Before Chelsea’s 5-0 Carabao Cup victory over Barrow, in which he made 11 changes to his starting lineup, Enzo Maresca encouraged his bench players to demonstrate that “we are men.”
The Italian dismissed the need to switch up his starting lineup from Saturday’s victory against West Ham, even though his squad won for the third straight game to cruise to the fourth round and maintain the strong start they have made under his guidance.
No matter which side he chooses to field, he also expected his squad to perform with consistency.
League Two Barrow was defeated by a hat-trick from Christopher Nkunku, who has only made one Premier League start. Pedro Neto scored his first goal for Chelsea, while keeper Paul Farman unfortunately scored an own goal.
“We are young, but we are men, we are serious, and we want to compete,” Maresca said. “I asked them to show how serious we are.”
“The team’s idea remained the same even after we made a lot of changes.” This ought to be one of our goals since the squad must maintain its identity regardless of the players.
“With games like these, I’m constantly concerned. Football is full of this kind of game—tough ones where you can misjudge the opposition. We gave a really strong performance tonight and demonstrated our seriousness.
In little than thirty minutes, Chelsea had three goals ahead of them, led by Joao Felix’s dominant first-half attacking performance.
After Nkunku had scored twice in the opening eighteen minutes, he had a critical hand in his team’s third goal, striking the post with a free kick before the ball bounced in off Farman.
After Neto knocked in Mykhailo Mudryk’s cross, Nkunku went on to seal his first Chelsea hat-trick with his team’s fifth goal in the second half.
Maresca stressed how crucial it is to have his backup players prepared to take over if injuries occur later in the season.
He stated, “You can have a variety of problems.”
Except for Romeo (Lavia) and Reece (James), we are all available right now. We attempt to share minutes with each of them whenever possible.
“I’m glad for Pedro, Joao, and Christo—for all of them. In the Premier League, they should all be starting players right away. Even if they’re not playing right now, they always seem to be ready to accept the risks we offer them, whether it’s for five, forty, or ninety minutes.
The fact that Ben Chilwell made a triumphant comeback to the home crowd as a halftime substitution, five weeks after Maresca had informed him he had no future at the club, was another noteworthy aspect of the match.
The manager of Barrow, Stephen Clemence, who appeared in 176 Premier League games for Birmingham and Tottenham, thought back on a successful evening for the League Two leaders.
He declared, “I’m proud of the boys.”
“A Premier League team, a top-six or seven teams, is a tough opponent to face. Those elite teams are a league unto itself, having competed in the Premier League.
“My lads may have failed sooner, but they had to persevere as much as they did. They’ve done incredibly well; they haven’t come here and embarrassed themselves.