Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has defended his rotation policy after becoming the latest person to be criticised by Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney.

Rooney believes Maresca was wrong to make seven changes to his starting XI for Chelsea’s Champions League draw at Qarabag on Wednesday.

Obviously, because the Blues failed to win, it was ‘too much rotation’. Had they won, we wouldn’t even be lauding the depth of the squad, because Chelseahave spent over ￡1 billion in three years and are expected to beat Qarabag comfortably, regardless of who starts.

Rooney v Maresca: What to know

• Rooney criticised Maresca for excessive rotation against Qarabag
• Maresca addressed the comments in Friday’s press conference
• Chelsea boss gave a logical defence of his philosophy
• Rooney now favourite for ‘Most Contentious Pundit’ award

Sometimes you can’t win as a manager, especially when you literally don’t win on the pitch.

Chelsea were poor in Azerbaijan, and one of the players who came into the team, Jorrel Hato, was at fault for both goals in the 2-2 draw.

Joao Pedro, Marc Cucurella, Reece James and Robert Sanchez kept their places from the 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur, while Tyrique George, Estevao, Jamie Gittens, Romeo Lavia, Andrey Santos, Tosin Adarabioyo and Hato all came in.

Maresca has a huge squad, and keeping everyone happy is an impossible job, but he has to at least try. These are still players who cost the club tens of millions.

Following Chelsea’s 2-2 draw in Azerbaijan, former England striker Rooney said on his podcast:?“The players want to play, they want to build relationships.

“When you keep chopping and changing then the players won’t be happy. I think that will come back to bite them.

“If they are getting results all the time, then you can’t question it. But if they’re not, there has to be questions asked.”

Rooney added: “I think most clubs now have a leadership group and as a group you have to go and question the manager.

“You hear people talk about ‘player power’ but this isn’t player power.

“I’d be concerned if the team kept changing. If I was in that group, I’d be speaking to my team-mates saying ‘Look, I’m not happy with this’.”

Maresca’s Rooney response was calm, not combative

During Friday’s press conference ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League game against bottom-club Wolves, Maresca was asked about Rooney’s comments.

His reply wasn’t him ‘hitting back’. It wasn’t a ‘war of words’. Rooney gave his opinion as a pundit, and Maresca gave a calm, sensible response to a journalist’s question, maybe after a little dig, to be fair…

“We are in an era where anyone can say what they want,” the Chelsea head coach said of Rooney’s remarks.

“Since I joined the club, it’s my view to rotate players. No one complains when you win. When you don’t win, I can understand no one is agreeing.

“I loved rotation as a player. Football is a bit different compared to years ago in terms of physicality and intensity. It’s impossible to play with the same players 65 games in one season.

“If you want to see the season like a marathon, when you are in February and March, the last sprint, you have to think in a different way. But it’s a long race.”

“We are in an era where anyone can say what they want”
“It’s impossible to play with same players 65 games in a season”

Enzo Maresca responds to Wayne Rooney’s criticism of his squad rotation ?? pic.twitter.com/XyqBuyb0mS

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 7, 2025

Wayne Rooney: the rise of a contentious pundit

We say that Rooney ‘said his opinion as a pundit’, but his opinions this season have been…contentious. After all, that’s his prerogative.

On Tuesday, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk discussed recent criticism of the Premier League champions, towering over a nervous Rooney, who had previously questioned his form since signing a new contract.

While plenty of Liverpoolcriticism has been fair, Rooney has made a few questionable comments this season.

Since beginning his punditry career, which has been interrupted a few times by his managerial ventures, he’s been quite outspoken, mainly because he seems to speak before thinking.

It makes for decent television, and now that he has his own podcast and no managerless club will touch him with a bargepole, he’s speaking an awful lot more this campaign.

Some people might think Rooney saying Manchester United should have re-signed Danny Welbeckis an awful take, but it really isn’t. Because Welbeck isn’t a shiny, young, foreign striker, it’s just not a fashionable take.

There are a few more examples of Rooney being contentious: predicting Mohamed Salah to leave Liverpool in January, doubting Bryan Mbeumo’s “ability”after he scored 20 Premier League goals for Brentford last season, and insisting Harry Maguire has to be in England’s World Cup squad.

If you look through Rooney’s archives, it is almost nothing but contentious opinions.

And to be completely honest, we love it. Keep them coming, Wazza. We’ve got to keep the lights on somehow.

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