Chelsea drew 0-0 with Bournemouth on Saturday, but Blues manager Enzo Maresca had other issues to deal with after Liam Delap was ruled out with injury.
Enzo Maresca believes Liam Delap has suffered another “bad injury” as his Chelsea nightmare continues. The Blues striker was sent off just 30 minutes into Saturday’s draw with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
He appeared to dislocate his shoulder and was eventually replaced by Marc Giu. After the game, coach Maresca believed that Delap could be sidelined for an extended period of time due to this issue.
In the post-match press conference he said: “Yeah, unfortunately he’s already been out for two months and he’s going to have to be out again. I don’t know how long, but his shoulder looks pretty bad.”
“Yeah, he’s unlucky. He’s already been out for two months and now he has to be out again. And we need a number nine like that, so it’s a bit unlucky. Today we tried with Marc (Giu).”
Delap’s shoulder problem is the latest issue the forward has had to deal with since his £30m move from Ipswich Town. The 22-year-old has already missed the majority of the season with a hamstring injury and was sent off in October’s Carabao Cup game against Wolves.
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He has also only scored one goal so far – in the 3-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League last month. His injury left João Pedro and Giu as Chelsea’s only central attacking options under Maresca.
Delap’s possible absence is giving the Italian a headache ahead of Tuesday night’s game against Atalanta, which hosts Everton at Stamford Bridge next weekend. Ahead of that game, the Blues sit fourth in the Premier League following Saturday’s game against Bournemouth.
When asked what went wrong for his team against the Cherries, Maresca said: “I think it was a game that we lacked. We missed a bit of quality in the last third. For me there were a lot of mistakes.”
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“We missed a pass in the last third, we had a moment where we could have taken a shot and avoided it, we had a cross. But overall, I said over and over again that when you can’t win, it’s important not to lose.”
He added: “Personally, I think we lacked the quality in the last third, in terms of the last pass. You know, the crosses, the moments. We know we don’t score every game. To be honest, I didn’t know it was at (Crystal) Palace (August game). We’re going to try to score on Tuesday, but it’s important to keep a clean sheet to at least give us a chance to get a point.”
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