idea,” Maresca said.
The versatile Spaniard, who helped his national team to European Championship glory in the summer, has featured in both defence and attack under Maresca who lauded his professionalism.
“Marc is good and he’s making the players around him better because he’s a guy who’s talking, demanding and when you have five or six players like Marc in the team, it’s something important and I’m very happy with him.”
The Blues manager made 11 changes in their 5-0 Carabao Cup victory over Barrow on Tuesday, where Christopher Nkunku scored his first hat-trick for the club.
Maresca, however, has preferred the in-form Nicolas Jackson as his starting striker in his opening five league matches. Jackson was at the heart of the Blues’ 3-0 triumph at West Ham last week with the forward netting two and assisting Cole Palmer for the third.
The Italian manager believes holding honest conversations with the likes of second-choice Nkunku on his playing time is key to keeping team morale high.
Maresca told reporters on Friday: “I be honest, I be honest with (Nkunku) and I’m honest with all of them. I’ve said it many times since day one that we can’t play with seven or eight attacking players as there is no defensive balance.
“In this moment Nico (Jackson) played last time in the Premier League and scored two goals, Christopher played the other day and scored three, this is good. It’s important they compete with each other.”
