Training at night alone: Maresca has no mercy for his 'bomb squad'

There are managers who give special attention to their players and care about them. They think that mental health is also very important and always try to integrate everybody into the team, even those who are not playing. On the other side there are coaches who don’t like their first-team players mingling with the colleagues who are not in contention for games and move them away from trainings. Enzo Maresca is one of those managers and even thou he was a player himself, he is one of those coaches who don’t have any contacts with players who are not his first-team choice. And it goes so far, that he is not even talking to them.

Just as Manchester United had a ‘bomb squad’ (Rashford, Sancho, Garnacho, Hojlund), Chelsea has one too, but this one is consisted of players who weren’t so lucky to find other clubs in the June transfer window, and now are not only out of the first team, but they have to train after their teammates finish their trainings and Maresca is not in contact with them. One of them is Raheem Sterling, who came from loan at Arsenal and couldn’t find another club this June so he is an outcast. His 325.000 pounds per week wage also didn’t help, but the former England internationals posted a story on his Instagram account, showing empty training pitches and time (20:21) with the caption 'training' alongside a handshake and cold face emoji.

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Journalists have asked Maresca about the ‘outcasts’ last week and the Italian was not very man-management about it.

“They are Chelsea players because they have a contract with the club. In this moment, they are still training apart. The idea is to continue in exactly the same way. Since we started the season, I didnt see one of them. I didn't see Renato Veiga, I didn't see Axel Disasi, I didn’t see Raheem Sterling, because they train at a different time on a different pitch. I haven’t seen them since we started the season” said Maresca, who was quick to say ‘no’ when asked if there was any way back into the first team for them.

Wednesday

19.45: (1.45) Olympiakos (4.40) Paphos (7.50)

19.45: (1.85) Slavia Praha (3.60) Bodo (4.30)

22.00: (4.10) Ajax (3.50) Inter (1.90)

22.00: (1.67) Bayern (4.25) Chelsea (4.85)

22.00: (1.62) Liverpool (3.90) Atl.Madrid (5.60)

22.00: (1.50) PSG (4.50) Atalanta (7.25)