Sport
Maresca Says “It’s the Game Plan” for Dropping Palmer and Jackson Against Brentford
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has explained his decision to leave Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson out of the starting lineup for Sunday’s match against Brentford. Fans were surprised when the team sheets were released and both players were named on the bench.
Maresca made several changes from the side that won 1-0 against Tottenham on Thursday, including leaving out Pedro Neto, Marc Cucurella, and Levi Colwill, likely to manage player fatigue with the upcoming Conference League quarter-final first leg against Legia Warszawa in mind.
“It’s part of the game plan. I believe the players starting today are the right choices for this match,” Maresca said in his post-match comments to the BBC.
Chelsea is aiming for a win to boost their chances of climbing back into the top four spots in the league.
Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey has opened up about a difficult period in his career, revealing that he almost stepped away from football.
Speaking during a recent interview, Bassey shared that he once made a personal promise to himself to quit pursuing football professionally if he failed to secure a spot at a professional club.
“I remember being 15 and going into my final year, and I told myself that if I didn’t get into a professional club, I would quit football. It was that simple,” he said.
“I would just stop pursuing it seriously and only play for fun. Thank God I eventually got a club, because I honestly don’t know where I would be otherwise.”
It has been reported that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) fined Egypt $5,000 following their clash with Zimbabwe for failing to manage post-match media obligations.
It was noted that after the match, the Egyptian players ignored the media. This action was said to be a violation of CAF’s media regulations, which led to the fine being imposed.
Head of the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, shared that the big-name players on the team are not happy about being benched.
He recalled when he took out Samuel Chukwueze during the match against Tanzania.
“Yes, of course, we’ve in this team a lot of big names. They are competitors; they aren’t happy when they go to the bench,” Chelle said at his post-match interview.”
“My job is to make choices, and we’re playing a 4-4-2 diamond, and at this moment I feel we have to protect the wing.”
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