Enzo Maresca delivers verdict on below-par Christopher Nkunku | OneFootball

Christopher Nkunku's ongoing struggles at Chelsea are not down to a lack of effort, head coach Enzo Maresca has confidently proclaimed.

The Frenchman signed a six-year contract at Stamford Bridge upon his £52m arrival from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023, and there was high hopes that he'd continue the fine goalscoring form he showed in Germany.

But things haven't gone to plan for the 27-year-old, who saw the early stages of his Chelsea career ruined by a serious knee injury picked up in training, and he has just six Premier League goals to his name from 37 appearances in the competition.

Those statistics are a touch misleading if you dig into the detail, though, with Nkunku only afforded 1,338 minutes in total – the equivalent of less than 14 full Premier League matches. His limited involvement is the consequence of playing a supporting role to Nicolas Jackson, who has instead been given a rest in domestic and European cup competition by Maresca.

Nkunku started Sunday's 0-0 draw with Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium but lasted just 45 minutes before being hooked. He has, however, garnered the support of his boss, with Maresca refusing to be overly critical of the former Paris Saint-Germain academy graduate when probed about his lack of confidence.

"I don’t think it's a lack of effort because at the end I can see Christo every day and he's working well," Maresca told reporters. "Sometimes probably he wants to give more during a game and he struggles a little bit, but for sure I don't think it's a lack of effort."

Enzo Maresca soon turned to Cole Palmer as he sought a spark for Chelsea / JUSTIN TALLIS/GettyImages

The heat was also on Maresca after he opted to drop Jackson, Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella and Levi Colwill to the substitutes bench for the game, with Chelsea's subsequently tepid performance drawing the ire of many supporters.

It was the congested fixture schedule that Maresca pointed to as justification for his player rotation, having seen his side take on, and beat, rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night.

"I think so, especially at this stage of the season, but we tried to adapt," Maresca said, probed as to whether the Premier League's scheduling was unfair. "We said many times that when it's a transition game, it's demanding, physically demanding. So Tottenham was more transition than compared to (this game), for instance. But at this stage I think 24 hours make the difference (in terms of recovery).

"The reason why first half we started in one way and the second half we finished in the other way is because of that. And probably if we decided to start the first half in the way we finish, probably after half an hour, 45 minutes, the team was not physically good enough to finish the game. So we tried to find a solution."