Eighty-five changes in 16 games – is Chelsea system working after draw?

Are Chelsea rotating too much?

The Blues have made multiple line-up changes in all their recent matches and have tweaked the starting XI more than any other Premier League side this season.

But, after they narrowly avoided an embarrassing defeat at Champions League minnows Qarabag, there were those questioning whether they might be overdoing the changes.

On Wednesday, substitute Alejandro Garnacho saved Chelsea by equalising early in the second half, in a chaotic, open 2-2 draw at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium in Baku.

Estevao Willian had opened the scoring but mistakes from defender Jorrel Hato saw Leandro Andrade and Marko Jankovic put Qarabag ahead – a shock lead given they are a team worth just £22m, which is less than £1m per squad player.

The Blues, with a squad worth well over £1bn, were particularly poor in the first half, especially compared to the dominant 1-0 win away at Tottenham on Saturday. However, this was a very different starting 11.

Just goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, full-backs Reece James and Marc Cucurella, and forward Joao Pedro started in North London.

It was the fifth-consecutive match across all competitions where manager Enzo Maresca has made at least seven changes to his starting 11. No Premier League club has made more than Chelsea’s 85 changes in 16 matches across all competitions this season.

The constant changing has left Maresca open to criticisms of being too much of a ‘tinkerman’, an unwanted nickname once given to his compatriot Claudio Ranieri at Chelsea.

Defending his approach, Maresca said: “When we make changes it is because we think the plan with the players that start is the correct one.

“I think today, we start in the right way, we score the goal and then, again, we concede two goals that we can avoid. [Also] in their box, for the amount of times that we are there, probably we can be more clinical.

Both literally and figuratively, you never know which Chelsea is going to turn up.

Chelsea have lurched from negative to positive throughout this campaign, playing well against bigger teams but often not as well against so-called lesser opposition.

In big games, the likes of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, and Garnacho usually start.

However, Maresca is managing the fitness of all three of those players , as he also is with returning striker Liam Delap. In addition, key players like Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill are injured.

There are further mitigating factors behind the extreme nature of Maresca’s rotation, given Chelsea endured a 13-month season last year, due to winning the Club World Cup in July, which also shortened pre-season to less than two weeks.

The Italian added: “We have players, the intention tonight was to rest Enzo [Fernandez], to rest Moises [Caicedo], to rest Malo [Gusto], to rest more players, because they are not able to play every three days.

“They need recovery from last season, as you say, the Club World Cup affects a lot. We try to rotate when you win, no-one mentioned all that.

“I know that when we don’t win, everyone is focused on that and now I think it’s important to recover energy for Saturday and go again.”

Yet rivals like Spurs and Arsenal have done fewer rotations in the last few weeks, in back-to-back matches, which is surely designed to help build cohesion and consistency despite the differing recent fortunes of the two North London clubs.

Maresca is not helped by the underwhelming performances by some of those coming in.

Alongside Hato, forwards Jamie Gittens and Tyrique George struggled, as did midfielder Andrey Santos, all of them aged 21 or younger, against a brave Qarabag side proving themselves to be Europe’s giant-killers this season having already beaten Benfica and Copenhagen

Midfielder Romeo Lavia also started but pulled up after just four minutes, leaving Chelsea briefllywith 10 men before he was substituted off.

There have to be real concerns about the long-term fitness of the Belgian international signed from Southampton for £53m in 2023.

European football expert Julien Laurens, who analysed the game for Champions League Match of the Day, said: “All the changes worked for them last season but I think tonight showed they can’t expect to do it when they are in the Champions League.

“Doing it and competing in a Champions League and Premier League combo is very different to doing it in a season where you are playing in the Conference League, when you can easily win with your B team.

“Before they won at Spurs on Sunday, they were ninth in the table and not doing that great in the Champions League with two wins and a defeat, but tonight is a bit of a step back, I think.

“With young players like Hato – and Gittens a bit too -even if they have both had some Champions League experience before, you can see that with a lot of young players the Champions League level is a little bit too high.

“You end up with a result like this where you drop points. In the grand scheme of things they will still qualify, we cannot be worried about Chelsea not getting through, but still it does not look good.

“Going forward, I think it will be difficult to manage the two competitions this way. That’s why even [Manchester City manager] Pep Guardiola doesn’t make so many changes, or [Arsenal manager] Mikel Arteta either, even with a much deeper and more experienced squad.

“I think it explains Chelsea’s inconsistency this season.

“That’s one of the reservations I’ve got a bit about Maresca in the way he deals with and manages his whole squad.

“It is a big squad so I understand he wants to keep people fresh, especially after the Club World Cup. I can understand the load management, sure. But making so many changes all the time, we can see it does not help them.

“Today they had to bring on Caicedo for Lavia because of injury but then at half-time, three [key] players have to come on because they are behind.