Pundits have hit out at Raheem Sterling and his camp after they released a statement reacting to his exclusion from Chelsea’s team for the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.
After another chaotic transfer window, Chelsea’s squad has bloated to 43 players with over 50 on the club’s books including those on loan.
Ben Chilwell and Axel Disasi were also left out of the squad for Maresca’s first competitive match in charge.
Many others have been sidelined completely in pre-season with Conor Gallagher and Romelu Lukaku among those not to have been handed squad numbers as they look for new clubs.
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Meanwhile, Sterling joined Chelsea from City in 2022 for a reported £50 million ($A97 million) but the England international has had a limited impact.
The 29-year-old has also fallen down the pecking order as the Blues have invested over £1 billion ($A1.9bn) on new players over the past two years under new ownership.
Sterling’s camp released a statement ahead of kick-off, in which they said they “look forward to gaining clarity on the situation”.
That drew quite the strong response from Sky Sports pundits, with Jamie Carragher delivering a simple message to Sterling: “Just play better”.
Jamie Redknapp had a similar message when speaking on Sky Sports.
“He said he’s come back two weeks early, that’s really good of him – you don’t need to talk about it,” he said.
“Play better. He hasn’t been great since he’s been at Chelsea. If the manager doesn’t want to play you, just get on with it. Don’t get your representatives to come out and do that, especially the day of the game.
“That’s absolute rubbish, he should do better than that. His representatives should do better than that. That’s a really poor statement. There’s other players that could be putting statements out that aren’t in the squad.
“He hasn’t done well enough. It’s your opinion, if you think you’ve been doing well enough in pre-season, just keep doing better. The manager’s opinion is the only one that counts and if he’s not going to pick you that’s unlucky. You have to get back in training tomorrow morning and be the best trainer and show that you want to play. That’s the only way you’re going to get back in the team.”
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Micah Richards, meanwhile, agreed that putting the statement out before the City game was “not good enough”.
“That is not going to help his teammates and probably his case of getting back into the team,” he said.
“He’s called his manager out and let his teammates down. That’s my problem with it. He’s better than that.”
Daniel Sturridge said the statement suggested Sterling and his camp were “probably surprised” by his omission from the team but also added he didn’t “agree” with the timing of it.
The statement said Sterling’s camp have “always had positive dialogue with and assurance from” Chelsea in regards to the former City star’s future.
“Raheem Sterling is contracted to Chelsea Football Club for the next three years,” said the statement released to media by Sterling’s camp.
“He returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training, and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, who he has developed a good working relationship with.
“He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea FC and the fans, who he holds in high regard, and given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity.
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“As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.”
Chelsea are expected to be busy trimming their squad before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.
Chilwell is one of those who has been told by Maresca he can find a new club.
“The manager has to take decisions that people and players doesn’t like — it’s normal,” said Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.
“It’s just a technical decision, no more than that. We will see in the next days.”