Christopher Nkunkus persistent fights in Chelsea are not due to a lack of effort, and head coach Enzo Maresca has announced confidently.
In the summer of 2023, the Frenchman signed a six -year contract at the Stamford Bridge when he arrived £ 52 million from RB Leipzig, and there was great hopes that he would continue the fine score he showed in Germany.
But for the 27-year-old, who was ruined in the early phases of his career in Chelsea by a serious knee injury in training, it was not planned, and he only has six goals in the Premier League from 37 appearances in the competition.
However, these statistics are a touch when they dig into the detail, whereby Nkunku only corresponds to a total of 1,338 minutes – the equivalent of less than 14 full Premier League games. His limited participation is that Nicolas Jackson, who instead a break in the domestic and European cup competition of Maresca, has played a supportive role.
Nkunku started on Sunday with Brentford in the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday, but only lasted 45 minutes before it became addicted. However, he received the support of his boss, with refusing Maresca to make the former graduate of the Paris Saint-Germain Academy excessively critical when he was examined because of his lack of trust.
“I don’t think it is a lack of effort, because in the end I can see Christo every day and he works well,” Maresca told reporters. “Sometimes he probably wants to give more during one game and he is fighting a bit, but I don’t think it’s a lack of effort.”
The heat was also on Maresca after he had decided to fall Jackson, Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella and Levi Colwill on the replacement bench for the game, with Chelsea’s then loud performance.
It was the overloaded schedule to which Maresca pointed out as a justification for his player rotation after he started and defeated his team Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening.
“I think especially in this phase of the season, but we tried to adapt,” said Maresca, whether the planning of the Premier League was unfair. “We often said that, for example, it is more than in comparison to (this game) when it is a transition game, for example that Tottenham was more than in comparison to (this game). But at that point I think that 24 hours made the difference (in terms of recovery).
“The reason why we started in the first half and in the second half in the other way is that we went in the other way. And probably when we decided to start the first half in the way we end, probably after half an hour, 45 minutes, the team was not physically good enough to end the game. So we tried to find a solution.”