Sterling and Chilwell will struggle for Chelsea minutes – Marescapublished at 07:12 British Summer Time
Enzo Maresca said he has been “honest” rather than brutal with Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell as both continue to train away from Chelsea’s first-team squad.
The Chelsea manager believes he has been clear with the “more than 15 players” – including forward Sterling and left-back Chilwell – who are being asked to train apart from his main group.
Maresca said Chelsea look like “a mess… from outside” as they attempt to trim a bloated squad, but he insisted that was far from being the reality.
He also denied there is any further need for “clarity” about Sterling’s status,as the 82-cap England international’s representatives have claimed.
Maresca stated he spoke to Sterling before leaving him out of the squad for Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
He does not expect to have further conversations with Sterling prior to the play-off match against Servette in the Conference League on Thursday.
The player’s representatives said Sterling had expected to be involved against City, which led Maresca to be asked in a news conference on Wednesday whether his handling of the situation had been “brutal”.
Maresca said: “Brutal? I don’t think so. I try to be honest. I can repeat again if it’s not clear: I spoke with Raheem before the City game. I said he is going to struggle to get minutes with us and this is the reason why he is out of the squad.
“With Chilly, I said he is a lovely guy, but he is going to struggle because of his position. He is going to struggle. If you define this as brutal, it’s up to you to decide. For me, it’s not brutal, it’s just honest.”