Enzo Maresca immediately asked Chelsea to buy more central defenders after Levi Colwill's injury, regardless of they had 5, 6 central defenders in their hands. Ruben Amorim still demanded to buy more midfielder even though there was still a healthy young Mainoo. But maybe they should steal books of Pep Guardiola and Arne Slot on how to use players.
Maresca requirements
Football often shows that it is not aware of its absurdity, and a clear example appeared last week before Enzo Maresca discussed Levi Colwill's knee injury.
Colwill is likely to miss most of the season after being broken. Considering his 35 matches in the Premier League season 2024/25, this loss is enough to upset anyone's plan.
The instant solution of Maresca is to ask Todd Boehly to loosen the “inherently loose pharynx” of Chelsea and bring back a rookie to fill the blank.
“The club knows exactly what I think,” he told the press. “I think we need a center -back. We are looking for an internal solution, but as I said, the club knows my thoughts.”
However, the reason he gave was not because of the lack of a center -back. He still has 5 other options. It would be 6 if including rookie Jorrel Hato, who could play the center but mainly play left -back in a young career. And it would be 7 if including the Disasi Axel was shown to the edge. Is 8 if you include young talent Aaron Answino.
The reason seems to be because none of those central defenders can perform the specific job he requested. Maresca admits that other options “can adapt”, but he also said very well what he wanted to happen.
“You know how important Levi last season, in the way we want to play,” Maresca explained. “We have repeatedly said that we can create opportunities and attack properly, if we can deploy the ball properly. Levi is a key part of the build-up stage and now he is absent.”
“We built a play with Levi in the center. Last year, we played 64 matches and all 64 matches had Levi and Tosin (Adarabioyo). Now Levi breaks, the only one who can do that role is just Tosin. The center -back position ”.
Amorim wasted Mainoo?
At the most basic level, the idea of Chelsea coach, who witnessed 20 rookies a one -sided rookie arrived under his dynasty with a total value of about 483 million pounds (according to Transfermarkt data), seriously declared the need for more contracts, really funny.
But that also reflects a wider trend. Tim Spons once pointed out the current number of coaches in the Premier League now complained that they wanted the club to act faster to bring more players, and some people with good reasons. A few really thin squads: Fulham only recruited a reserve goalkeeper; Nottingham Forest signed a contract with striker Arnaud Kalimuendo from Rennes but still needs more depth to cope with the schedule in the European Cup.
In other cases, it is hard to see them seriously. For example, Ruben Amorim, he built the play that was so specific that Man United was forced to overhaul the entire attack to serve that philosophy, which did not include spending £ 25 million in January to buy Patrick Dorgu, a special Wing-back.
And now they struggled to find a new midfielder, while Kobbie Mainoo was on the bench was not used in the match against Arsenal on Sunday.
Look at Pep and Slot
This is a somewhat simplified reaction, but the first answer to the dissatisfaction of many coaches about the transfer is probably: “Have you tried training?”
Outsiders are easy to say, but sometimes it feels like some coaches are sliding close to the same attitude as many fans: considering the new transfer market as a real match, considering solving any problems that mean spending money, instead of taking advantage of what they have. This is even more strange if you look at countless examples from their colleagues: those who adapt, adapt, and regenerate the role of players to meet tactical needs.
Pep Guardiola is famous for swapping the player's position: from the defender to the midfielder, the center -back to the wing, the number 10 to the border, or the midfielder back to the defense. One of the platforms that helped Liverpool win the Premier League last season were not rookies, but the reconstruction of the available players: Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Luis Díaz.
Amorim has also done that at Sporting CP, most notably with Geovany QuaDa. This is a winger but he has “transformed” into Wing-back, and is now on his way to Chelsea.
The rookies are not always the answer
Another way, the starting lineup of Aston Villa met Newcastle last weekend also illustrated this. 7 of them were there when Unai Emery took over the club in 2022, and the figure could be 8 if goalkeeper Emi Martínez was not suspended.
This emphasizes two points. Firstly, Emery did a great job in raising the inheritance team from Steven Gerrard, improving each individual and turning them into a collective cohesion. But second, it also shows that their transfer policy in recent years is not really effective.
Villa has signed a contract with 22 first team players since Emery was appointed, but only 4 people participated in the main squad (Bizot – Martínez's new reserve goalkeeper, Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers). This shows that, in many cases, rookies are not always the answer.
A part of the problem comes from the rigidity of the coach. If Maresca was more flexible, he could have assembled a squad without a “Colwill standard” center -back. If Amorim changed the diagram, he probably took advantage of many players inherently available at Man United.
If a system or gameplay is so fragile that it only needs a link to be forced to replace, then perhaps the problem is in the system itself, or in the coach, not in players or stitching.
This also reflects a broader situation of the football industry.
The brutality of the transfer market has been abused, and there is no reason to encourage it further, not only for expertise but also directly related to fans. We have seen many clubs taking the reason “need to compete” to increase the ticket price, accidentally making the fans feel sorry if they do not accept extra money: Want a few more contracts? So the ticket price will increase by 20%.
In fact, fares and transfer fees rarely have direct relationships. But as long as the clubs still try to create that connection, and the coaches still consider the transfer market as a solution to all matters, fans will still feel like they are paying for their lack of flexibility.
There is also a self-defense factor (although it may be unconscious) from the coaches: much easier when buying a player “Plug-And-Play” (just attached to use immediately) compared to training another person to meet the requirements.
In an environment where the prestige and the coach chair can be shaken after only a few weeks, it is easy to understand why they want to have a player who has confirmed themselves, instead of a “long -term project”. Moreover, having a story about “transfer failure” is also a convenient excuse if everything is broken: with that squad like that, what can I do?
This article does not imply that the transfer market should stop, or the rookies cannot improve the team. It also does not say that the coach should not put pressure on the club to recruit reasonable when necessary. It only emphasizes that the transfer market is not the only solution for all problems, and perhaps many coaches should try other options before hurriedly press the red button called “transfer”.
