Chelsea news: Enzo Maresca slams two stars as huge warning issued over Cole Palmer

Chelsea's season so far has been a stop-start affair, with Enzo Maresca's young squad showing flashes of brilliance amid growing pains.

The Blues started brightly, sweeping aside West Ham and Fulhamlast month with seven goals in two games. However, in the three weeks since, cracks have begun to show.

A last-minute slip cost them victory against Brentford, before sobering defeats to Bayern Munich and Manchester United laid bare their vulnerability. The Carabao Cupclash on Tuesday night against Lincoln City only intensified the sense of unease.

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Chelsea found themselves 1-0 down at half-time to their League One opponents and looked on the brink of an embarrassing exit before Tyrique George and Facundo Buonanotte's strikes turned the tide and pulled them through.

Maresca had heavily rotated his team, making eight changes from the side defeated at Old Trafford, yet the performance raised familiar concerns. Lincoln's intensity and second-ball scraps unsettled the Club World Cup champions, a stark reminder that experience counts, even against lower-league rivals.

As the Chelseaboss wrestles with squad depth and integration, the pressure is starting to build ahead of a challenging Brighton trip this weekend. Here, Football London brings you the latest news from Stamford Bridge.

Maresca singles out two players

Maresca launched into a fiery half-time rant at his tired Chelsea stars following a woeful first 45 minutes against Lincoln. Post-match, the Italian singled out summer signings Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato after revealing that he gave his players a verbal lashing.

When asked if tempers flared at half-time, he said: "Absolutely, absolutely. Because we prepared the game thinking exactly in the way it was the first half, and sometimes it's about desire, it's about winning the second ball, but it's also about experience.

"Jamie Gittens never played against League One [teams], these kind of games. Jorrel Hato never played this kind of game. You have to play in a different way."

Maresca added: "The first half, we were aware of the game that we expect in terms of long balls, duels, throw-ins, free-kick, every time inside the box.

"I know that some of them, they didn't play these kind of games, I asked today how many of them they play against, you know, League One team, because you need to know a different kind, you need to play a different kind of game.

"It's not the same game, because the desire is double from them, from duels, these kind of things. We struggled in the first half, I think in the second half we were much better."

Palmer burnout concern

Cole Palmer's spectacular rise at Chelseahas been remarkable, but ex-Blues forward Carlton Cole has issued a serious warning regarding the midfielder's gruelling workload. The 23-year-old has been instrumental since his 2023 transfer from Manchester City, recording double digits in both goals and assists across his two full campaigns in west London.

However, with an ever more congested fixture list looming - with Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup matches arriving in rapid succession - and a summer spent grafting at the Club World Cup, Cole worries the burden might eventually become overwhelming.

"Cole Palmer burning out is a concern for me," Cole told Boylesports. "I look at it and I think, how many games are too many? Because, yes, I think they probably got two or three weeks' holiday out of it.

"I'm in the game, I see it at youth level, and it's intense when they go up to the first team. There are so many games, and then they're so good, they have to play. And that's what Cole Palmer is. He's so good."

Cole recognised Palmer's desire for playing time following his frustration on the City bench but warned him not to burn out all of his energy.

"We've got sports science nowadays that look at a player's capacity," he added. "And I think they're in control scientifically... So there'll be games that I think they'll take him out of this season.

"It's the mental stuff that I feel. I think you can have a major burnout mentally. So if they're strong-minded, it shouldn't be a problem, but they're only human."

Palmer has already been absent for two league fixtures this campaign due to injury, and began on the substitutes' bench against Brentford earlier this month amid fitness worries. He was omitted from the squad that faced Lincoln but is likely to feature for Saturday's encounter with Brighton.

Fresh injury concern

Chelsea's attacking issues intensified on Tuesday as teenage sensation Marc Guiu was ruled out of the Lincoln victory. The 19-year-old, who had been brought back from a short Sunderland loan spell, "felt something" during the pre-match preparations.

While it wasn't ruled as something serious, Maresca felt the need to be cautious and exclude the Spaniard from the squad - especially with Liam Delap unavailable until December with a hamstring injury.

"The reason why [Guiu wasn't involved] is because yesterday in the game preparation he felt something, nothing important," Maresca said. "But with Liam Delap already out, we did not want to take a risk. So we gave Ty [George] and Jamie [Gittens] a chance."

Guiu's unavailability pushed Tyrique George into an unaccustomed central position, where the youth product excelled with a goal and assist to rescue the game. The striker's setback spells trouble for an attacking department already stretched thin, following Nicolas Jackson's loan exit to Bayern.

While Guiu hasn't featured since his recall to Stamford Bridge, Maresca is clear about his demands for the young star. He said: "Marc is back. The reason why he's back is because the intention is to use him. But he needs to do things better, he needs to improve things."

No concrete schedule has materialised regarding Guiu's availability, though it is likely he will be considered for the Brighton fixture. However, it looks like Joao Pedro will get the nod against the Seagulls, after finding the net five times in nine appearances for the Blues.