Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Liam Delap has recovered from his injury and could be in Chelsea's matchday squad for their Carabao Cup fixture against Wolves on Wednesday. The Blues boss also jokingly expressed doubt over whether the English striker could take long throw-ins like his father and former Premier League star, Rory.
Maresca's pointed comments on teams using long throw-ins
Ahead of Chelsea's shock 2-1 defeat at home against Sunderland in the Premier League last weekend, Maresca opened up on his team's vulnerability when it comes to defending long throw-ins. The Italian coach had explained why he does not prefer to deploy such tactics himself, as he told reporters: "Knowing that at this moment most teams in the Premier League – but also in other leagues – are using long throws, we try to find solutions and learn how we can deal with that. It’s difficult. Most of the long throws go inside the six-yard box, so it’s complicated. We have reviewed the goal Brentford scored against us not only this week, because we are playing Sunderland, but other teams we faced after Brentford who use a long throw.
"If we don’t do it, it’s probably because I don’t like it, but you need to evolve in football, so probably one day I will do it. In this moment, we don’t plan to play with throw-ins, but it’s a matter of evolution and probably one day we will. If clubs do it, it’s because they think it’s good to do. Long throw-ins now are more or less like ten or 15 years in England – and Liam’s dad was the king of long throw-ins! In case we decide to go for long throw-ins, we will take out Liam and bring on his dad."
Chelsea conceded to a long Sunderland throw and this led to Maresca commenting: "It is always difficult to just bring seven or eight players inside the box. Almost inside the six-yard box. It is difficult to deal with that. We tried to prepare that but it can happen."
AdvertisementGetty Images SportChelsea asked to check 'Delap's DNA'
At a press conference on Tuesday, Maresca was asked to clarify these comments and whether the club would need to check Delap's 'DNA' to see if he could take long throws the same way his father, Rory, did. "No, I said many times that as a human being you can say something, but then you have a million people that can interpret it in a different way," Maresca replied. And what I can control is what I say. What I cannot control is the mind of people, how they can interpret it. I said that in this moment we are not looking for a long throw-in. Because I'm a manager, I love to evolve. Probably one day I will use that. These are my words.
"Now if people interpret it in the wrong way, I cannot control. I'm not here to control what people think. So I didn't ask Liam about a long throw-in. But again, not tomorrow. Probably one day we're going to ask Liam. I also said that we can swap Liam with this guy [Rory]."
Injury boost for Chelsea as striker returns
Delap, who joined Chelsea from Ipswich Town in the summer, picked up an injury in just the third match of the 2025-26 campaign as he limped off in the first half of the Blues' 2-0 win over Fulham on August 30. Since then, the striker has remained sidelined but is now on his way to return to action for the English giants.
Speaking on Delap's latest condition, Maresca said: "Yes, he took part in a complete lead session yesterday and is available for tomorrow. No, 90 minutes, no. It's I think two months now that he's out, so he needs gradually back to 100%."
Getty Images SportMaresca likely to rotate squad against Wolves
Keeping in mind the hectic schedule until the November international break, Maresca might consider rotating his squad against a struggling Wolves side – who are yet to win a game in the Premier League – in their Carabao Cup fourth round tie. After the cup fixture, the Blues face Tottenham Hotspur in a difficult Premier League clash away from home on November 1. Before the international break, they play two further games, one against Qarabag FK in the Champions League and a home fixture in the league against Wolves.
