The biggest talking point in the Premier League this season so far in a general sense is the rise of the set piece and long throw.
Following Arsenal and Brentford’s leads, more and more teams are focusing on them as an important part of their strategy. Last week Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was asked whether he would move his team in that direction and he admitted that while it wasn’t something he was doing now, it was something that he could “evolve” to do in the future.
Maresca on how Chelsea are preparing for Spurs’ long throw threat already
Whether Chelsea are doing it or not, they’re certainly coming up against it.
The Blues have fallen victim to long throws multiple times already this season – Sunderland and Brentford had both hurt us with them, and then Wolves did the same in midweek. Inevitably, Maresca was asked if he and his team had been preparing that part of their game, given tomorrow’s opposition Spurs are one of the top proponents of the new meta:
“Yeah, and then we are working on that. For sure we are working. For sure.”
You could sense his frustration, but he also knew the question was coming and was ready and waiting to swat it away. That will do for now – but if we concede from one this weekend there will be many more questions to come…
In other news…
The biggest news from the presser was on injured trio Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro. All have been struggling with niggling problems, but they’ve all now been cleared for action by Maresca.
Some are saying that Jamie Gittens and Estevao should be starting on Saturday, and in fact there’s a big argument they should start – we don’t agree.
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