Jamie Carragher criticized one “absurd” Chelsea player for his contribution to the draw against Ipswich on Sunday and pointed out the “disconnect” that may lead to Enzo Maresca losing his position at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have only secured five victories out of their 16 Premier League matches and have fallen to sixth place in the league, missing out on Champions League qualification, following consecutive draws with Brentford and Ipswich.
Maresca’s team took 34 shots against Ipswich, the highest tally they've achieved under the Italian manager, and demonstrated resilience by coming back from two goals down to earn a draw.
However, the Blues supporters expressed their annoyance during the match, after which Maresca held them responsible for affecting his players and causing them to “alter the strategy.”
Carragher highlighted Ben Johnson’s goal, the second in the match, for examination on Monday Night Football to demonstrate that “there is no connection” between the fans and Maresca.
“Maresca, down here – the manager is telling Palmer to advance further and monitor the goalkeeper, but just hear the crowd’s reaction (boos),” Carragher remarked.
“That’s due to their desire not to have them build from the back; you can observe the goalkeeper encouraging everyone to move forward and, at one point, telling the audience to relax.”
“He’s been swayed by the crowd, prompting him to say, ‘push up,’ followed by the chant from the audience, ‘attack, attack, attack.’”
“However, what Maresca means is that this team is accustomed to playing direct; the goalkeeper’s first action is to aim for Burgess’s head, the strongest header in their defense – so that’s an error.”
"Next, the positioning of the players, perhaps not accustomed to playing long from a goal kick."
"Fernandez, out of position with an Ipswich player behind him, and Chalobah’s positioning is completely absurd."
“For a player at this level, if I asked you where he is playing?” I’d say, ‘Chalobah is occupying a centre-back role in a back four while the right-back is receiving treatment and is off the field.
"He's positioned as the right-back in a four-man defense; there's your left-back, two center-backs, and a right-back – it's ridiculous how he's situated."
"They're not organized to handle it, Ipswich wins the header and suddenly, due to the positional movement, there's a massive gap here, behind Chalobah, and Ben Johnson at the back post finishes and makes it 2-0."
"Once more, it all simply reeks of the disconnection between the supporters and the pitch."
“Observe Fernandez and Caicedo; they’re urging Sanchez, ‘don’t let the crowd sway you, don’t be swayed by it.’”
"However, it's true that you should not let it sway you or comply with their directives, but it indicates there is no relationship between Chelsea fans and the individual in the dugout."
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