Enzo Maresca warned that lack of experience is costing Chelsea points

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 29 Dec 2025 08:10 CST
• 3 min read

Nieuws

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca believes he and his players need to address why they have continually lost points after being ahead in matches.

In the 2025/26 campaign, the Blues have lost 13 points from winning positions in Premier League games, with 11 of those points being lost at Stamford Bridge.

This past weekend, they led Aston Villa 1-0 only for Unai Emery's side to emerge 2-1 victors as the Villans strengthened their position in the top four.

One of the reasons many fans and pundits believe they can't see out winning positions is the lack of experience within the squad as Maresca's group of players is the youngest in the history of the Premier League by average age.

Though Maresca himself hasn't pin-pointed that as the reason for Chelsea's faults, he knows there is an underlying issue at play.

"I don't know, it's a matter to understand the reason why, because I don't think it's random," he responded when asked by reports if a lack of experience is costing the team.

"When something continues to happen, it's not random. We need to understand why, no matter if we are winning, drawing or losing, we concede a goal, we lose a little control.

"We need to understand the reason why."

Chelsea have won just five out of their last six games in the Premier League and Maresca has highlighted the importance of finishing 2025 on a high, with the Blues set to take on Bournemouth on Tuesday.

"That is absolutely very important,: he said. "It becomes very important to finish the year in the best way. Again, for sure, it will be another tough game because they are all the same, but we need to win games as soon as possible.

"It (a top-four finish) is the target. (Saturday’s) game doesn't reflect the 10 points difference between us and Villa, to be honest. In the first half, they were 0.00 in terms of xG – they didn't create nothing.

"These are many positive things, but we need to understand how to manage better when we concede goals. We need to be confident. We need to think that, hopefully, we can go close again to the ones that are ahead of us."

After 18 Premier League games in 2025/26, Chelsea are fifth in the table, three points off the top four.

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