Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker believe Enzo Maresca was at fault for Chelsea’s defeat to Leeds due to the changes he made to the back four.
Chelsea put in a disappointing performance on Wednesday evening as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Elland Road.
The Blues weren’t at the races at all, and it felt like they were surprised by the atmosphere and how Leeds approached the game.
Alan Shearer blames Enzo Maresca for Leeds defeat
Chelsea’s fourth league defeat of the season saw them drop to fourth in the table, and they are now three points behind Aston Villa in third.
As has been the case this season Maresca made five changes to the side, but crucially he made three changes to the defence.
The Blues conceded just one goal in the league in November, but Maresca started Tosin and Benoit Badiashile, whilst he moved Trevoh Chalolbah to right back.
Tosin had an evening to forget, whilst Badiashile was substituted at half time, and Shearer feels Maresca got it wrong changing his defence that much.
“It’s difficult when you’re changing that many in the back four,” Shearer told The Rest Is Football.
“You know, I always feel there’s [some] systems or positions that should be playing on a regular basis as much as possible, [and] it has to be [with] the back four.
“When you’re making that many changes with it, and obviously that that’s on him tonight, in terms of he decided to do that, it went against them because they were terrible at the back.”
Gary Lineker feels defensive rotation was wrong
It’s not just Shearer who felt the number of changes at the back was wrong, Lineker was also in agreement with his co-host.
“Obviously I think Fofana was injured because he wasn’t on the bench either,” he added.
“So you lose one central defender and then Chalobah, who has been playing really well with Fofana, was moved to right back.
“He brought in Adarabioyo and Badiashile and it was a funny thing to do.
“It didn’t really work out did it?”
