Maresca open to playing Felix alongside Palmer
Enzo Maresca has once again suggested he is open to playing Cole Palmer and Joao Felix together.
Felix has impressed when starting for Chelsea in Carabao Cup and Conference League fixtures so far this season, but he has found Premier League minutes harder to come by as he plays in the same position as Palmer.
He caught the eye once again on international duty this week, scoring for Portugal against Croatia in the Nations League.
With Chelsea returning to domestic action this weekend against Leicester, Blues head coach Maresca floated the idea of playing both Felix and Palmer “in the pockets together” behind a striker.
“This could be a target for the future, to see them both together,” he said.
“The international break is good – first of all for the ones who don’t go – for recovery. And some of the ones that did go, like Joao, did fantastic.
“But Joao has been doing fantastic with us since day one. The only problem is to try and find the balance when we prepare the game.”
Earlier this month, Maresca noted he wanted to get Palmer and Felix into the same starting line-up, but wouldn’t be willing to upset the balance of the team.
“I feel shame about Joao,” he admitted ahead of the Conference League fixture against FC Noah.
“I would like to give him more minutes in the Premier League, but I have said many times we need defensive balance.
“We cannot play with Joao, Cole, Christo [Nkunku].
“I’d like to put all of them inside the pitch, but then you also have to defend and you need the right balance between the two phases of attacking and defending.”
Ahead of the clash with Leicester, Maresca also admitted it won’t be easy for the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo to play the whole 90 minutes after featuring for their national sides.
That could mean Renato Veiga and Cesare Casadei being deployed instead.
“Today is the first session, 48 hours before the game, that we work with 12, 13, 14 players that went away with the international team. We need to see how they are,” Maresca said.
“Some of them came back this morning from Argentina, South America, it is not easy.
“Renato also played 180 minutes with Portugal. In the cup, Casadei did very well but he also played both games with Italy’s Under-21s.
“The ones that play will not be 100%, because they are human beings. Even if they are 20 years old or 25, it doesn’t matter, you are tired. Hopefully we can find the right balance.”
Reece James will miss Saturday’s game after picking up another injury.
