How Chelsea's injury fortunes have changed as Enzo Maresca's positive influence explained
In recent years, Chelsea have been one of the most injury prone sides in the Premier League, but all that has changed since the appointment of Enzo Maresca.
The Blues were without Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku going into last season before the likes of Reece James, Carney Chukwuemeka, Ben Chilwell, Robert Sanchez and many more suffered long-term injuries under Maurizio Pochettino.
Even the years prior to Pochettino's arrival, the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and interim manager Frank Lampard saw their squads hit with several injury crises.
Under Maresca, these injuries have slowed down - with Fofana and James currently the only two players facing a period on the sideline due to injury related issues as the pair have suffered setbacks in recent weeks.
Despite appearing to be an injury prone player since his arrival at Chelsea, Nkunku is yet to miss a matchday squad under Maresca due to injury, while a new statistic shows just how different things are under the Italian.
As reported by BBC Sport, Chelsea are third bottom in the list of the amount of injuries suffered by Premier League clubs.
The Blues have suffered just eight injuries this season with only 234 days lost due to these, while Brighton sit top of the table with 17 injuries resulting on 638 days lost.
This is something Chelsea fans will not have expected heading into the season with James starting the campaign sidelined, while Lavia suffered an early setback with Blues fans no doubt fearing the worst.
While Maresca has given a direct answer onto how his side have kept players out of the treatment room this season, the head coach has provided an insight into his rotation policy which helps with load management.
Speaking after leaving Cole Palmer, Lavia and Fofana out of his squad for the Conference League league phase, Maresca explained: "It's very clear. We try to protect the players. Romeo last year struggled to play (due to injury). Wes Fofana exactly the same. Thinking about giving them minutes in the Premier League, they are not going to also play in the Conference League. We try to protect them.
"(Palmer) had a very busy last year, from City to here, playing many games, then he didn’t come with us on pre-season because he finished quite late (because of Euro 2024). We are trying to protect the players and give them the right minutes at the right moment."
Furthermore, Maresca has had the luxury of rotating his side when Chelsea play twice a week, with the Italian opting to make as many as 11 changes when the Blues are travelling to play in Europe.
Despite suggesting that Chelsea do not have an A or a B team, Maresca is likely to opt for a youthful side when the Blues face Astana on Thursday night, with one eye on Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday.
With his side sitting top of the Conference League and second in the Premier League, Maresca will be hoping that his rotation policy can keep Chelsea fit and health as they look to compete on multiple fronts going into the second half of the season.
