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chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca Said Liam Delap He immediately apologized to his teammates after being shown the red card on Wednesday Carabao Cup victory over wolvesBut the striker must quickly learn to stamp out indiscipline with his game.
Delap was booked twice in seven minutes at Molineux after coming on as a substitute, first for pushing defender Yerson Mosquera and then for fouling Emmanuel Egbadou, as his return after a two-month injury layoff lasted only 26 minutes.
It was Chelsea’s sixth red card in nine matches and it followed Maresca abandoning his previously soft demeanor when discussing his team’s discipline and accusing the 22-year-old of “playing the game for himself” and “struggling to understand” his responsibilities.
Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Premier League rivals Tottenham – for which Delap will once again be unavailable – the Italian attempted to clarify his position and adopted a more cordial tone.
“I’m not from England so sometimes when I try to translate from Italian it’s a little different sometimes,” he said.
“When Liam is on the field, his focus is more on fighting against the central defender than on the other defenders. That’s what I was trying to say.
“He apologized to everyone in the changing room immediately after the game.
“I know Liam. I know he’ll be a fantastic delivery man for us, but like everything else there are some things he needs to improve on.
“It’s something we need to learn and we need to get better at. Certainly, there’s no doubt we’ll be better in the future.”
Maresca favors a light touch when it comes to discipline and has allowed players to implement their own system to deal with issues among themselves.
Nevertheless, the number of red cards shown this season – one of which went to the manager for his celebrations after a late winner against Liverpool in early October – has been a source of trouble for critics, who claim the team lacks experience and leadership.
Maresca’s own philosophy is based on the approach he takes with his children at home.
He has previously stated that he does not consider harsh discipline to be an effective teacher and that he would always try to reason with players rather than read the Riot Act.
Asked whether, while that approach appears to have less of a positive impact, he would be open to change in the future, he said: “I like to learn, I like to grow.
“At this moment I think we’re trying to do everything we can to avoid situations like this. Hopefully we can learn and we can be better in the future.
“I don’t need to talk to Liam. He knows everything, he’s aware of the situation. He knows he made a mistake. Full stop, no more than that.”
Maresca will have Joao Pedro available to replace Delap on Saturday after the Brazil international was left out of Wednesday’s line-up as a precaution.
Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are also available as both were second-half substitutes in the 4-3 win at Molineux.