Former Aston Villa star Gabby Agbonlahor has accused Chelsea of disrespecting the UEFA Europa Conference League by not including some of their key players on the squad. Agbonlahor insists Enzo Maresca and Co. would not have taken the same lax approach had they been competing in either the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea Will Not Take 3 Key Players To UEFA Europa Conference League
Premier League giants Chelsea raised eyebrows last week when they released their squad for the upcoming UEFA Europa Conference League campaign. The list did not include their best player, Cole Palmer, as well as defensive midfielder Romeo Lavia, and center-back Wesley Fofana.
Although the Blues have enough firepower, reaching the group stage of the 2024-25 Europa Conference League proved to be quite challenging. Maresca’s men fought tooth and nail and somehow claimed a 3-2 aggregate victory over Swiss side Servette. The competition will only get stiffer from now on, but the Pensioners are prepared to make do without their star, Palmer.
Gabby Abgonlahor Slams Blues For Being Disrespectful
Reacting to Chelsea’s decision to leave out Palmer and Co. from their Europa Conference League squad, Agbonlahor said (via talkSPORT):
“I think it’s disrespectful to the competition because they wouldn’t do that for the Europa League or the Champions League. They’re looking at the Europa Conference League like, ‘Eurgh, we’re Chelsea and we shouldn’t be in this… let’s rest our players who might pick up knocks’.
“Especially with Lavia and Fofana. They’ve had injury problems and they’re probably thinking, ‘Rest them in the Europa Conference League, we can play a weakened side and then concentrate on the Premier League with some of these players’. I think it’s quite disrespectful to the competition to be honest.”
He continued:
“If I’m a team that is playing against them, I’m looking at them and would be like, ‘Come on, that’s a team talk… they’re resting a few players, not putting them in the squad because they’re thin there, the rest of their squad can beat you’.
“I do think that if I was playing against them I would be like, ‘Oh, Palmer doesn’t have to play, does he? Is this a rubbish competition?’. But I do get it. You need a rest as well, the players do.”
Chelsea will Gent (home), Panathinaikos (away), Noah (home), Heidenheim (away), Astana (away), and Shamrock Rovers (home) in the UEFA Europa Conference League this season. They will face Gent at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, October 3.
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